Hell of Hunterdon 2015
It’s not often we do an organised ride that is not a race. Hell of Hunterdon (or L’enfer d’Hunterdon to give it some Classics cred) is an 80ish mile ride along a mix of paved and gravel roads in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, starting and finishing in the town of Blawenberg. Being a ride as opposed to a race, there’s no timing and no categories, but there are wave starts to spread people out on the road, numbers to be pinned to jerseys, a well-marked course and a couple of food stops along the way. Around 800 people had entered the event, but after a two-week postponement thanks to a winter storm the day before the event’s original date, a few less took to the start line.
We travelled to NJ on Friday, luckily able to travel during the day to avoid the Friday evening traffic in and around New York City. We were staying with our friend Eric who lives in Lambertville, just down the road from Blawenberg. After stopping in to register, we made our way to Eric’s place, had a quiet beer on his back deck looking out over his acres of back yard. We then headed into Lambertville where we walked over the Delaware River into a different state (Pennsylvania) and a different town (New Hope) to have dinner at the Triumph Brewing Company.
The ride started at a very civilised 9am, giving us plenty of time to have breakfast and make the short drive to the start. The parking area was about 1km away from the actual start, so it was an easy ride from the car to get to the starting line. A little before 9, a few eager people were lining up, as even though it’s not a race, some people do treat it that way. We joined the starting line in the front of the second group. A few minutes after the first group left, we were sent on our way. I’d expected a few people to go really hard from the start, but the first couple of miles were at a gentle pace, allowing me to stay close to the front of the group without too much trouble.
I’d chosen to ride my singlespeed cyclocross bike, partly because of the gravel roads, and partly because it seemed like a good idea at the time. Given that there are no categories, pretty much any bike can be used. Most people were on road bikes. The pre-event information talked about fresh gravel on some of the dirt sections, and plenty of potholes, and the potential for mud if the day was wet. My maximum speed on the cross bike is about 35 km/h if I’m spinning madly, and that’s not sustainable for very long. So it wasn’t long before I was left behind by the front group. I was quite happy about that, just wanting to cruise along and enjoy the roads and scenery.
With a bit over 2200 m of climbing, it was a relatively hilly ride. None of the hills were long, but one, Pine Hill, was steep, and had me grinding out the lowest cadence I’ve ever ridden. Any steeper and I would definitely have been walking. The other, Barry Rd, wasn’t as steep, but it was straight into the wind, making it feel harder than Pine Hill.
Advertised as a Belgian-themed ride, the organisers managed to provide some good Belgian-style wind to make the ride more interesting. A solid north-westerly was blowing all day. A few sections were straight into the wind, and these were not fun, but a surprising amount was either sheltered somehow from the wind, or in directions that turned it into a crosswind or tailwind.
One downside of my cross bike is its lack of water bottle mounts. I worked around this by carrying a single water bottle in my jacket pocket. After some rearrangement of pocket contents, I finally settled on a system where I could both get the bottle (relatively easy) as well as put it back in my pocket (less easy, especially with long gloves on).
Kim rode ahead for much of the first half of the ride. Eric and his MTBNJ group started behind us and flew past me on one of the flat road sections. I caught back up to Kim at the first aid station, which was nearly half way through the ride. After a drink, some PB&J sandwiches and a short rest, we headed off together for the second part of the ride.
The gravel roads were generally in good condition, and, in keeping with the theme, were each given a Sector number, counting down from 17 at the first one to 1 for the last. Only one had any deep gravel, and it was on this one that the benefit of 32 mm tyres over 25 mm or 23 mm was really apparent. I could easily ride straight through it, where the people around me on road bikes were really tentative and were sinking into it. A couple of long gravel descents were a lot of fun. It was on one of these that I thought that the cross bike may not be the fastest way to do the ride, but it was definitely the funnest. I’d definitely use the same bike again for this ride or anything like it.
The second aid station was at a bike store on a crossroad. The wind was ever-present here, so we made a relatively quick stop and continued on towards the finish. Both aid stations were excellent, well stocked with food and drink, and with plenty of happy volunteers to help out.
The course was really well marked, with a warning arrow before each turn, then an arrow at the turn, followed by a straight ahead arrow just after the turn to let you know you’re going the right way. In addition to that, the organisers made available a route that could be loaded into a bike GPS. Having the course in front of of me all the time made the ride really enjoyable, as I didn’t have to spend time looking for direction markers, knowing how far away the next turn was.
The event start-finish was at the Elks Lodge in Blawenberg. We checked in to let the organisers know we were finished, rolled back to the car to get changed, then headed back to the Elks Lodge. Food was laid on for everyone, and River Horse Brewing had generously donated beers. A couple of drinks and some lunch done, it was time to roll back to the car for the trip back home.
Thanks to Kermesse Sports for putting on a great event and for the photo and title image, Elks Lodge for hosting the event, and to Eric and Megan for having us stay.
