Under a Threatening Sky

On departure

Yesterday morning I took the Bullet out for a spin after almost a week away.  I headed out Bishop Hollow with the intention of doing a loop out to my gun club to see the progress on the storm repairs and then maybe do a longer run from there since I had the day off.

I was surprised by the level of debris and gravel on the road.  We had some rain the day before and throughout the evening but nothing that would bring the level of debris on the road.  The really worrying bit was the amount of large gravel on the road way.  In some places cars had already cleared a path but the large chunks of rocks on the sides and center of the roadway were intimidating.
Keeping all of this in mind plus the messages that the club have been sending about damages to the area the plan had to be changed.  At 352 I took a right and headed all the way out to the West Chester Pike to refuel at the Wawa and to come up with a new plan.  As I headed out that way I noticed the sky getting darker and more ominous to the point that when I finally got to the gas station it looked like rain was coming at any minute.  Not wanting to be out in it I just headed home via Goshen to try to beat the rain.  About half an hour after I got home the sky began to clear with never a drop having come down.  I could have stayed out but that would have been a sure way of having a deluge.

At the gas station

On leaving the house at 09:00 the odo read 4311.6.  At the gas station it read 4329.1 and the tank took 1.814gallons of premium at $3.199 a gallon for a total of $5.80.  Since the last refuel I put in 104.5 miles on the Bullet for a mileage of 57.6 mpg.  On return at 10:00 the odo read 4338.9.

The last time I rode the Bullet was on Tuesday, 30 June, to commute to work.  On the way home from work I saw a black Ferrari convertible turning left from Conestoga onto Ithan and when I was on Sproul headed towards Godfrey some high speed low drag exotic blew by me on the opposite direction.  It was moving too fast and had very little time to figure out what it was, mostly it was a blur of metallic cooper with googly headlights going by.
This tow encounters bring the exotic tally to 19 Ferraris, 17 Teslas, 11 Maseratis, 5 Bentleys, 5 McLarens, 3 Cobras, 2 Austin-Healeys, 2 Lambos, 3 Unknowns, 1 Rolls Royce, and 1 DeLorean.

On return

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Bishop Hollow Run or Polyphemus' Revenge

This evening I took a run a completing the Bishop Hollow run that got shorted by the lost of the headlight a while back.

A very simple flight plan; out 252 to Winding Rd to cross the West Chester Pike onto Bishop Hollow and follow that out to Ridley Creek and Rose Tree to hit 352 for the loop back to 926, Garret Mill, and Goshen for the loop back.

The road has been completely fixed and there was very little storm debris left on the surface.  Knowing the condition of the road I pushed the Bullet a little more than usual and everything worked out perfectly.  The twists and turns are a lot of fun on this road and with good road conditions so much the better.  Once on 352, with traffic very light, I was able to open her up and let her roar.  At one point I got as far as 65 mph before shifting up to fifth gear.  Removing the kickstand safety switch has been a tremendous improvement on performance.  No more hiccups and no more stalling at random intervals.

The weather was really excellent, cloudy and cool but very comfortable and easy for the ride.

Shortly after getting on Bishop Hollow there was a gun metal gray Ferrari headed in the opposite direction.  I also saw several riders and a couple of packs enjoying the end of what has been a beautiful day for riding.  It is unfortunate that I had to work today and did not get a chance to enjoy more of it.  I did commute to and from work, including lunch, so at least all was not lost.

The ride this evening lasted a little under an hour and we covered a little over 26 miles on this loop.

The exotic tally now stands at 18 Ferraris, 17 Teslas, 11 Maseratis, 5 Bentleys, 5 McLarens, 3 Cobras, 2 Austin-Healeys, 2 Lambos, 2 Unknowns, 1 Rolls Royce, and 1 DeLorean.

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Bishop Hollow Redoux

Ellis Preserve

After the debacle with the repair pits on Bishop Hollow/Ridley Creek Road last month a recon of the area had to be conducted.  Not having anyone to do that for me, I had to do it myself so Tuesday evening I took the Bullet out to check the road conditions.  The best plan of attack was to come at the route from the opposite direction, i.e. from 352 and Rose Tree, since that side of the road was in good repair and it did not appear like the work crews would be tearing it up.

With that in mind I headed out Goshen with the intention of catching Garrett Mill to 926 and 352.  However, traffic conditions on Goshen where great with virtually no one else on the road but me to I stayed on Goshen/Strasburg all the way out to 352.  From there I took Rose Tree Road and followed that out to Ridley Creek/Bishop Hollow.

Road conditions have improved dramatically since the last ride here.  The road crews have completed all their work and large stretches of the road are now completely resurfaced.  There are a couple of small holes here and there but nothing to create any problems.  It looks like they have been at both sides of the road and the resurfacing work has definitely improved the quality of this ride.  Time to comeback to it.

After finishing the run at the West Chester Pike I took a left there and went to the Ellis Preserve to do some figure eights and goof off in the parking lot.  By this time of the day, almost 20:00, the lot was mostly deserted so I had a chance to goof around to my heart's content.

I left the house at 18:59 with 4020.9 miles on the odo and returned at 19:59 with 4050.4 miles clocked.  Great ride all in all with the portion on Ridley Creek/Bishop Hollow yielding as much fun as the Dragon beyond Route 1, not as long but just as many twists and hills per yard.

Two Teslas today on the commute to work a black on this morning on Godfrey going in the opposite direction and a red one this afternoon on the way back from lunch turning left onto Spring Mill from 30 in front of me.  The exotic tally stands at 16 Teslas, 15 Ferraris, 11 Maseratis, 5 Bentleys, 3 Cobras, 3 McLarens,  2 Austin-Healeys, 2 Lambos, 2 Unknowns,1 Rolls Royce, and 1 DeLorean.

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Polyphemus

On departure 3676.5

On Thursday evening I headed out for a ride on Bishop Hollow Rd.  My intention was to head out on Bishop Hollow to 352, make the left there and go the my gun club to check and see if the pistol league had started already.  Then the plan was to come back on 352 to Bishop Hollow again and take that back home.

But plans are just that.  As I headed out on Bishop Hollow I remarked to myself how much improvement had been done on the roads since our last trip there.  A lot of the preliminary work had been completed and big portions of the road had been completely resurfaced.  However, soon after passing Chapel Hill Rd, the road was mostly in a state of preparation with no repairs completed.  Large portions of the road had been torn up leaving large rectangular open pits with at least a four inch drop from the primary road surface.  I hit the first one pretty fast, to the point that I worried I might blow a tire.  From there I slowed down to me the transitions in and out of the pits but by pit number five or six the rattling must have been too much for the Bullet.

After negotiating the jump out of that pit, somewhere past Featherling Lane but not quite to Steeplechase, the headlight jump out of the bucket.  Luckily the wires held and the headlight remained attached to the bike and light but dangling like a large cyclopean eye from its optic nerve stalk.

Polyphemus after meeting Odysseus

I pulled over on the side of the road and assessed the situation to see what could be done.  Nothing had fallen out and been lost although one of the clips holding in main bulb was lose in the housing.  I reattached that and determined that it was all a matter of resitting the bulb and tightening the top screw on the light housing.  Since I was here, however, I took advantage to make a mod that I've been wanting to do for quite a time: the removal of the jumper cable disabling the light on/off switch.

The jumper cable is the short group of wires between the two read connectors on the lower starboard side of the headlight nacelle.

Here's the jumper cable after I pulled it away from the nacelle.  From here it's just a matter of disconnecting the two white couplers from each other, removing the cable and connecting the red couplers together.

Red couplers with the jumper removed before being attached to each other.

Jumper cable

All back together with the top screw nice and tight now.

Once this simple operation was done I was out on the road but by this time I did not want to continue on down Ridley Creek Rd because I could see several more pits from my vantage point.  So I just turned around just past Steeplechase and headed back on Ridley Creek/Bishop Hollow.  The return lanes had all been fixed to this point so there were no hazards to negotiate on the way back.

At Providence I took a left and headed towards the Pike.  I crossed the Pike with the intention on staying on Providence to its end at Sugartown.  At the intersection with Goshen I saw a dark blue Maserati making a left in front of me onto Goshen.  This was not the same Maserati we saw on Sunday afternoon on Goshen because although they both appeared to be the same model this one was a much darker blue than the one on Sunday.

I continued on to Sugartown took the left there and another left at Goshen for the trip back home.  Despite the hassle with the headlight and the fact that I cut the ride short after that it was a good ride with not too much traffic and with good roads in the portions that have been repaired.  I will wait at least a week before I venture out on Bishop Hollow again.

On the way out the odo had 3676.5 miles and on return 3698.2 miles for about 22 miles on this run.

The exotic tally stands at 15 Ferraris, 13 Teslas, 11 Maseratis, 4 Bentleys, 3 Cobras, 2 McLarens,  2 Austin-Healeys, 2 Lambos, 2 Unknowns,1 Rolls Royce, and 1 DeLorean.

3698.2 on return

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Parking Brake Issues

Random shot of Montse on Coldstream Rd earlier on Sunday

Early Sunday evening we went out for another spin on the MG to capitalize on the great weather.  We headed out Bishop Hollow Road to Chapel Hill Rd and took that for a spin through that neighborhood and back to Ridley Creek Rd on Feathering Ln.

Once on Ridley Creek we continued all the way out to Rose Tree Rd where we made a left.  The Chrysler is gone from the corner, good thing I got the shot of it when I did.

We followed Rose Tree out to 352.  The hills on Rose Tree were a little strenuous on the MG.  She had to struggle to get up but she handled the twists like a champ.  We stayed on 352 out to 926 where we made the right turn.  At the West Chester Pike we took a right instead of cutting across to Garret Mill because we wanted to go to the Acme on the Pike and 252.

We stopped at the Acme and I set the emergency brake.  When we came out, the brake would not disengage.  I fiddled with it and eventually it let loose but not all the way.  I drove the car the short distance home but I wasn't happy about it.  Once in the garage, I started to look in the manuals to see what I need to do and decided to wait for the morning.  The brake was still engaged, if not all the way, and the brakes were so hot they were smoking.  

On Monday morning the brakes had disengaged for themselves.  I am not going to fool around with them, I just won't set the parking brake again.  When I bring the car in for inspection in September I will have Harold take a look at them and figure out the fix.

Part of the road in Bishop Hollow has been fixed and they were getting ready to continue the work.  The sections that were fixed were in really good condition.  When the road gets completely done it will be a great ride.

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Crum Creek at Bishop Hollow Road

Crum Creek at Bishop Hollow Road

I woke up early this morning and took advantage of that to take the Bullet out for a ride.

I had no particular flight plan in mind so I headed up Goshen to see where the road would take me.  Since it was early on a Saturday morning the road was pretty empty and it promised to be a good ride.  Shortly after passing Grubbs Mill Road I noticed a garbage truck out in front of my and I new I did not want to be stuck behind it.  When we reached Providence Rd the truck continued on Goshen and I made a right to avoid it.  There was some activity at the Radnor Hunt Club, it looked that they were setting up for some event but that did not affect the ride.  I continued on to Sugartown and then back to Goshen.

3403.0 at fuel up

From there I continued on up Goshen and I noticed that the odo was getting close to 3402.  I could not remember the last time I fueled up but I did remember having fueled up at 3202 so, as a matter of caution, I took the left at 352 and went to the Wawa.  It turned out that I had only burned .954 gallons since the last fuel up and covered 53.6 miles.  That is 56.18 mpg on this tank, the gas was at $3.279 a gallon, and the refuel cost $3.13.

From there I headed up 352 to Rose Tree Road and followed that to where it meets the end of Bishop Hollow.  That old beat-up  50s Chrysler is still sitting in that yard.  Thought about stopping and getting a photo but by that time I was quite a bit down the road.  I did stop where Bishop Hollow crosses over Crum Creek and got some shots there.

From there I continued on Bishop Hollow and across the West Chester Pike for home.

Bishop Hollow Road in this direction is really good, it mostly climbs from 352 to the Pike and the twists are really noticeable.  This is a ride that I will re-do many times and I know I have to go back to get that photo of the Chrysler.

I left the house at 07:18 with 3381.4 on the odo and returned an hour later with 3420.5 for 39.1 miles on this trip.

Crum Creek at Bishop Hollow Road

3391.4 on departure at 07:18

3420.6 on return at 08:17

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Bishop Hollow Road

Ridley Creek

This morning at 07:30 it was bright and blue, 52 degrees, and windy so perfect time for a run at a new ride down Bishop Hollow Road.  By the time I had geared up and warmed up the Bullet it was a little after 08:00 but conditions hadn't changed much.  I decided to layer up and wear my glove liners for which I was glad towards the end of the ride.

Last winter I had done a recon on Bishop Hollow Road in the truck and thought it would be a nice bike ride.  The route planned was to take 252 to West Chester Pike and make the left onto Bishop Hollow, then follow that until it merged with Ridley Creek Road and all the way out to Rose Tree Rd.  From there a right to Rose Tree and follow that until it T'd out at 352.  I didn't have plan beyond that having several options for a return from 352.

Bishop Hollow gets twisty and hilly from the beginning.  There are several snake turns on the way and very easy rolling hills.  Shortly after turning onto it, I passed a farm with llamas in the pasture.  I should have stopped for a pic but I was just getting onto the roll so I kept going.  I did stop and turned into Ridley Creek Park to get a shot of the creek from the road.  The park was full of people already and I could not find a safe place to park the Bullet so I just pulled over to the side and snapped a couple of shots.  There is a big place in ruins across from the park and, had I had a parking spot, I would have taken some shots of it.  I guess I'll have to come back for that.

From the park I continued on Ridley Creek Road which maintains the same character as Bishop Hollow, twisty and hilly.  The road surface is not in the best condition after the winter but a lot of the potholes had beet patched already so it wasn't to bad.  Nonetheless, even despite the patches the surface on either road is not very good.

Old Barn on Barren Rd. and 352

Rose Tree Rd is in better shape, it's also wider and while still twisty it doesn't roll as much as Bishop Hollow or Ridley Creek.  Once on 352 I really began to notice the wind.  That road doesn't have as much wooded cover as the other two and the wind was buffeting me around pretty good.  I pulled over at Barren Rd to get a picture of an old barn and I formulated a plan for the return.

I decided on the quickest way back, down 352 to 926, across the Pike to Garret Mill, and then to Goshen for the run home.  The wind was really bad in spots from there on and I really began to feel the cold in my hands.  I rolled the right onto 926 on the red without stopping and I was hoping for a red at the Pike to stop and put my hands around the engine for warmth.  This has never happened before but, of course, today I got to the Pike on the green and rolled right across it with no stop.

Garret Mill was deserted but the road surface was still pretty damp from the rain yesterday.  No worries or issues but I took it easy nonetheless.  Once on Goshen the wind picked up again because of the open areas by the horse farms.  The sky look great, it was blue and covered with layered clouds.  If my hands hadn't been numb, I might have been tempted to stop for a shot.  Luckily, I did get the red at 252 and was able to wrap my hands around the engine for a couple of seconds.

I left the house shortly after 08:00 and returned at 09:00.  On the way out the odo read 2744.9 and on return 2771.2 for a total of 26.3 miles on the run.  A great ride.  The twists and hill on Bishop Hollow and Ridley Creek are very satisfying without being too technically challenging.   A nice alternative to running the Chester Dragon (or here, or here, or here) because it doesn't take as long to get there.  A good plan would be to run it out to 352, turn around at the Granite Run Mall parking lot and head right back on the reverse run.  I may try that next time out.

Ridley Creek

Big Old Bus in the way of my shot

Shot without the Big Old Bus

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