Ride 4.09.18

Monday, high 30s – mid 40s and breezy

I drove with Frank down to Gibbstown and parked at the supermarket just off the interstate. We did a bit of shopping, then saddled up and pedaled over the interstate hump and south on Swedesboro Avenue. Frank wanted the day to be at least ‘nifty’ which means we needed to cycle at least ‘fifty’ miles. I had a cue sheet for 46 miles, but I knew the roads well enough that we could go off-script to get our desired miles. 

We wended our way down toward Swedesboro using Wolfert, Warrington Mill, Asbury Station, Hendrickson Mill and Garwin Roads, crossing US 322, turning onto then immediately off Kings Highway before reaching town. The left onto Back Creek Road and a right onto Russell Mill Road put us in great farmland riding country. Then we went east onto Harrisonville Road which fed into Oldman’s Creek Road (and a couple real rollers), across State Route 45, past the South Harrison Township municipal building and on into little Harrisonville. From there we took Eldridges Hill Road to Whig Lane Road to East Lake Road, crossed US Route 40, riding east of Woodstown proper, heading south. Via Alloway-Woodstown, Fenwick, Mannington-Yorkville, Cemetery and Cheney Roads we worked our way out to SR 45 again, by the Salem County vocational school.

After heading south on SR 45 a couple miles we came upon a dirt road, and needing a place to pee, we pulled in there, then saw the sign denoting Mannington Wildlife Management Area. In all the times I’ve ridden down that road past that site (including at least 6 club Time Trials), I’d never seen that sign or known there was a WMA there. After we did our business, Frank suggested we ride further down the dirt road to see what was there. Very shortly we came upon a wooden viewing platform looking out over what I later learned is Mannington Marsh, which feeds into the Salem River. The marsh was more like a river itself at that point, and was occupied by many ducks, egrets, swans and a great blue heron. On the far side, a road bridge was visible, on Kings Highway.

We continued down SR 45 and made a right turn, went around the horn (on the quaintly-named Bypass Road) and immediately turned onto Kings Highway headed north, passing over the Swamp bridge, from which a couple guys were fishing, and rode on up, eventually to Sharptown. There we went left on Main Street and after a block took a right onto a side street that came out to US 40, a block up west of the traffic light with the Sunoco convenience store. We crossed the highway there (just a little east of the Cowtown Rodeo, ‘the oldest weekly running rodeo in the USA') and made our way up to Auburn, passing Frank’s favorite solar-powered LED blinking Stop signs, and then veered west toward sleepy Pedricktown. We dawdled there a bit, seeing if we could find the Pedrick House which we’d heard of, but no luck, even after asking a USPS letter carrier who was kind enough to Google it for us. 

We then proceeded west to US 130 (a country road at that point) and started north. Knowing that the drawbridge over Raccoon Creek by Bridgeport is under construction and still may not be a healthy place for cyclists to ride, we took a right onto Center Square Road and headed toward Pureland industrial park. The riding there was dicey on this weekday, and it was clear that the road was laid out for big trucks and cars, but not for bicycles. We squeezed thru over a mile, gritting our teeth and saying, 'Never again.' We crossed over I-295 at Exit 10 and continued toward Swedesboro, going thru the new-ish commercial area with all the conveniences (Acme, franchised fast-food joints, banks, medical offices, drug stores, the Logan Township library, etc) that feed off all the new homes in the area, the Jersey southern edge of the Philly-area urban sprawl. Eventually we came to the new little Kings Highway traffic circle at the south end of Swedesboro near the diner where I’ve eaten frequently with the Breakfast Bike Boys (Gene, Sam, Rich, Mike, Larry, Matt). 

From there it was the usual careful ride down the main drag thru town, watching our mirrors and looking out so we didn’t get doored by the cars sitting along the curb, until, after crossing Raccoon Creek on the north end of town, we made a dicey left off Kings Highway onto Paulsboro Road. We sailed along on that road, went thru the small village of Repaupo and got back to Gibbstown safely after a total of 60 miles, both agreeing that the last stretch was a most enjoyable run in to the finish. Again we availed ourselves of what the supermarket has to offer, then we loaded up the bikes and headed for home. A nice little chilly bike adventure, it was. The balaclavas never came off.