The Around the Sourlands RUSA permanent was my choice for this month's randonneuring metric century (100km), using a Hopewell NJ start (instead of Piscataway, as originally drawn up by the route's creator). Starting in Hopewell, besides being a much shorter drive from home, meant the route's real climbs, along the Sourland Mountains ridge, took place early in our ride when we were fresh, which I preferred.
I rode with bike-club buddy Rick (who is the main person responsible for my giving rando a go). Again, he was good about my stopping to take pictures; some riders might not be as patient.
We saw some people setting up, marking roads etc, for tomorrow's Sourlands Spectacular, a big annual fund-raiser ride out of Montgomery Township that spends more time on the ridges. I am thinking about going back to ride that route on my own some time. Nice country. I gotta say, calling this a Sourlands route is misleading. It starts out in that vicinity, but soon becomes mostly urban/suburban.
A lot of water runs thru some of the areas we traversed, including the Raritan and Millstone Rivers, Bound Brook and other feeders. We were surprised to see the aftermath of flooding caused by the rains from Hurricane Ida last week; there were numerous road detours (none that affected us). There was debris as high as our heads in the trees along one road, and one ('closed') bridge we crossed had a lot of stuff washed up, filling the walkway. In one area there were a lot of water-damaged household items sitting out along the roadside, awaiting trash pickup.
Weather was outstanding, sunny and 60-72F; a few times we felt the headwinds, NW at 8-12mph, but usually we were shielded by the trees.
Pics, route map and elevation profile here: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/74987817
