New Jersey Hills

May 20th proceeded with rather unpleasant biking through the towns of North New Jersey, across the Overbeck, Hackensack, and Passaic Rivers into downtown Paterson, New Jersey.

Alexander Hamilton led the charge to harness the power of the Great Falls of the Passaic to turn the region into a model late 18th century industrial town. That was in 1791. I think it worked.

But we turned just before the Great Falls to bike up the first significant hills of the trip. The next couple of hours testing our souls ...and legs. These were some of the toughest hills we were to ride since our legs were not yet strong and the roads were not too concerned with grades. The roads were narrow and the traffic heavy. It made for difficult pedals up two ridges, including the Ramapo Mountains along Skyline Drive.

The region is marked by a number of lakes formed by dams.  The result are lakes that can become playgrounds or stagnant waters.  As we past the southern end of Lake Greenwood there was a boat race.  Theses races were a tradition that came to the end early in the 21st century.  

The plan was to bike and camp in the Lake Wawayanda/Ramapo Mountain area.  But the ride was tough and the traffic as stressful, despite the calm weather we decided to search for lodging with a roof.  We ended up at the Willow Brook Inn.  A fairly expensive bed & breakfast on the Warwick Turnpike near the New York border. 

The evening was quiet despite the traffic flowing by on the road in front of the house.  A young kitten was curious about my helmet and was playing with it and we relaxed, excited that we have left metropolitan New York,  and its traffic, behind.