Nearly 400 cyclists, runners and hikers took to the roads and trails of the Sourland Mountain region Saturday, climbing hills, passing farms and forests and raising money to help protect the landscape they had come to experience.
The 15th annual Sourland Spectacular brought participants to The Watershed Institute in Hopewell Township for a morning of cycling and outdoor activities organized by the Sourland Conservancy.
For cyclists, the hills were very much part of the point.
“All of the routes other than the family route, go over the mountain at least once,” said Jim Andrews, a Sourland Conservancy board member.
Riders could choose from four routes designed for different experience levels: a 7.6-mile family ride with 272 feet of climbing; a 27.3-mile route with 1,590 feet of climbing; a 42-mile route with 2,740 feet of climbing; and the longest option, a 63.1-mile ride with 3,944 feet of climbing.
Ahmad Samad of Metuchen chose the 27-mile route. While it was the shorter of the three main cycling routes, it still offered plenty of climbing.
“There were a couple of challenging climbs and a couple of hills,” Samad said. “But otherwise we were in these very rural areas passing beautiful farmlands and open pastures which were gorgeous.”
The scenery was also part of the draw for Army buddies Nicholas Commenti and Dennis Devery.
“It’s just a beautiful area,” Commenti said. “This is a nice ride if you want hills.”
Participants returned to the Watershed for lunch and post-ride activities, with refreshments that included coffee from Small World Coffee, pizza from New World Pizza and ice cream from The Bent Spoon.
Riding to protect the mountain
The Sourland Spectacular is also one of the Sourland Conservancy’s annual fundraisers, supporting the nonprofit’s work to protect and restore the Sourland Mountain region.
Laurie Cleveland, executive director of the Sourland Conservancy, said individual donations account for about 60% of the organization’s operating budget, making events such as the Spectacular an important source of support.
“It supports our entire mission which is to protect and preserve the unique character of the region,” Cleveland said of the money raised through the event. “But we are specifically focusing on our entire forest restoration project. This project has been going on since 2020.”
That effort has taken on greater urgency as invasive pests and disease have killed large numbers of trees throughout the Sourlands.
“We lost a million trees to the emerald ash borer, and we are losing about fifty-thousand to beech leaf disease, and we have to plant as fast as we can,” Cleveland said.
According to the Conservancy, more than 45,000 trees and shrubs have been planted through the restoration effort over the past three years, with another 12,000 targeted for planting this year.
The work is about more than replacing trees that have disappeared. The forested Sourlands provide habitat for wildlife and migrating birds and help protect water resources throughout the region. Trees also capture and slow rainfall before it can rush downhill and contribute to flooding.
“A single mature tree can absorb as much as 11,000 gallons of water in a growing season,” Cleveland said. “Not only do that absorb the water, but they also slow it down. The flood waters just rolls off the mountains and what we are trying to do is work very carefully and strategically to plant these trees were they will do the most good.”
A route built around the Sourlands
The landscape the Conservancy is working to protect also shapes the Spectacular itself.
Andrews said organizers design the cycling routes with two considerations in mind: providing access to strategically placed rest stops where riders can get a drink, stretch or use the restroom, while also making sure they experience the Sourland Mountain.
That means climbing.
The 42-mile route included 2,740 feet of climbing, while cyclists taking on the 63.1-mile route faced 3,944 feet of elevation gain before returning to the Watershed.
The event used flexible start times, allowing cyclists to head out between 7 and 10 a.m. and complete their routes in time for lunch.
For participants such as Samad, the climbs were balanced by the landscape around them — open pasture, farmland and stretches of the Sourland countryside.
And that connection between recreation and conservation is at the heart of the event: giving people an opportunity to experience the Sourlands while raising money for the work intended to protect them.
