Return to Princeton

Day 13

Hello!  We had a great day thanks to Jen and Ben creating a perfect route for us.  We got going after a slow start navigating through Philly due to the Garmin acting up plus, it is hard to admit - some human error, we were on our way.  Once we got through the town of Camden in NJ on the other side of the Ben Franklin Bridge we were on our way.  We arrived in Princeton a little after 5:00p about 54 miles.  

Tonight we are resting and tomorrow too.  We will post more after a night of rest!

Return to Philly

Day 12

Day 12 - it is official; tomorrow we begin our return home. I know the moms are probably jumping for joy as they read this post :).  We begin by returning to Princeton.  We have a planned rest day in Princeton as well. We are looking forward to spending more time there; it is such a beautiful university town.

We left Phoenixville this morning by 11:00a and rolled back into Philly before 4:00p.  We checked into the same B&B, in the same room.  This time we were able to lock our bikes in the basement.  It saved us carrying them up three flights of stairs.  Yahoo!  Let me tell you - we have been so lucky with the weather.  Although its been warm, its been beautiful for riding.  

Jen and Ben made us a perfect dinner - grilled salmon, sautéed veggies and a fresh salad with avocados and cucumbers (my favorite kind of meal); Jen was sure NOT to add any sugar and we drank water, not Soda. We passed on the Dunkin Donuts Caramel Swirl for dessert!

According to Jen and Ben, we need to get on the road earlier than our between 10-12 start time.  We concur so tomorrow morning they are meeting us for an early breakfast at 7:30a to kick us off.  Therefore this post, at least from me tonight, will end soon.

I do not have any pictures to post today, but Steve does.  He will post after me!

Phoenixville, PA

Day 11

Today was a perfect day riding.  A short 30 miles to Phoenixville.  It was hot and sunny, which is preferable to rain, but it did mean frequent hydration breaks. We were on the bike path 90% of the time.  It was a fast ride because we didn't have to share our riding space with cars or encounter traffic lights; however, we did have to share the path with other bikers and pedestrians. This was much easier to navigate, so we rode straight into Phoenixville without stopping for lunch.  It was inevitable, however, that we did manage to piss off a few drivers during the other 10% of the time on the roads.  We encountered a few crazies saying things like 'share the road' and 'get the F on the side walk.'  Imagine saying that kind of thing to a bicyclist.  Like we really cared - the day was so perfect!  Of course, we just laughed and kept on riding :)  

Along the way we hydrated, ate bananas and soft pretzel bits with mustard.  The pretzels, an impulsive snack Jen and Ben purchased in Doylestown that morning.  Although I did not partake in the pretzel snacking (because of the gluten), Ben reassured me that they were just great!  And of course Steve continues to remind everyone that I have DR, dietary restrictions.  As if it is a disease!  Now he's got Jen and Ben are saying it too!

Here below is a great pic of Steve and Jen.

Father and Daughter

Here are some shots from Yesterday's ride.

A great picture of Jen and Ben.

The Lovers

A picture Ben took of Steve and I.

Fooling Around in the Woods

A picture I took of the three giving me some attitude.

Attitude X 3

Much Needed Rest

We really needed something to drink at this point above.  We were really parched!

So tonight we had a great meal at an Irish Pub; Peggy if you are reading you would be very proud.  Then we went to the Colonial Theater here in town.  We saw the documentary 'Fed Up'.  A look at the food industry and the obesity epidemic here in America. This is a great film.  I recommend it to all.  A bit disturbing, but so relevant and informative.  All four of us never want to buy another food item from a box or in a can from this point forward.  The big take away - excessive amounts of Sugar in our diets is the leading cause of disease in this country and we should all say goodbye to Soda!

Steve's Entry

We all met on the porch of the Doylestown Inn this morning around 10am and discussed breakfast plans over cups of coffee.  This was not unusual as most of our conversations revolve around eating and drinking coffee.

          On the Doylestown Inn porch:

We met some folks who live in Doylestown and they recommended Gerilyn's for breakfast.  It was close by and when we arrived they said they could accommodate Di's long list of dietary restrictions (DR), so it worked out great.  As an added bonus we were seated in their outdoor patio.  As a special bonus we soon found their coffee was extremely good.

          Relaxing at Gerilyn's for breakfast:

Apparently we were too relaxed because we didn't start riding until 12:30am.  At 12:32 Ben declared his iPhone had sent us the wrong way.  We decided to abandon the iPhone and use the Garmin.  At 12:35 Di declared we had gone the wrong way.  Sigh.  Eventually, we figured out which way to go and started on our trip to Phoenixville.

          Jen expresses her feelings about getting lost:

Because we had a large breakfast, we decide not to stop for lunch.  Instead, we just took a few quick breaks along the way.

          Ingesting what Fed Up later taught us was too much sugar:

We rode much of the day on bike paths.

  Ben's youthful exuberance induces him to ride far ahead of us:

          Ben and Jen modeling pretty scenery:

          I took this while riding (not bad, eh?):

          Taking another break to eat some of Ben's stash of pretzels:

We made it to the Mainstay Inn around 4pm.  We relaxed for a little while and then went exploring.

          Di glammed up for exploration of Phoenixville:

Naturally, we explored no further than the first cafe:

We each drank an ice mocha at the cafe and then had to find a restaurant because Di and Ben said they were starving.  We weren't sure where to eat, but then we saw Molly Maguire's across the street and its close proximity meant we wouldn't have to walk anymore, so it became the perfect place to eat.  We were seated upstairs on their outdoor patio.  We get seated so often on the outdoor patios that I'm beginning to think we aren't wanted in the main seating areas.  Is it possible we don't look that appealing after riding all day?

          Two appealing restaurant patrons:

I found dinner at Molly Maguire's to be particularly refreshing.

Tomorrow is our last day of riding with Ben and Jen.  Its been a lot of fun riding with them and they will be sorely missed as we begin our journey back to RI.

Doylestown, PA

Day 10

Di and I left the Bella Vista Inn at 10:30 and rode to Jen and Ben's.  They were all packed up and ready to go, but first we had to go WaWa to get some gatorade.

          At the WaWa getting gatorade:

We got on a great bike path soon after leaving WaWa.

Jen on the bike path

 Of course, even though we were on a bike path the Garmin made us stop often to verify our route.

     A dejected Ben forced to stop riding while Di and Jen Garmined:

We rode for a while on hard packed dirt trails.

          Here is Ben as leader of the pack:

          Di and Jen enjoying the ride:

          Jen was parched and partook of a refreshing beverage:

          Lunch on the restaurant patio at the 20 mile mark:

          Di and Jen unbowed amidst the cars:

We even had to stop for a train.

          Hey, something's coming!

Its a train!

And its loud!

We arrived in Doylestown a little after 5pm and 38 miles.  The town has a well defined Main Street with many shops and restaurants.  We checked into the inn and relaxed for a bit before heading out to dinner.
          Jen and Ben hanging out in Doylestown:

We ate dinner at MOMS (Maxwell's on Main Street) and the food was great.  We had the waiter take a picture of us with our food, but he had trouble operating the camera and took so long that we were unprepared when he finally took the shot.

          Unprepared subjects at dinner photo shoot:

Philly - Day 2

Day 9

Yesterday (Wednesday) we walked down to PJ's Pancake House for breakfast. I was in the mood for pancakes and the breakfast at the Peacock was rather skimpy.  While we waited for our meal to arrive I ran across the street to the camera shop.  I needed to replace a filter that had fallen off he camera and cracked when it hit the ground.  The store owner, an elderly gentleman in his seventies, said I had two choices for a replacement filter -- a generic one that cost 40 dollars and a Hoya brand that cost 70 dollars.  I asked what the difference was between the two.  He looked at me as if I was lacking in intelligence and said very slowly and loudly, "One costs 70 dollars and one costs 40 dollars!"  "So I guess I should get the 40 dollar one?", I asked.  "Yes!", he replied.  I bought the 40 dollar filter.

          Here is Di at PJ's Pancake House

          Starting the day with a hearty breakfast:

It was a hot day with temperatures in the nineties.  We stopped at a Taco Bell for lunch and called the Moms to say hello.  We rode onto to Trenton, NJ and crossed the "Trenton makes and the world takes" bridge into Pennsylvania.

          Here is Di about to cross the bridge into PA:

           Di surprising abiding by the law and walking her bike:

          We are in PA!

The ride into Philly was mostly on streets with a dedicated bike lane, which made for easy going.  It was still hot so with only five miles to go we stopped at a Checkers to grab some root beer and a little rest.

     Di crying because the day's ride is almost over:

We arrived at our destination, the Bella Vista Inn, and learned we had to carry our bikes up to the fourth floor.  This news made Di cry for the second time that day.  We lugged our bikes and bags up to our room, took quick showers, and then walked to Jen and Ben's apartment.

          The entire purpose of our trip:

Jen made us a fabulous meal of chicken, black beans, and spiralized golden beets in a green chile sauce.  The spiralizer made the beets look like spaghetti, so every time I took a bite my mind was telling me I was eating pasta but then my taste buds told me otherwise.  I loved the meal and now Di and I have to get a spiralizer.

          Jen spiralizing the beets:

          Close up of our meal (with iced coffee):

          Louie keeping guard from his perch:

          This was too funny to pass up:

Di here ...

What a wonderful day with Jen and Louie (Ben had to work). We met Jen for breakfast at a corner breakfast diner that served enormous frittara's, home fries, the best biscuits and fresh fruit. We certainly started the day out right.  Then we searched for a new front tire for my bike.  We found one at the third bike shop we went to.  Although my front tire performed well on all the trails, we thought it was time for a new one.  We didn't want to press our luck.  We have three days of riding with Ben and Jen so with four of us riding, eight tires, the odds increase of us experiencing a flat tire.  I didn't want it to be mine :).

We then washed our dirty, smelly clothes at Jen's.  We now have clean clothes for the next phase of our trip.  Whoo hooo!  Steve read his book some and Jen and I did the bike route to Doylestown for tomorrow, then successfully loaded it to the Garmin.  We rested some too!   All three of us had a greek salad with a perfect piece of salmon atop. 

Finally, we watched Harold and Maude, a 1970s film that Steve bought for Jen for her birthday.  The soundtrack with a sole artist, Cat Stevens, one Jen and Steve's favorite.  The film was touching and the characters quite original.  Definitely one we would recommend.

Catching up with yesterday's post, here are some pics from our ride to Philly yesterday.

Steve on the NJ and PA line

Steve enjoying the scenery from the Trenton Makes bridge 

Steve and Di

Steve put the new tire on my bike and we are resting now, getting ready for tomorrow.  We are scheduled to meet Jen and Ben at 10:30a tomorrow morning.  Tomorrow will be here before we know it!

Philadelphia, PA

Day 8

We made it to Philly!  It was a long day riding and great night visiting with Jen and Ben.   It's late now so we will post tomorrow about the day's events.

Princeton, NJ

Day 7

We spent a wonderful evening and morning with Maria (David was on a business trip).  I really like their home (the house has great bones) with hardwood floors and pictures of family and friends in every room.  Maria made sure coffee was waiting for us when we finally got out of bed at 9am and we then had breakfast outside in the back yard.

     Here is Maria relaxing with Di when she probably should have been working:

It was tough to finally leave because Maria pampered us so well, but we were on the rode at 11:15.  The first part of today's trip took us through suburban neighborhoods, so we were surprised to see a deer casually walking by.

     Deer hanging out behind the A&P:

We rode for 20 miles before we stopped for lunch at an italian restaurant.  I had the special, bow tie pasta with chicken and broccoli rabe.  Di had the same except substituted gluten free penne for the bow tie.  A few miles after we resumed we found the beginning of the bike path that follows the Deleware and Raritan Canal.  The bike path is over 16 miles long and we were looking forward to some fast going, so imagine our surprise when we discovered it is an unpaved path.  

     Here is Di at the beginning of the D & R Canal Bike Path:

It was rough going because the dirt path often disintegrated into a pile of rocks, but we were patient because we figured it would soon turn into a paved path.

     Here is Di navigating over bike path scree:

Well, we were wrong about that (we are often wrong about things when we go biking, especially directions).  The path remained dirt for its entirety.  It was often rocky and riddled with gullies so we often had ride up off the saddle as if we were on a horse.  That technique still wasn't enough to prevent certain body parts from becoming sore.  Even so, it was a beautiful path and we eventually came to accept the rough ride as the price we had to pay to enjoy the great scenery.

     Di enjoying the scenery on the D&R Canal Bike Path:

     Di taking a much needed break from riding the bumpy path:

     Di startling an albatross (or heron, or loon, or some big bird) into flight:

Once the bike path ended we had only three miles to the Peacock Inn in Princeton.  Di was so thirsty that we first had to stop at an organic grocery store so she could drink five bottles of Bai 5.

     Di is happy after sucking down lots of Bai:

We arrived at the Peacock around 5:45pm and are now going to explore Princeton and get some dinner.  I can't wait to get to Philly tomorrow and see Jen and Ben.  Wahoo!

Di here ...

Before I start about today let me provide you more insight into yesterday's beautiful and adventurous ride.  The first 20 miles were just perfect.  Here is Steve going across a small bridge in the park that we cut through.

Bridge safe for riding

Steve taking a quick break

As you can see we were getting close to NYC.  You can see the top of the city skyline.

We finally hit the Bit Apple.  The end of the bike path dropped us in North Bronx.   It was about 3 miles to the GWB.  The longest 3 miles of my life, let me tell you!  At one point the Garmin wanted us on the subway, but we thought different.  

Steve was excited to take the subway

Instead we stayed on Broadway, which as you can see below may not have been the best route after all; perhaps the Garmin was right wanting us to be on the subway.

Broadway in the Bronx

Finally we made it through NYC.  Here is Steve on the GWB.

Steve loving his journey across

We finally made it to Maplewood, Maria and David's house, at about 7:45p.  After the ride we had through the Bronx and South Orange we were ready for some pampering.  Staying with Maria and the girls was a real treat.  And of course with Rory and Feisty too!  We unfortunately missed David due to a business trip, which was very disappointing. Next time we will just have to stay two nights to make up for it :).  

Thank you Maria! 

Today's ride to Princeton NJ was packed with adventure just like yesterday.  Today's route on paper looked extremely easy;  about 40 miles riding all green roads and bike paths.  As Steve stated above riding a 16 mile dirt path is hard work!  

Prior to hitting the dirt path, we enjoyed another Pasta meal.  Between last night's meal Maria made us and this lunch, we were ready to burn some serious calories.  

Steve enjoying his Bowtie past lunch

At times we were walking the bikes for safety reasons.  Here Steve wanted to make a detour, but I nicely vetoed that.

Steve on the edge

Here Steve carefully navigates down the crushed stones drop.

Steve braking all the way

We made it to Princeton by 5:22p.  One of our earliest arrival times; hence the long post tonight.  Tomorrow we are headed to Philly.  It's a great feeling knowing Jen and Ben are waiting for us!