The D&R Canal, But Not the Whole Thing

D&R Canal North of Washington Crossing

20 November 2016

Yesterday was nearly summer. Last night brought sleet, thunder, a little snow, and a power outage in the wee hours of the morning. Today's winds were a steady 25 mph from the northwest, gusting from 35-45 mph. 

It was not a day I wanted to be on the road.

Instead, I met Sue M for her PFW Sunday ride on the D&R Canal towpath at Washington Crossing. Chris was there too.  After a delayed start (I'd been rerouted around a downed power line between my house and the highway), we made our way north along the New Jersey side of the river, into the wind.

We didn't have much of a plan; we'd ride until we got tired of the headwind. Lambertville is 6.5 miles away, and we were almost in the center of town, crossing a little bridge over the canal, when Sue's wheel skidded out on a steel plate. She hit the deck and stayed under her bike long enough for me and Chris to double back.

She'd hurt her shoulder, and while she could still ride, she thought it best to go back. "You go ahead," she said. "I'll be fine."  Nope. We went with her, and she was fine, as long as she didn't move her right arm.

"You realize," I said, "that you're going to have to write yourself up." Been there, done that.

"I know."

"And report yourself at the Board meeting," because, as Ride Captain, in addition to concatenating all of the rides coming in from the Ride Coordinators and sending them to me to edit for the newsletter, her duty is to read off all of the accident reports to the Board of Directors every month.

"I know," she said.

After hoisting her bike into the back of her car, and getting assurances that she would be fine and get x-rays ("I'm not messing around," she said. "I'm heading to RWJ."), Chris and I decided to continue south towards Trenton for a while.

"How far do you want to go?" I asked as we neared Cadwalader Park in Trenton.

"To where we were last time," he said. "That way I can say I've done the whole thing. Not at once, but I can say I did the whole thing."

Last time we'd gone from Princeton down to the Trenton War Memorial and back. With John K, I'd come this way into the city twice. I figured ought to be able to remember how to do it.

Between the two of us, we found the signs,

and we got to the spot where we'd turned around last time.

By now the wind had picked up, and the return trip was real work whenever there weren't trees to dampen the force. I was tired enough when we got back to our cars.

At home, I checked my highlighted Mercer County map that's been tacked to a wall for fifteen years. Today was the first time I'd been on the stretch of towpath between Washington Crossing and Scenic Drive.  I still haven't done the whole thing. The pink highlighter on my Somerset County map peters out at Amwell Road.  Looks like I've got some homework this winter.