River and Trail

Delaware River at Scudder Falls

8 December 2024

Yesterday was cold and blustery. I led a ride on the Lawrence-Hopewell Trail. Martin met me at my house and we met Our Jeff as we rode to the Brearley House parking lot. I turned into the wrong driveway after we crossed over I-295, so we ended up seeing the newest McMonstrosity that is Princeton Pike Towns. This is the housing development that comes right up to the edge of the Brearley House property, and it's why the LHT has been diverted to a narrow, bramble-lined path that dumped us out onto Meadow Road.

Tom and Bob N met us at the Brearley House. We went counterclockwise. I had to map it out on my GPS. I don't trust myself, especially in the direction opposite what I'm used to. I went this way so that we could stop at the Gingered Peach toward the end. 

Construction of the boardwalk between Maidenhead Meadows and the Brearley House is underway. There were people working on it even on a Saturday morning. When it's finished, we'll be able to stay off of Princeton Pike.

It's not as fancy as the bridges over the wetlands at the northwestern end of Rosedale Park.

Maybe it wasn't the best idea to sit outside at the Gingered Peach, but there's no indoor seating. As we were saddling up again, Our Jeff discovered that his rear tire had gone flat. We were only a couple of miles from the end of the ride, so we decided to leave Jeff there to wrestle with the tire, and Tom would come back with his car, either to pick him up if he hadn't fixed it, or to send him on his way if he had. 

Turns out that his rim-tire combination is as awful as Janice's, and he hitched a ride home.

Today was much warmer. I overdressed for Ken W's towpath ride from Ewing to New Hope. 

We started by riding north to the Scudder Falls bridge, where it was understood that there would be a photo stop.

A few miles north on the PA side, Our Jeff stopped to remove a twig in his rear derailleur. I took the opportunity to pull out my camera.

By the time we reached New Hope, my feet were burning up. I sat on the bricks by the front door of the Ferry Market to remove the toe warmers from under my wool socks and wind-proof booties. 

Our Jeff and I got ahead of the others on the way back. I blame the cortado. Ken had posted the route, but I hadn't noticed. If I had downloaded it, I would have seen that we were supposed to turn onto the road that runs along the river in Titusville. We did wait for them at the other end, but not for long. Our Jeff had a football game to watch. 

I usually go along the river. I was glad to have missed the turnoff, because there was a rehearsal for the Washington crossing the Delaware reenactment going on down there. Cops had blocked the Washington Crossing bridge and were parked at the towpath entrances. The road leading into the park was blocked too.

We had 24 miles when we got back to Lower Ferry Road. I decided to Griff it up to 25 and continued south. I knew that somewhere near here was the spot where the canal goes over a road. I figured I'd ride along until I found it, then turn around.

It's not easy to see from this picture, but in the center, above the canal, the black area is pavement, Sullivan Way, which runs under the canal. From down there, it probably just looks like a bridge. From the towpath side, where I was, it does look like one is simply standing on an overpass.

Perhaps I'm simple-minded, but the idea of a canal full of water running over a road as a bridge amazes me.

There was nobody else around. I took a picture facing north, and then south.

 Now I know that the canal goes over Sullivan Way approximately one mile south of Lower Ferry Road.

When I got back, Our Jeff was long gone, but the others were still milling about in the parking lot.

I'm 47 miles shy of the minumum distance I want to accumulate every year. I'm going to be traveling at the end of this week and I'm not coming back until after Christmas. That gives me only a handful of days to reach my goal. One of my hilly rides to Sergeantsville should do it. If I don't make my goal, meh, whatever. This year has been an odd one anyway.