First Rides of August

 

Wickecheoke Creek, Prallsville Mills

2 August 2026

Tom and I went exploring in the Abbott Marshlands last Monday. I'll have a separate post about that. I'm aiming to do a series about the parks I've been visiting. He'll probably have his post up before I get to it. 

He led his Emery's ride on Saturday. It wouldn't be a Tom ride if there weren't a closed road somewhere. This was a good one. Not only did we have to straddle a plastic fence; we also had to skirt two concrete pipes. I don't remember where this was.

I'm not a fan of Emery's as a rest stop. The pastries are decent, but there's no indoor plumbing and, worse, no coffee. I packed my own cold brew in a collapsible flask. Of course, it was lukewarm brew after 26 miles in the sun. 

Bob was intrigued by the apple cider donut ice cream sandwiches, packed in opaque freezer bags. I don't think he was expecting the thing to be as big as it was. We had to get pictures.  "Don't have a quiche moment," I reminded him.

I wasn't feeling quite right for this ride. It was a flat 50 miles, at the advertized pace, with not a lot of wind. It was hot, but not that hot. I think I must have been dehydrated before I started, and chugging the coffee did not help. 

We were less than a mile from the end when I heard "tink-tink-tink" coming from Dave's bike behind me as we climbed the annoying little hill out of Allentown. It sounded like a broken spoke. It wasn't. It was a massive staple that went all the way through his tubeless rear tire. What I heard was the other end of it hitting his seat tube. Ricky had a rack on his car, so he went to fetch Dave.

Despite the heat, I felt cold at home in the afternoon. I made sure to drink and get some salts into myself. Then I went for a short walk at Rosedale Park, looking for Argiope spiders. I didn't find any. It's still early. I hope to see one this summer.

Today, Ken W led a towpath ride from Lambertville to Frenchtown. I got to the Holcombe-Jimison parking lot early enough to take a few pictures.

Someone had propped up a fork like a whimsical cairn.

The wildflowers have changed their blooms since last month.

Luis asked if I had any chain lube. I didn't. He ended up using someone's sunscreen. It worked. 

2-ish miles in, we stopped at Prallsville Mills because there's an indoor bathroom. I rode a bit ahead to take pictures of the mill, the canal, the Wickecheoke Creek, and the Delaware River.

We had some rain last week. All the water was brown.

Wickecheoke Creek

Delaware River (rear), Wickecheoke Creek (center), Delaware Canal (front)

facing north

facing south

looking up (back stretch)

From this point all the way to Frenchtown, the towpath is under trees. Somewhere between Bulls Island and Byram, the feeder canal ends. In the winter, it's easy to follow. Now, with so much understory, I couldn't find it. 

On the path, there were drought-fallen leaves. People were tubing in brown water. I tried to keep track of where we were (Stockton, Bulls Island, Point Pleasant, Byram) and made a note to look up what streams we crossed over (Wickecheoke, Lockatong, Warford, Copper, Nishisakawick, Little Nishisakawick).

At the Perfect Day Cafe, I ordered an iced mocha cappucino, because that's my thing now. It worked. The ride back was easier than the ride up. It was also slightly downhill. Ron M, who now rides an e-bike, began to misbehave towards the end. "Turn your motor down a notch," I suggested. Ken added, "Fifteen is a little fast." He acquiesced until we were nearly at the end. "I'm taking off now," he told me, and sped away. We came in at the upper end of the advertized pace.

On the way home, I detoured to Hopewell for a quick pass through the near side of the St Michaels Farm Preserve. I didn't find any Argiope there either. But the field of wild bergamot was worth the stop.

Hey! Look! I'm all caught up!