More Towpath

D&R Canal Towpath Where the Millstone and Raritan Rivers Meet, Zarephath, NJ

10 February 2019

Another cold and clear weekend with temperatures below freezing at 9:00 a.m. means another pair of towpath rides along the D&R Canal.

Saturday's trip was off-the-books. Tom corralled the Insane Bike Posse -- me, Jim, Ricky, Pete, Bob, and Chris -- for a trip north from Rocky Hill. He wanted to go as far as Zarephath, where the Millstone and Raritan Rivers meet. I'm just going to keep typing Zarephath because typing Zarephath is fun.

As cold as it was, I didn't stop for pictures until we got to Zarephath. Tom's camera battery called it quits. Mine was fine, so I took a handful of pictures before we turned around.

There were a few frozen mud puddles that looked like this. I ought to have taken a picture of a smaller one we passed twice but I didn't think of it until we were too far beyond it. This one, with shadows, will have to do.

When we got back to Blackwells Mills, Tom decided to take a detour into Six Mile Run State Park. His excuse was that Bob's new bike was still too clean. Chris, always up for some real mountain biking, went with them. Pete decided to go too, and hollered "Wait for me!" to the guys, who were already across the canal.

Jim, Ricky, and I stayed on the towpath. I had to get to a meeting and couldn't take any extra time. I'm not supposed to do any technical mountain biking anyway because of my herniated disc. Ricky and Jim were on road bikes with fat tires; they weren't equipped for Six Mile Run anyway.

What had been frozen two hours ago had now turn to mush in the sunlight. The last few miles were real work.  We were barely back when Pete rolled in. He'd seen the trail -- ice and rocks -- and decided that today was not the day for that.

I got Grover into the car as quickly as I could and headed for home, cooling down enough on the way that I had to take a hot shower, which made me late for the meeting but at least I wasn't the last one to arrive.

Sunday morning was only a little warmer. I left home 40 minutes before the ride because I have no sense of my speed when I ride Grover on the road or on the Lawrence-Hopewell Trail.  I was making pretty good time until I reached the playing fields at the Lawrenceville School. The trail there is always a mess, always bumpy, always washed out, and today it was partially melting in the sun.

I got to Village Park 15 minutes early, before Ken and Martin arrived. To keep warm I wandered around taking pictures of shadows and fences, most of which aren't worth posting.

 Ken's plan was to take the LHT to the towpath and go north to Kingston for a stop at PJ's for coffee. Although it was still below freezing, the sun had melted the ice and turned much of the path to sandy mud. It's always soggy between the Brearley House and Province Line. I didn't stop for pictures on the way up. I wish I had, because by the time we'd had our coffee and turned back, clouds had come in, leaving a hazy light for pictures at the aqueduct.

Here, on a stretch north of the golf course in Princeton, is just about the only place in the township that isn't washed out, torn up, or a muddy mess.

The light was good for a glassy water shot at Province Line facing north. The Quaker Road bridge (not to be confused with Quakerbridge Road) is in the distance.

We hopped up onto the berm in Lawrence in order to avoid the muck below. While it might have been cleaner it certainly was not easier. To make matters worse, Martin caught a stick in his rear derailleur, possibly bending it; he couldn't shift into two thirds of his gears and was stuck on the bottom few. It didn't help that he was riding a one-by.

I left them to slog through the Lawrenceville School trail on their own and headed down Princeton Pike for home. Grover's underside was caked with two inches of mud. The hose was frozen, so I left him on the back porch until the dirt was dry enough to knock off by hand.

I hope next weekend is warmer. One more weekend like this and Grover will have more miles on him this year than Miss Piggy does, and Kermit still has none.

In four weeks we set our clocks ahead.