Month: September 2022

Oh what a night!  The Explorers were a little worried about how close their campsite was to the bridge spanning the north and south portions of the Delaware Seashore State Park.  The traffic was a little heavy and loud.  As it turned out, that was the least of their concerns.  The wind was so heavy all night that they couldn’t even hear the traffic, but sleep was difficult because of the wind.  Throughout the night it felt like someone as pushing in on the wall and the ceiling of the tent, and that the floor of the tent was trying to lift up under them.  Sidekick Sue was heavy-eyed when Captain Mark’s alarm went off at 6:00 am as part of their plan to get to a hotel before the rain came.  Looking around outside, the Explorers saw that they weren’t the only ones that had trouble with the wind.  The closest neighbor had ditched their flattened tent during the night and went to sleep in their car.  The Explorers were thankful their REI tent survived as they had no car to run to.  

The same wind that tortured them all night was a Godsend in the morning.  The wind was blowing from north to south, so it was actually at their back as they headed down the strip of land connecting Delaware to Maryland.  Their plan was to only do about half a day of riding (about 20 miles) and finish up before the rain that was supposed to come around 10-11 AM.  They were also pushed to finish up before the wind changed, as they knew it would with a storm system coming up from the south. 

With the wind at their back, the ride actually went quite smoothly.  The road was flat with a wide shoulder and it was actually pleasant despite the gloom.  They road down the Coastal Highway through Bethany Beach.  The first half of the ride was like the day before…. swamp on one side, sand dunes on the other.  The Explorers took a quick rest on Fenwick Island where the scenery changed to tourist attractions like miniature golf, escape rooms and beach restaurants. 

The tourist kitsch continued right into Ocean City, Maryland where they entered the Boardwalk at 27th Street.  Near the end of the Boardwalk, they cut over to the Harry W. Kelley Memorial Bridge and followed it to the “mainland”.  There was no time to linger in Ocean City, but the Explorers weren’t too disappointed as they had spent a few days exploring Ocean City before.  They stopped at Dunkin Donuts to charge their electronics and figure out a where to stay.  They got a good deal on a Microtel across the street (with an suite upgrade for Wyndham members) and planned to stick around a few days to wait out the rain, do laundry, and rest their sore behinds.  

The rain today turned out to be far less than expected, but the Explorers could use a day to recharge none-the-less, especially given the lack of sleep from the previous night.  In watching the news, it appears that the weather system they are seeing IS part of the hurricane working its way through North Carolina now, so they are hoping that it will die down over the next few days, so they can continue their trek.  

Tomorrow will be spent in the hotel, so unless something more exciting than laundry happens, the Explorers won’t bother to post an update tomorrow.  

The Explorers packed up early and left Jellystone.  Sidekick Sue hesitantly joined Captain Mark in eating a protein bar for breakfast (don’t tell him, but it was tasty).  The first part of the ride looked very much like the last few days… cornfields and pea farms.  As they got closer to the shore, there were more and more brand-new looking housing developments carved into the farming landscape.  Apparently, selling land to developers is a lot easier and more profitable than trying to run a farm.  

The first town of any significance was Milton, where the Explorers stopped to take a rest and grab refreshments.  There was a bike shop that was opening in 10 minutes, so the Explorers walked around town a bit waiting for it to open so that Sidekick Sue could buy some new biking gloves.  There was a great outdoor movie setup across the street with rows of composite Adirondack chairs and a truck that somehow transformed into a screen and sound system.  Seems like a fun alternative to the drive-in.  

About 15 miles into the day, the Explorers jumped onto a bike path which was a welcome escape from the shoulder of the road and traffic.  The path led to Lewe’s Beach, which is right where the Delaware Bay meets the ocean.  The Explorers skirted the outskirts of town, opting instead to use their time in Rehobeth Beach which was several miles further south.  After a few miles there was another paved bike path that started through some of the new housing developments and then turned to packed gravel, winding through the woods and then between the houses near the beach.  

The path popped out in front of the Crystal Diner in Rehobeth Beach where the Explorers went to eat lunch.  Captain Mark was trying to negotiate a seat with an electrical outlet (to charge the devices) but the waitress didn’t seem to understand English too well.  So Captain Mark took charge and found an outlet and asked for the nearby table.  The Explorers had a nice long lunch while their devices charged (they will be at a state park tonight without electric).  After the meal, they asked for refills on soda and the waitress asked if they were “to go” (was that a hint?), but the Explorers weren’t quite done charging, so they hung out.  (The restaurant was not busy so they didn’t feel “too” guilty).  As they were packing up, the owner came out to ask them about their trip.  She is a biker too, and was very interested to hear about their plans.  

After lunch, the Explorers parked their bike down near the boardwalk and took in the sights.  They stopped in a few stores and did some window shopping (any real purchases would necessitate throwing away something they already had packed… no room for more stuff or more weight).  

The final part of the ride was about 10 miles down a skinny land bridge between Rehobeth Bay and the ocean.  Even though the land wasn’t very wide, the Explorers couldn’t see the water because of tall marsh grasses on one side and sand dunes on the other.  They finally reached their destination, Delaware Seashore State Park, which is spilt into two sections (north and south) by a huge bridge that crosses an inlet between the two.  The Explorers pitched their tent on the southern side, showered and ventured out on a walk to stretch their legs, first walking under the bridge to the beach, and then walking over the bridge to the northern campground and back. 

With the hurricane hitting Florida today, the Explorer have their eye on the weather.  It looks like there might be some time in the morning to bike to Ocean City MD to find a motel to “hole up” for a few days until the current weather systems pass.  Sidekick Sue is sore and ready for a recovery break.  She suspects Captain Mark is just as eager to take a break, but won’t admit it  🙂  

The Beach at Delaware Seashore State Park

Another relatively uneventful day.  The Explorers left the Residence Inn after a hearty breakfast.  Yesterday, Sidekick Sue lost one of her biking gloves.  This morning, she went to put on her back-up pair, and they are mysteriously missing too.  Duh!  A quick Google search showed it might be a couple of days before they get to a town with a bike store.  So Sidekick Sue unhappily saddled up for glove-less day of riding.  (As silly as it might sound, biking gloves are padded in a way that helps ones hands from going numb while gripping the handlebars).  The first part of the morning took the Explorers through historic downtown Dover, over cobblestone streets and past colonial buildings.  

Gradually, the scenery became more rural again.  They passed hundreds of cornfields, and some other fields that they think may have been peas, although they didn’t stop to investigate.  Every so often, they passed a new subdivision with a prestigious name…. obviously a tract of farmland that was sold off to a developer.  There were lots of cars about, but very little in the category of amenities like stores or gas stations.  The route today was extremely flat compared to prior days…. not even one torturous climb (although Sidekick Sue dreads going back up the downhill that led to their camp ground tomorrow).

It was around noon before the Explorers reached the town of Felton, which seemed to have some significant buildings like a post office, a school and a library.  The Explorers were searching for their morning soft drink refreshment and were just about to turn around and give up when they saw they were just about to intersect with their old friend, Route 13.  Sure enough, there were a couple of gas stations at the intersection and the Explorers finally got their morning refreshment.  

The afternoon scenery matched the morning.  More cornfields and the mysterious fields that might be peas.  The Explorers had no idea how much farmland there was in Delaware.  They were expecting the state to be much more developed.  

The official route to their campground would have taken the Explorers through more farmland, so they diverted to the good-sized town of Milford, which had plenty of stores and restaurants.  The went to Food Lion and Wawa to stock up on protein bars for the morning, since there would be no breakfast at the campground, and no restaurants nearby.  They popped into Polisenos Pizza for their late lunch/early dinner and then jumped back on the bike for the last 8 miles to the campground.

The campground for the night was a Jellystone Park featuring Yogi bear.  As it is mid-week in late-September, the place was relatively empty with the pools and amenities locked up.  That didn’t stop the campground from charging the Explorers a $12 amenities fee. 🙁  At least they were able to negotiate a tent site with electric that was near the showers so they didn’t have to hang out in the laundry room to charge their electronics.  The sun is setting at 7:00; a sure sign that summer is officially over.  

The Explorers spent a quiet night at Lums Pond State Park in Delaware.  Sleeping in a tent isn’t always comfortable, but it got dark fairly early, so the Explorers got a good amount of sleep (after a battle with a few daddy-long legs spiders that had gotten inside the tent).

In the morning, the Explorers packed up and headed back to the “official route”.  Instead of backtracking to the C&D Canal Path, they took surface roads to get to the St. Georges Bridge which they needed to get across the canal.  The Explorers had motored under this same bridge last year when then were bringing their trawler up the East Coast.  Even after taking surface roads to get to the entry point on the bridge, the bridge itself was a solid upward climb, although it had a separate lane for bikes, which was appreciated.  It was one of only two major hills encountered today, and the Explorers were lucky to tackle it early in the day, while they were still fresh.  The road crossing the bridge was Route 13, which was a bit busy.  The Explorers were happy to see the route turn off of Route 13 to quieter streets.

Although the weather was fabulous again, the portion of the ride after the bridge was rather unremarkable.  The majority of it was through farmland and the Augustine Wildlife Area (we did not see any wildlife except turtles).  The Explorers were surprised to see so much rural, undeveloped land so close to the Delaware River, although much of it was wetlands, which is likely protected from development.  They did recognize a nuclear plant that they boated by last year while on the Delaware River.

On finally reaching the small town of Port Penn, the Explorers were looking for a place to rest and get a soft drink.  On slowing down to ask a resident if there was a convenience store, the resident just laughed and said the only place to go was the local combination bar/liquor store.  The Explorers decided to pass on the bar before noon and press on, thinking the next town couldn’t be too far away (they were wrong).  During their next break, by the side of a rural road, Captain Mark decided to re-evaluate the route, which was recommending a turn into more cornfields.  He realized that if they turned the opposite way, they were close to Route 13, which they had left hours earlier.  The Explorers left the recommended route and headed toward Route 13 which was a divided highway that was still considered to be “bike-friendly”.  It was a busy road, with 55 mph traffic, but there was a wide shoulder, stop-lights to help regulate traffic and help with turning, and places to stop and rest (most notably, a few Wawas).  

The best part about the new route is that it was almost flat, allowing the Explorers to make much better time than they had in the first 2 days.  Less than 5 miles from their hotel, the Explorers stopped for their afternoon meal at Mama Mias Pizzeria (operated by a Middle-Eastern guy watching soccer in Arabic) for a good meal, and then headed to their hotel, a Residence Inn in Dover, DE that Captain Mark scored with points.  The hotel was a luxury, after camping the night before.  The only snafu was that their laundry room was closed because new machines are being installed in the morning.  As laundry today was NOT an option (three sets of smelly biking clothes each), the resourceful, Captain Mark snuck the laundry next door to the Fairfield Inn and was back in time to look at maps and plan for the next day.

The Explorers left the Best Western in Chester after a hearty breakfast.  The rain from the previous day had passed and the weather was absolutely perfect for riding.  They had to ride about a mile back to merge back on the official route.  The ride started through some hilly suburbs and gradually the population density thinned out.  The “Fetterman” political signs that has been evident throughout Philly and the surrounding suburbs suddenly disappeared and “Dr. Oz” signs were in every yard.  

The route had more hills than yesterday (or maybe the Explorers were more tired?).  They used to pull a trailer behind their “Tandem Tuesday” (manufactured by Bike Friday), but they had issues with it on their bike tour in Europe.  The trailer had a tendency to flip, and on the 3rd flip, the axle broke and it lost a wheel, sending the Explorers into a Swiss cornfield.  Anyway, the Explorers have nixed the trailer and added saddlebags, making the bike heavier.  The jury is still out on whether it is “too heavy”, but the hills have been very slow.

Today, the Explorers crossed into Delaware and the area because more urban once again.  Sidekick Sue was captivated by the lovely Victorian-style row houses.  The homes were showing their age, but one could tell that their was still a lot of neighborhood pride.  There were lots of people out on the streets, and the Explorers got a lot of friendly shout-outs as they made their way into downtown Wilmington.  

Downtown Wilmington was impressive.  Once the Explorers crossed the river to the south side, the city had a very modern appearance.  All through Wilmington, the Explorers experienced urban bike riding until they got to the southernmost point and picked up a wonderful bike path.  It started along the shore of the Christina River where the wind was so strong, it was impeding their progress.  Eventually, the path veered into a shady, forested area that was very pleasant.

The bike path took the Explorers to New Castle, which was a charming colonial town on the Delaware River.  Rows of colonial style row houses contrasted with the ones they had seen earlier outside of Wilmington.  Originally, they planned to stop for lunch in New Castle, but after a brief rest, the Explorers pushed on.  The route put the Explorers on another bike path, this one going through a very marshy area.  After about 5 miles, the path oddly dead-ended at “private property” and the Explorers had to back track a half mile to get on a parallel road, which turned out to be a relatively busy highway, lined with refineries and chemical plants.  Ick!  The road had plenty of sizable hills which made the Explorers regret not eating in New Castle.  They took a little break after the largest of the hills and confirmed that they were only 3 miles from the restaurant they had chosen in Delaware City.  Actually, it wasn’t really a choice since Kathy’s Crab House was the only restaurant that was open on a Monday that they could find.  Luckily for this non-seafood-eating couple, it had a decent selection of land-based dishes as well.  

After a well-deserved meal, the Explorers picked up another bike path that ran along the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.  Riding along the canal was fun, as the Explorers had motored down this same canal a few years ago on their trawler.  They even recognized part of the path near the Summit North Marina where they had taken their folding bikes ashore to stretch their legs a few years ago.  At one point along the C&D Canal, the “official bike route” crossed the river and veered off, but the Explorers had to stay on the trail to get to their campground, which turned out to be 5 miles off the route.  The route to the campground had a few climbs, but it wasn’t as bad as Sidekick Sue feared since the road was named “Summit Point”

After reaching their site, the Explorers set up camp, showered, and hung out in the laundry room charging their electronics.  After a long break from camping, sleeping outside will be nice.  All-in-all, a great day.  Rode about 45 miles with approximately 20 miles on dedicated bike paths. 

Our friends will remember that the Explorers started an East Coast bicycling tour in 2019. They rode from their home in Lincoln, NH to their older son’s (Mike’s) house in Phoenixville, PA. They had intended to do the next leg in 2020, but then…. Covid happened…… and their plans got put on hold, while their tandem bike took up space in Mike’s basement for three years.

Finally, three years later, they are resuming their trip…. this time traveling from Phoenixville to Sidekick Sue’s sister’s (Cathy’s) house in Columbia, SC.

On September 25, 2022, the Explorers left Phoenixville under an overcast sky and jumped on the Schuylkill (the native Pennsylvanians say it is pronounced skoo-kul) River Trail. They had already traveled part of this trail on their trip into Phoenixville back in 2019. It was very green and beautiful, taking them through Valley Forge and along the river. There is a brief ugly, stinky part of the trail that goes through the industrial part of Norristown, and right past the water treatment plant. Once they reached Conshohocken, they were on a part of the trail they had not seen before. It was lovely, lush, and green with lots of folks out for Sunday recreation. It reminded them a great deal of the path along the Charles River in Boston, with the university boat houses dotting the shore and the sculling teams out practicing on the water.

The trail popped out behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art. There was a long line of people waiting to take pictures with the Rocky statue, so they didn’t stop for the traditional photo opportunity. In front of the museum, they stumbled onto the Puerto Rican Day Parade. They looked around for some good lunch food, but failed to find any food trucks so they moved on.

At this point, they were looking for the main trail that they will be following out of Philly. They get their maps (and GPX files for the bike GPS) from the Adventure Cycling Association and the route that they will be following starts in Center City Philly. It took a little time and a few false starts to get on the trail because of the closed roads and the crowds at the parade, but they finally got on track and got the bike computer working. They crossed over the Schuylkill River and the route brought them through the UPenn campus. They had to dismount and walk for awhile because UPenn has a gorgeous pedestrian walkway through their very beautiful campus. After that, they rode out through West Philadelphia and then on to the suburbs.

All day, the Explorers were keeping an eye on the weather as there was a “severe storm warning” predicted for Philadelphia. They expected the bad weather to hit at about 4:00, and hoped to be safely tucked into their hotel by then. Unfortunately, a look at the sky (and the lightning on the horizon) told the Explorers that the weather system was coming earlier. At about 3:00, with about 40 minutes of riding ahead, the Explorers pulled into a small, local pizza place, Secane Pizza in Upper Darby, PA just in time to avoid a huge downpour. After finishing their late lunch/early dinner, the Explorers decided to set out, even though it was still drizzling, because the radar showed another band of heavy rain coming in the next hour and a half.

The Explorers plan to spend most of their nights at campgrounds, but since they are still not out of the greater Philadelphia area, their only option for the night was a hotel. They arrived, only a little wet, at the Best Western, west of the Philadelphia Airport. The hotel was generous enough to let them bring the bike inside and store it in the valet room to keep it safe and dry. The Explorers enjoyed a quiet, comfortable night (hot showers, electricity and internet…oh my) knowing that many nights on this trip will be far more challenging. 🙂