Monday, April 28, 2008

Bike Ride on DandR Canal path

Excellent ride this weekend on the D&R Canal Path, which is part of the New Jersey D&R Canal State Park. I took the SUN EZ Cruiser recumbent with fat tires (weighs about 35 lbs, but needed on the unpaved path), and rode from above Lambertville through Trenton. I calculed about 32 miles, round-trip. Since I rode at a stately 8-10 mph on the SUN, it took about 4 hours, but the ride is worth the trip.
I had ridden on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware Canal path before - from New Hope to Easton, but the New Jersey side is much better. For one thing, the PA side deals with canal bridges by making you either dismount or ride down a step incline to go under the bridge. The New Jersey side just continues the path through the bridge surface. Even in places where the path is narrow, it's still wide enough for two bikes. The PA side is frequently just 6 inches of dirt.
I had intended to ride from the Canal Park through Trenton and up the main part of the path to the 5 miles lock (or as close as I could get to it), but it looked a little unwise to ride completely through Trenton alone, so I stopped at Montgomery street in Trenton, and turned around.
It's an excellent path - very flat, very clean, and not heavily used. I only ran into other bikes and foot traffic around Lambertville - probably because they had the Shad Festival that day.
Next time - I'll ride from the 5 mile lock down to Trenton and back.

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