One great place leads to another

Sunday, May 28. Lumberville, PA, to Belvidere, NJ. The Black Bass Hotel and Restaurant was a delightful place to enjoy an evening, and to spend a very comfortable night. Since it was Memorial Day weekend, we were not assured of finding a place to stay up the road, and so we were kind of liking the prospect of having to spend another day here. We made several calls, finding all the campgrounds we knew of full, but finding a room available at the Hotel Belvidere, so we made tracks for there. We thought we might stop for lunch in Phillipsburg, and since the map showed little in the way of attractions to distract us, we thought we'd make good time there just enjoying the scenery. The first ten miles or so from Bulls Island is (or for us at least) a continuation of the D & R towpath, so we had a nice, liesurely ride without worrying about traffic (other than the pedestrians and other bicyclists). Once we got to Frenchtown, where the New Jersey side of the towpath ends, we briefly considered hopping over to the Pennsylvania side until another cyclist told us to skip it. Ever since the flood last year, it has been impassable. So we continued on our mapped path. About two miles beyond town, we found ourselves in terrain where I thought I could use my largest gears, and tried to shift up to my big ring; but the derailleur wouldn't make the chain go up (sort of surprising, since it worked OK until today). To make matters worse, when I shifted down again, the derailleur was rubbing on the big ring. We knew there was a bike shop back in Frenchtown, so we headed back there to see if they could fix it. They couldn't repair it, but they did adjust it so it would get us to Easton, across the river from Phillipsburg, where there was a shop that COULD replace the defective derailleur. Nancy is an angel. I was worried that these delays were going to upset her, or make both of us cranky; but she was great. We did get to Genesis Cycles around 3:15, and they had the right part in stock, so we left my bike there and wandered off in search of lunch. Tomias, the owner of Genesis, was very helpful and friendly; anyone reading this who might need help in the Easton area would do well to stop there first. We had a nice, late lunch at a place called Pearly Baker's, where Nancy picked up the latest copy of Traditional Chinese Medicine World for some lunchtime reading. Fascinating. We made it back to the shop and found my bike with a brand new derailleur, one that works with the crank I have, and it shifts as smooth as silk now. We resumed our route after Nancy called the Hotel Belvidere to apprise them of our revised arrival time, around 7. One of the roads we found ourselves on is called River Road; although some of it was OK, vast swaths of it are in such poor repair that riding on it is borderline dangerous. I would have been truly worried if we were on narrower tires; potholes, uneven asphalt (Nancy spelled it "assfault", and said she could have poured it better. I think she's right.), frequent splits and poor patch jobs. It was a relief to finally come to some ordinary shake-n-bake surfaces. At one point, near the end of the day, a pickup truck with two guys in the cab and one in the bed (presumably guarding the beer) slowed while passing us, and the guy in the bed asked us where we were headed; Nancy called back "Oregon!", and he, now receding down the road, yelled back "REALLY?!". We nodded, and then they were gone down the road. A bit later, we passed by a party taking place along the river, where the guys were apparently headed, because as we passed the whole group gathered there shouted out their approval. That was nice. Nothing prepared us, though, for the pleasure that was in store for us at the newly renovated Hotel Belvidere. For one thing, as we rolled up to the front, there was a group of four on the porch cheering for us, including the owner. The room was absolutely lovely, the shower felt GREAT, and with the late lunch I thought we would skip dinner and just go to sleep. But around 9 we started to get hungry; this could have been a problem, it being Sunday night in a quiet town on Memorial Day weekend; but as we were downstairs inquiring about local places to eat, one of the other guests, Luanne, offered to drive us to the diner where they had had lunch earlier, and then come pick us up when we were finished! Luanne was up from Virginia, having a get-together for her Uncle and all his old friends, and said she was happy to do it, since it was far too far to walk. What a sweetheart! Good karma is still with us, I guess, with all the great people we've met and who've treated us so nicely. They are making this adventure so much more fun than I thought it would be, and I thought it was going to be a blast! Tomorrow, Delaware Water Gap; we'll see where we end up. Cheers!