Passing through Manayunk

The rest day in Phoenixville was a good one. It rained all day, I went to the library to do email and the blog, caught a pint at the Irish pub on the corner and went to dinner and early to bed. I talked to Paul late in the afternoon to see how he made out in the rain and getting through Philly and making all the connections. He managed it while drowning in the rain, getting lost and getting inundated by a huge prep school rowing regatta on the Schulylkill River. He got lost when the bike trail hit Manayunk, a recently incorporated part of Philadelphia where the US Pro Cycling championships have been held for years. For that to be the point where you run out of trail and can barely find your way back to it if you are not familiar, is indeed ironic.
For me, the next day, I really lucked out. The weather was perfect, and as I rode along approaching Manayunk on the trail a rider rode up to me and asked the usual questions and I asked him, how do I get through Manayunk. And he said, I just happen to be going there to meet my son and I will show you. And he did and I did not get lost. I did get inundated by the still continuing regatta. There must have been 500 schools and a half dozen supporters/spectators for every participant and none of them knew the meaning of 'coming through, on your left'. Well, it just slowed me down a little and I soon found my bridge and got on to the streets of Philadelphia and the route to Wilmington, where I am now. The route was found on Bikely.com and was designed for a nice challenging recreational ride, not a fully loaded touring cyclist. So, it had some nice detours, with lots of hills and dales, off well traveled roads which were more direct. This made for many turns and 25 individully printed maps which I had organized for the ride. I needed to stop about every 10-15 minutes to look at or change maps and it slowed me down a lot. I figured out to stay on some more direct roads after a while but I did ride through some wonderful countryside and through some really nice areas with large houses and horse farms. Beaver Valley Rd presented a great long downhill and lovely countryside and I knew I would pay for that. The uphill was not so long and way too steep. I ended up pushing the bike up a part of that one. I need to lose some weight.
Sixty-eight miles later I was at my brother Steve and partner Kit's house in a historic section of Wilmington and glad to be there. I even made it in time for us to get to our 5:30 dinner reservation.
Today, Sunday, we visited Longwood Gardens outside of Wilmington, actually in PA. It was the estate of Pierre S. duPont. You may have heard of his family. Wow. If you are ever here do not miss it. It is a little spendy to get in but, actually, it is worth it. That is all I will say.

Thought I would put in a few random comments about bicycle touring. If you read my 2005 account you know how impressed I was by the curiosity and interest everyone had with my endeavor. Well by this time it has become less endearing in its nature. Paul and I came to call it 'grilling'. The questions are always the same: Where are you from, where did you start, where are you going, how far do you ride everyday, how much does all that stuff weigh,etc. When it is a truly interested person on the street and you are resting and in a mood to chat, it is great. This kind of activity intrigues almost everyone. (It pisses off a few too.) But I have to say there is a limit. The three best examples from this trip include the guy who stopped his car in the middle of the highway, not side road or street, but highway, turned on his blinkers and began driving the speed I was going (probably 15 mph) and grilling me while he was driving. I could not believe it and finally just told him that this was not safe and turned away. The next one was a pick up driver stopped a light on a busy highway intersection who did his grilling while we stood by the road discussing routing and plans and finally there was the guy at the restaurant, who had just finished his meal and would not let us pass to go in to get ours until every one of his investigative reporter questions had been asked. Enough ranting.
I will be resting and getting smaller chain rings on my bike over the next few days.
Later.