Well here we are, year two of our East Coast Greenway adventure! We will be traveling from Mount Joy, PA via Amtrak Keystone Service to New Haven, CT with a short layover/train change in Philadelphia. Once in CT, we will begin our adventure to Durham, NC.
This year, in addition to Dan and Gary, we have added our great friend Bob to the mix. Unfortunately for him, he failed to retire in time for our first leg of the trip last year! I guess he will just have to do it himself!
I have attached the route photo for this year. Each color represents a different segment of our ride. Today, after reaching a forecasted rainy New Haven, we will ride to Stamford, CT. Generally, we would not plan to ride that far on a travel day, but in order to completely make it through and out the other side of NYC in one day, we needed to get within striking distance of the city today.
The rain does not seem to have dampened (pun intended) our spirits! We all spread out and loaded the train, one bike per car as there is only one, single space, bike rack in each car. After mildly struggling with my bike and successfully securing it in the rack, I went to search out Bob as this is his first experience with a train car version of a bike rack. One needs to remove the rear panniers (bags on either side of the rear wheel), remove the front tire, hang the bike from the rear wheel, and fasten the bike to the stabilizer arm with the Velcro strap. Your front wheel and bags are then placed on the floor below the bike. All of this is performed while the train is in motion and rocking from side to side! And while passengers are passing!
Upon arriving in Philadelphia, we reverse the process in order to roll the bike off the train. Pre-planning is a good thing to put the bike back together before being accosted by exiting passengers! Then repeat on the Northeast Regional train to New Haven.
Rolling off the train in Philadelphia, Gary discovers he got a gift from the train. A flat tire! Not a stranger to punctures, it only took a few minutes to correct the issue.
But, rolling off the train in New Haven, Gary discovered that his tire had gone flat yet again. So after changing into bike riding clothing in the train station rest room we proceeded to change his tube again. Pump, pump, pump! But nothing!
This time he is not taking any chances and is putting on a new tire and tube. Pump, pump, pump! Nothing again. Pull out the tube and now we are down to patching. He is out of new tubes! Find the leak, apply glue, wait, … apply patch and reinsert tube. Still leaking!
He takes tube out. I find the leak right next to the patch. Looks like he pinched the tube when he put the tire on! He borrows a tube from Bob, but Bob’s tube is smaller so Gary has to also borrow a smaller tire from Bob. We all work together to ensure that the tube does not get pinched when replacing the tire. Success!
We got to New Haven a few minutes behind schedule, then took time to change, and after repairing flats for a while, it is now after 2 pm, maybe almost 2:30.
Hunger seems to be the next item on everyone’s list. While in New Haven one must go to Frank Pepe’s for an authentic New Haven pizza! It’s only about 0.8 miles from the train station. Everyone is in agreement so away we go. We arrived, locked the bikes, walk to the front door! Closed! You got to be kidding!
We passed another pizzeria on the way to Frank Pepe's. So back we go! There was staff outside at a table who were taking names for tables. Wait time was announced as 30 minutes! We were already behind time wise, so it was decided that we would hit the route and grab a quick bite to eat along the way. We ended up at the fine dining establishment called McDonalds!
It rained almost continuously for the entire 50 plus miles! Sometimes lighter, sometimes harder! The roads were generally along the shore. It was such a shame that we were unable to enjoy the scenery and the nice roads.
We eventually arrived at the hotel in Stamford, CT at about 7:30 p.m. It was getting dark and we were tired and wet. Once in the hotel we spent a great amount of time drying out. Those water-resistant pannier bags, aren’t! Puddles of water in the bottom of each bag. Good thing I have all my clothes in a large Ziplock bag inside the panniers.
This is the route map and the stats from today’s ride!
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