Fall Colors Ride VIII

October 30, 2004

On October 30, 2004 we had a Fall Colors Ride VIII on the path along the D&R canal next to the Delaware River. We went from Scudders Falls to Lambertville to Frenchtown and back. We had lunch stop in Lambertville. The total was 51 miles.

We had a pretty big group this year: Chris Beasley (who brought Eleonora Dell'Aquila, a graduate student at Rutgers) Eric Dahl, Janice Hester (who brought Amin Nasr, a graduate student in comparative literature), Vincent Pelletier, and Amol Upadhye are all graduate students in the physics department. Joakim Bergli is a postdoc in the physics department. Caroline Kulesza and Scott Terhune are postdocs in the molecular biology department. Lynne Terhune is a physical therapist, Scott Tremaine is the chair of the Astrophysics department, and I (Ed Groth) am in the physics department.

It rained overnight before the ride and was still raining when some of us got up! We decided not to postpone to the rain date because the forecast (actually, studying the radar maps) indicated no rain during the ride and people might have had commitments for the rain date. As it turned out, there was no rain, but the trail was quite sloppy! Also, we had a lot of fog for the first part of the ride. Nevertheless, it seems that everyone enjoyed the ride and the fall colors!

As it turned out, Sunday was a gorgeous day! I washed my bike in the morning and went for a drive with my wife in the afternoon.

The rest of the story is in the pictures below.

Click on a thumbnail to see a larger picture.

Getting ready to ride at the parking area near the Scudders Falls Bridge. Lynne, Caroline (way back), Scott Terhune and Scott Tremaine. Still waiting to get started: Joakim, Amol, Eric, Janice, and Amin.

After riding a little ways, we ran into Vincent (he rides directly from Princeton and joins at Washington's Crossing). He was working on a flat tire. Scott looks on while the rest of the group waits. After a while we came to the wing dam about a mile south of Lambertville. We walked out on it. It was still quite foggy and the Lambertville - New Hope Bridge is barely visible through the fog.

Ed (me) and Vincent on the wing dam. Janice, Eric, and Amin on the wing dam.

At the channel in the wing dam. I think that's Vincent, Lynne, Amol, Caroline, Scott, Scott, and Joakim. Six weeks earlier, the dam was under about 20 feet of water due to the flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Ivan. The condos across the river were flooded on the low levels. Odette's restaurant looming through the fog. It, too, was flooded six weeks earlier. At the time of this picture it was still undergoing repair. It has since re-opened.

Chris and Eleonora on the "zig-zag" about a mile north of Lambertville. They had started late but caught us at the wing dam. Caroline and Scott at the zig-zag.

Vincent rides over the canal at the zig-zag. Joakim rides by. (I held the shutter down and followed him until the camera finally decided it could take a picture!)

The gang on the trail from Lambertville to Stockton. The puddles show some of the sloppy conditions we had. We took a break at Bulls Island (about 16 miles from the starting point). Here are Eleonora and Chris replenishing some calories.

We walked across the Bulls Island - Lumberville bridge to check out the flood damage to the Delaware Canal tow path on the Pennsylvania side. Here are Joakim, Scott, Lynne, Amol, Eleonora, Eric, Chris, Janice, Vincent, and Caro line. After 25 miles we reached Frenchtown where we stopped at a coffee bar for coffee, pastries, or even a chocolate milk shake (what I had!). Here are Eric, Joakim, Amin, Amol, Caroline, Janice, and Vincent.

Still taking a break in Frenchtown. That's Scott, Chris, Eleonora, (Somebody not from out group?) Vincent, Scott, Amol, and Caroline. On the way from Frenchtown back towards Bulls Island. Usually, we would cross over to the Pennsylvania side and ride the tow path of the Delaware Canal back to New Hope and then cross over to Lambertville. However, the flood damage from Hurricane Ivan left the Pennsylvania side impassable, so we went back the way we came.

After forty miles, we had lunch at the Lambertville Station Pub (where I forgot to take pictures!), and then continued back to the parking lot at Scudders Falls. Here are Joakim, Janice, Amin, Eric, and Amol getting ready to call it a day.

	Getting ready to ride at the parking area near the Scudders Falls Bridge. Lynne, Caroline (way back), Scott Terhune and Scott Tremaine.		Still waiting to get started: Joakim, Amol, Eric, Janice, and Amin.
	After riding a little ways, we ran into Vincent (he rides directly from Princeton and joins at Washington's Crossing). He was working on a flat tire. Scott looks on while the rest of the group waits.		After a while we came to the wing dam about a mile south of Lambertville. We walked out on it. It was still quite foggy and the Lambertville - New Hope Bridge is barely visible through the fog.
	Ed (me) and Vincent on the wing dam.		Janice, Eric, and Amin on the wing dam.
	At the channel in the wing dam. I think that's Vincent, Lynne, Amol, Caroline, Scott, Scott, and Joakim. Six weeks earlier, the dam was under about 20 feet of water due to the flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Ivan. The condos across the river were flooded on the low levels.		Odette's restaurant looming through the fog. It, too, was flooded six weeks earlier. At the time of this picture it was still undergoing repair. It has since re-opened.
	Chris and Eleonora on the "zig-zag" about a mile north of Lambertville. They had started late but caught us at the wing dam.		Caroline and Scott at the zig-zag.
	Vincent rides over the canal at the zig-zag.		Joakim rides by. (I held the shutter down and followed him until the camera finally decided it could take a picture!)
	The gang on the trail from Lambertville to Stockton. The puddles show some of the sloppy conditions we had.		We took a break at Bulls Island (about 16 miles from the starting point). Here are Eleonora and Chris replenishing some calories.
	We walked across the Bulls Island - Lumberville bridge to check out the flood damage to the Delaware Canal tow path on the Pennsylvania side. Here are Joakim, Scott, Lynne, Amol, Eleonora, Eric, Chris, Janice, Vincent, and Caro line.		After 25 miles we reached Frenchtown where we stopped at a coffee bar for coffee, pastries, or even a chocolate milk shake (what I had!). Here are Eric, Joakim, Amin, Amol, Caroline, Janice, and Vincent.
	Still taking a break in Frenchtown. That's Scott, Chris, Eleonora, (Somebody not from out group?) Vincent, Scott, Amol, and Caroline.		On the way from Frenchtown back towards Bulls Island. Usually, we would cross over to the Pennsylvania side and ride the tow path of the Delaware Canal back to New Hope and then cross over to Lambertville. However, the flood damage from Hurricane Ivan left the Pennsylvania side impassable, so we went back the way we came.
	After forty miles, we had lunch at the Lambertville Station Pub (where I forgot to take pictures!), and then continued back to the parking lot at Scudders Falls. Here are Joakim, Janice, Amin, Eric, and Amol getting ready to call it a day.