A great day to be alive and I met a dragon!

Day 5
From Port Jervis NY
To Phllipsburg NJ
Mileage estimated 77
Mileage actual 77
Top speed 45.3mph
Riding time 6 hrs 54 mins





Today was a great day. The ride was challenging without being too tough, the scenery was (and all riders agreed) absolutely magnificent and the day finished with a visit to 'family'.


The day started with more lessons. I explained that 'aluminIum' was not called 'aloominum', that the fruit was a tom-ar-to and not a tom-ay-to and because of the weather when we stepped outside, I gave lessons in dialect by telling the locals that it was a 'bit nesh'. It was nesh, too, as there was a heavy mist around for the first hour and a half, waiting for the sun to burn it away. I had to speak severely to the Belgian, Phillipe, for letting the Europeans down as he borrowed a gilet from one of the locals who was padded up to the eyeballs but had that spare and Phillipe had said he was a little cold. Wimpishness is spreading and must be stopped before it takes over the whole group.


Having said that, it was pretty cold as we left the hotel and made our way through the usual verdant landscape towards the first SAG stop. When we got there, the first mists had begun to clear, the temperature started to rise and carried on rising all day. The roads up until then had been quiet as we were riding through the Delaware Water Gap National Park where the speed restrictions were at 15mph so there was not much point in driving through in a car unless you were going to somewhere within the park and not many people were. There were one or two steep climbs; one in particular lasted for about a mile and a half and there weren't too many rewards today. In general the road surfaces were excellent (at last!) which enabled steady but sociable progress to be made and we were able to continue conversation safely as we rolled along.


The route through the Park took us about 35 miles and it was beautiful. We were tracking the Delaware river, sometimes running alongside then climbing to about 100' above and looking down on anglers, kayakers and white water rafters.


We finally came out of the Park and had to walk up a slope then on a pavement alongside the very busy Interstate 80. From the sublime to the ridiculous. Fortunately, this didn't last more than 1/2 a mile then we were back onto minor roads which paralleled the river again before we climbed again to the second SAG and lunch at a cafe nearby.



I must admit I have never even heard of this soup of the day and I didn't risk it, but I was told the ingredients were meatloaf, Parmesan cheese and herbs, or erbs as the locals call them. I managed a sandwich then treated myself to my first Root Beer for a year and it was enough to see me through the rest of the day.



One thing that did recur throughout the day was these 'cobwebs' that were on trees of many varieties. Apparently these are caused by Tent Caterpillars and they are cocoons built by the caterpillars to protect their young. Unfortunately, they also feed off the leaves that are trapped inside and then kill of that part of the tree.



We also touched and crossed part of the Appalachian Trail, a long distance footpath that runs from Georgia to Maine and throughout the whole day we flirted in and out of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania as we crossed and re-crossed the Delaware river. Frustratingly, there were too many occasions where bike riders had to 'walk bikes on the sidewalk' and were not allowed to be ridden on the bridges that crossed the river. Bikes are never going to get accepted unless the country starts to acknowledge that they exist and have as much right to be ON THE ROAD as any other vehicle.


We finally got to the hotel about 3.45pm to be met by the finest dragon I have met for a long time. Unhelpful didn't really begin to describe her approach. She sat behind the desk telling a young trainee what to do without lifting a finger herself. Then, when she had sent the poor girl off on some spurious errand away from the desk, she turned to the people in front of me and said, 'She'll deal with you when she comes back. I'm checking off and finishing now. It's time I wasn't here'. She just sat in her chair, started to cash up and ignored all the people waiting to check in. I asked her of she treated all guests in this way and got the frosty look (hard for a dragon to do, I know) so I tried a different approach and asked her if this was a hotel as there was a sign outside saying that there was a hotel here. This was met with a miniscule raising of one eyebrow then a return to counting money. Oh, she was a dream! I can't wait to fill in a customer comment card!


Had to nip out for a bit of shopping. Sunglasses have not lasted long and I needed some camera memory so I did that before Route Rap. When I came back, there was a message for me and it was to contact Winnie. I contacted her and arranged to meet her with her daughter and son-in law, Sue and Rick, after dinner tonight.


Winnie is Bev Ross's mum. Bev was a great friend who lived in Florida who sadly passed away last year after fighting cancer for a number of years. Winnie is a lot older than me (and you!) but she is as sharp as a five blade razor and a box full of tacks. I went with them all to Winnie's house where we sat for a couple of hours talking about all sorts of things and drinking iced tea. I told them about the ride and she told me about quilting and how cotton grows. we talked about the Amish community that I am going to be getting near to in a couple of days time when we get towards Lancaster and she told me about the house where she had lived since the 1930s and how part of the land it was on had been given to the local township and they had turned it into a marvellous recreation and sporting area for the children of the area. It was a wonderful couple of hours spent with a lady I had long wished to meet and I came away feeling better for the experience of meeting her. She was indeed a lady and a wonderful person. Rick and Sue kindly brought me back to the hotel where I had to start doing the things needed to help another early start in the morning.


Because of that time of self-indulgence, I haven't had as much time as I would have liked to get this done, so apologies there and I will try harder tomorrow.


A great day apart from the dragon, but then again, you can't have everything!