2022 Micro-Tour 10.5 was 3 day, 2 night self-supported bike camping scouting trip for future riders in 2023. We stated at the Delaware Water Gap, and traced the border of New Jersey and Pennsylvania south to Trenton along the Delaware River utilizing the D&L (Delaware & Lehigh) and the D&R (Delaware & Raritan) Canal Trails
Ride Description
Day 1 (October 14, 2022): The initial was was to take the New Jersey Transit (NJT) Train to Port Jervis (where NY, NJ and PA meet), so that we could ride the entirety of teh Delaware Water Gap Park. That train line was out or service, so we took the train to Mount Olive instead.
The train departed from Ny Penn Station at 9:09 am, with a switch in Newark and an ultimate arrival of 11:09am. NJT rules forbids bikes on trains during the week before 10am, but we were able to board the 9:09 as it was travelling essentially empty heading against the rush hour traffic. The conductors were great, the transfer in Newark was seamless, and the cars fit our bikes well…all things I have heard about NJT.
Departing for our 43 mile Day 1 ride al 11:09am kinda threw me off in terms of timing. Mile 1 to 7 was on the Sussex Branch Trail (which was quire rough, and in some stretches resembles a drainage ditch alongside a busy road. We stopped at Mile 12 at the Fredon Deli for lunch. At this stop, the group decided to forgo our downstream grocery store stop and just get food here for dinner.
Miles 14 to 31 were on the Paulinskill Valley Trail, which was a bit rough and unpaved, with no real stops along the way.
The remainder of the trip took us across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania vie a pedestrian bridge at Columbia (NJ) / Portland (PA). The remain part of the route north and then doubling back across the river was hilly, rather dangerous in terms of cars on Route 611.
After doubling back over the river, we rode Old Mine Road north for 3 miles to get to Worthington State Forrest to camp.
The sites we had were basically right on the river, and were serviced by 2 very clean porta-potties. A more substantial bathroom/shower building was about a mile back, closer to the entrance. we got in around 6:30pm, tires and with little daylight. We set up camp, ate and said our goodnights around 7:30pm
Day 2 (October 15, 2022): Overnight lows got down to 39 degrees, but the group seemed pretty well prepared for this. After breakfast in camp, the group left camp at 9am and doubled back down south to Portland, PA to have 2nd breakfast at Dunkin’ Donuts.
Fully fueled, and with the fog clearing, we made our way south on PA Route 611 towards Easton, PA, where the Lehigh River meets the Delaware and where we would pick up the D&L Canal Trailway.
This 25 mile or so segment from Portland to Easton was primarily on 2 lane country roads, Shoulders where available but not incredibly ample. This segment also took us through some detours due to downed power lined, washed out bridges and roads, and through what looked like a gravel mine. Bikes were hoisted over gates and fences on numerous occasions.
Lunch in Easton was at the Easton eatery (thanks for the recommendation, Kelly from the local Trek Store).
South of Easton, we hopped on the D&L Canal Trail for the last 20 miles or so to camp. Coming at the end of a long-ish day, the bumps of the largely unpaved trail was a little painful. We arrived at Dogwood Haven in Tinicum, PA at around 5:30pm. This is a rambling and rustic facility up on a hill in the woods, but the site was great the bathroom building was clean, and the caretaker (Mark) took care of us.
Day 3 (October 16, 2022): Overnight lows were in the low 40’s, with a lot of humidity hanging heavy in the morning air. We ate and got going at 9am. 2 miles south, we left the D&L Trail, crossed into New Jersey at Frenchtown and picked up the D&R Canal Trail. Stopping at the Trail Cafe in Frenchtown was a trip highlight.
The D&R Canal Trail is much more “manicured”: and smooth, and has plenty of signage and mile markers. We made our next stop at Lambertville…another tour highlight! After passing through the Washington Crossin Park, we were on final approach to Trenton. The last 3 or so miles goes through the outskirts and then through the heart of the city. The trail breaks up a bit here (as one would expect in an unban area), but street directions got us to the train station with no issues at all.
We hopped on a 2:56pm NJT train to NYC, and arrived around 5 (a few delays, etc).
Tour Evaluation (In-Progress)
Gear: Tours at this time of year always mean a bit of a gear transition toward more cold-weather stuff. Its a bit of a crap shoot, with daytime temps in the 70’s, and overnight lows in the high 30’s. For my sleep system, zI used a 15 degree Big Agnes Anvil Horn, and insulated pad (Big Agnes, R4.5) and a cotton liner. I slept in long Smartwool leggings and long sleeved upper, and felt great both nights (High 30/low 40 as an overnight low). On night 2, I actually didn’t even use the liner. Cooking went well with my MSR PocketRocker 2 and Trail Solo Kit. I dint bring a camp chair or camp shoes (2 of my staple “luxuries”), which was a good call. We got to camp to late to enjoy either on both nights.
Bike: I basically had an entirely new drivetrain for this trip. Chris King Bottom Bracket, smaller chainring (38, down from 42), a wider cassette (11-46, up from 11-42) and a new SRAM 1130 chain to tie(?) it all together. Oh, and some orange chainring bolts. Things went great with this new lower-geared setup, as the hills of the Delaware Valley were waiting for me. I had a few slightly noisy gears, but that is about not having a ton of time to finetune cable tension before the trip.
Maps and Navigation: On any new/scouting trip, there will always be some map/GPS hiccups. I studied the route as much as I could on Google Maps Street View, but its never 100% what you expect. I felt that Ride With GPS did an excellent job of laying out our route, although it does have a habit of forcing the route onto “safer” streets that might be more indirect. The Day 2 map also routed us through what could best be described as a construction site/quarry…locked gates and all. It was a fun adventure, but I’ve already corrected the Maps. A note on the Maps; l when I come back from a trip, I make correction on those current routes right away so that people pulling these form our Maps section of our website have the most updated version. I used my Wahoo Bolt and my phone running Ride With GPS as a way to double check and get more needed detail.
Personal Fitness: We are getting into the late stages of our touring season, and I’d be lying if I said I feel as fresh as I did in April. Overall, I felt pretty good on most of the trips, but began dragging at the end of our 2 first (and longest days), as the courses became harder/rougher later in the day. On my first day back, my legs felt like cinderblocks, but that’s normal for me.