Pedaling off the C&O Canal Path into the Georgetown/Washington D.C. area I had no pre-arranged place to stay and did not know what was going to happen. I spent a couple hours in Georgetown trying to figure some sort of accommodation out. Things tend to work themselves out, and this was no exception. I found a warm-showers house to stay at with a group of wonderful people and one very sweet dog, allowing me to get off the bike and wander around our nations capital for part of the week.
After spending an eventful 4 days, seeing museums, monuments and meeting some new friends I started to ride north up the east coast. My goal was to take my time and experience some of the cities along the way. After D.C. Baltimore, York, Philadelphia, Trenton and lastly New York City were places I planned on staying in for at least a couple days, to explore and learn a bit about.
My expectations for riding the “corridor” of east coast cities were pretty low. I was expecting heavy traffic, shoulder-less roads, and overall, a stressful ride. The route I found along the way ended up being far from anything I had expected. It seemed, in every city I would find out about a new rail trail or bike path that would take me to, or near, my next destination. Bike shops and cyclists were also very helpful along the way, pointing me in what they thought was the safest direction.
Out of D.C. I caught 30 miles of the Rock Creek Trail, which took me towards Baltimore, Maryland. From Baltimore it was the 40 mile Heritage Trail, a gravel path that followed the railroad from North Baltimore to York, Pennsylvania. From York I followed some beautifully paved, low traffic roads through Amish Country and into the historic Valley Forge. I then caught the Schuylkill River Trail all the way into Philadelphia. From Trenton, NJ I also caught a bit of the Delaware and Raritan Canal Trail, a rail trail that runs 30-40 miles from Trenton to New Brunswick, NJ. Although there were a couple stretches of road where I had little breathing room, the majority of the final miles were ridden on bike-designated paths or bike-friendly roads.
Riding was one thing... camping, another. Because of the dense population I only camped a couple nights during my couple week ride up the coast. The rest of the time I stayed with many wonderful warm-showers hosts. For those not familiar with warm-showers, it is the cyclist’s equvilant of a couch surfing website. I met a bunch of really good people through the site and was treated to some very generous hospitality. I can not thank all my warm-showers hosts enough!
Making it to Newark, NJ I hit a dead end of sorts. Because I had not come at New York City from the further North I had a couple bridges to cross into the city. No shoulders and rush hour traffic on the bridge into Jersey City scared me off the bike and back to the train station where I ended up catching the train into Jersey City and then Manhattan. I was greeted in Manhattan by the familiar face of a brother and the next day a sister... it felt pretty good. Stay tuned for some final words on the trip.
Riding the Rock Creek Trail towards Baltimore, Maryland. I was able to catch the start of this forest-lined path a mile away from where I was staying in D.C. It made things pretty easy.
Spending the evening on top of Federal Hill in Baltimore.
A solid meal in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Baltimore.
Some big metal bikes along the Heritage Rail Trail near York, PA.
Following the tracks in Pennsylvania.
The rig and a mural in downtown Lancaster, PA.
Riding through the Pennsylvania countryside from York to Valley Forge. Amish Country.
This well paved river trail was my ticket into Philadelphia. Lots of people on the Schuylkill River Trail, but it was a pleasure to ride.
My last campsite of the trip was in this vacant lot on the outskirts of a housing development. Not a bad spot considering how close to Philadelphia this was, I was even woken up by deer outside of my tent in the night.
The Schuylkill River. Followed this beautiful river all the way into Philly.
The house I stayed at in Philly was in a great location so most of my time there was spent walking around. I did manage to get out on the bike one day and made it down to the Delaware River waterfront.
On the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum in the rain.
A night of exploring downtown Philly, I found myself in some iconic spots, Love Park being one of them.
Being welcomed to New Jersey by on-ramps and crazy drivers.
Boys and Girls Club Bike Exchange in Trenton, NJ.
Got to spend a day with this awesome guy, named Wills, in Trenton. He showed me around what would have otherwise been a pretty rough city to explore by myself. After working at the Boys and Girls Club Bike Exchange, fixing bikes for an evening, Wills introduced me to a good local bar and then we spent time exploring some of the old, abandoned industrial buildings in the area, by bike.
I had the Delaware & Raritan Canal Trail to myself for most of the morning and did not see but a couple people on it. I ended up breaking a spoke, the second one in a week of riding, and pulled off in Princeton where I rode around the famous university and stopped at a local bike shop to get my wheel fixed.
Enjoying a well-earned sunset on the Lower Manhattan waterfront, looking back across the Hudson River to New Jersey. After a near catastrophic event on a Newark Penn Station escalator, involving the rig and potentially 15 other casualties.
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