Day 2: Doylestown to Lambertville, NJ

May 06, 2025

Day 2: Doylestown to Lambertville, NJ

Yesterday morning, Fred made an egg muffin sandwich for me in the morning and we conversed around the dining room table that looked out into the front yard of the house. Shary and Fred’s house is very comfy and full of Shary’s paintings, mainly of flowers. Later, Shary told me that I can housesit for them when I come back from my bike tour. I don’t know my plan yet, but it’s an option.

Fred had to leave early to play pickleball. I bid farewell to him and got ready to leave around 10 AM. Just as I was leaving Shary wanted some help on her Apple laptop. I updated the operating system and tried to find a way to back up her photos in iCloud so she can free up some storage. It turned out that if you delete the photos from iCloud it’ll delete the photos from all devices. I ended up leaving Shary’s house a little after noon.

I only had about 12 miles to ride to New Hope/Lambertville area and the sky was cloudy the whole time. As I was riding, I saw another long distance cyclist coming from behind me. We chatted for a little bit. I learned later that his name is Bill and he’s going from Philadelphia to Bar Harbor, Maine, following the Atlantic Coast Route as well.

Bill’s speed was faster than mine and we arrived in New Hope around 1:30 PM. We were having lunch in the Ferry Market when the rain came. We got lucky that we didn’t get rained on while riding.

Bill lived in Florida all of this life. He’s retired now. We chatted about bikes and bike tours. He gave me some advice about the Empire State Trail and told me that the part going to Montreal from upstate New York is on the road and can be very busy. I’ll keep that in mind.

Around 3 PM, Bill had to check-in into his hotel since he doesn’t stay with Warmshowers hosts and didn’t even bring camping gear. He’ll be going from inn to inn on this trip.

After separating from Bill, I walked my bike to my Warmshowers host’s place. My host’s name is Denise and she lives in Lambertville, New Jersey, just across the river from New Hope, Pennsylvania. Since she won’t be back until 5:30 PM I parked my bicycle in her backyard then explored Lambertville and New Hope on foot.

I’ve been to this area twice before and I really appreciate the art scene here. There are a lot of art galleries, shops, and restaurants. It’s a very scenic area. There is also a bike trail along the Delaware River. I’ll be riding on it to get to Easton, Pennsylvania, the day after.

I waited out the rain at the Ferry Market before walking to a French bakery called Chez Alice to buy some bread as a gift for Denise. Chez Alice looked like a store from Paris, very elegant and very French.

At 5:30, I met Denise at her house. Denise’s house is like something out of a magazine, clean, neat, and architecturally pleasing. Denise is a retired therapist. She and her husband, Don, have completed many bicycle tours around the world.

After settling down and taking a shower, I had some homegrown salad and lasagna for dinner with Denise. Don came back around 8 PM. After some more conversations with Don and Denise, I helped Denise with some computer issues before I ended the night by going to bed around 9:30 PM. I was too tired to write a blog post.

This morning, I woke up at 8 AM. Denise had left already for her appointment so Don made pancakes for breakfast. I had a variety of things to fill up my stomach this morning, including pancakes, yogurt, banana, strawberry, and coffee. I will be leaving Denise’s place soon.

Today, I will get on the Delaware canal trail and ride it to another Warmshowers host’s place in Easton, PA. It’ll be about 40 miles.