Crossing the Delaware

I do quite a few rides near the Delaware because of the interesting roads on both sides of the river. Most of the rides I do involve crossing the Delaware at one of the bridges. This usually means walking across since the law doesn't allow bikers to ride across bridges with pedestrians on them. However the new Scudder Falls Bridge now has ridable bike lane that makes it easier to cross the Delaware. 

This new bike lane has been open for months but I have not had a chance to use it yet so I took the opportunity this weekend to check it out when I did a ride out of Yardley. We did this route which takes us uphill to Tyler State park and then over Jericho mountain before a stop in New Hope for a break. After the break we headed toward the bridge to NJ. I took a new route to the bridge that involved going the wrong way up a one way street, walking over rail tracks and over a bridge with broken and up heaved asphalt. It wasn't as bad as it sounds and the road on the other side is now my favorite way to get to New Hope and over the bridge. 

After the long walk over the bridge to the NJ side we headed uphill and wound our way through Hopewell and the outskirts of Pennington before heading back down to the Delaware. This route has around 3000 feet of climbing but I didn't feel too stressed by it. I was able to turn the peddles up the hills without my heart rate blowing up and didn't cramp. It probably helped that the weather was cool. I of course wasn't as fast as the rest of people with me and I actually think Pete new knee has actually made him faster than before.

The trip over the Scudders Falls bridge was interesting. The surface is a little rough and bumpy but it is nice to be able to ride over the Delaware. I definitely will use it again the next time I need to cross the Delaware in this area.