A Day of Wrong Turns
First of all, read a great article about the trip in Today’s Metro, (newspaper in NY, Boston and Philly!
After that, read my article in the DailyCamera (Cool video attached)
Wow, I thought Newark was the worst city in the world. Nope, that title has now been awarded to Trenton NJ. Oh my god! That place is hell!
But before I get there though, let’s rewind to this morning. We began the morning riding on a dirt bike path that followed a glassy river lined by colorful trees. No cars, no NJ smells, and no worries. Just birds flying overhead and the sound of gravel crunching under the tires. I wish every day could start like this.
Nate escorted us to the limits of Trenton and this is when things got a bit ugly. Trenton by the way, is the capital of New Jersey, but I hear that the governor chooses to live in Princeton. I wonder why?
We got lost, a bunch of times. We spent an hour riding in a circle, it’s not fun to put down miles that don’t get you further down the road. Usually we are pretty good at navigating but it’s hard to navigate when there are NO FREAKING STREET SIGNS!
Not only were we lost, but we were lost in bad areas. Everyone we talked to warned us about the danger. Here are some examples of what we heard.
“I wouldn’t go down any of those streets, they’ll rob you in broad daylight.”
“There are a lot of gangs here, be careful.”
“Trenton is hell, ride out of here as fast as you can”
Riding through Trenton was scarier than riding through San Pedro Sula Honduras (the most dangerous city in Central America). Finally though, after two hours of zero progress, we made it victoriously across the Delaware river. George Washington would have been proud.
From there we took a few more wrong turns, which made out trip much longer than it needed to be. I took out my frustration on my jar of peanut butter, I love you peanut buter? Now however, I’m happily sitting in the home of another great high school friend, Melissa. Philly is cool, I’m on a mission for a vegetarian Cheese Steak.
Hey Duzer,
First of all, let me congratulate you on your previous trips and wish you the best of luck on your current one. As a recent cross country rider myself, I know exactly what you are going through. Keep warm!
I definitely agree with you about NJ – it is not a nice place to bike through. A quick note about the “locals”: trust 22.5% of what they say. I found that many “locals” don’t even know their way around the block some time. Take what they say with a grain of salt and go with your gut.
The Northeast sucks when it comes to signage. For me, it seemed like every turn I needed to make would be the one road where a sign was not posted. Eventually, though, you will make it.
Good luck!
Ray Hurteau
Oh yeah, don’t go to Trenton.
I was going to suggest Philly… seat of our democracy!
Keep on Truckin’