The idea was to bike from Smithfield Beach to Dingman’s Campground on the Mc Dade  Trail. The trail runs along the west side if the Delaware River from just above the Water Gap north to Milford, PA. That was the plan.

Well…I was clearly thinking with my 18 year old brain. My 65 year old brain and body must have been napping.

About 3 miles in the path turned left, without warning, and we went straight.  Now this next bit was just dumb. The path began descending and the light gravel became stone. We pressed on. I had never been on this section. 3 miles later we dead ended at a body of water. Nowhere to go. It was the river running north!

The river had bent like a whip about to crack and we were surrounded by water on three sides. What? Now what. Turn around and climb for 3 miles. Two other cyclists were approaching us, also misdirected. we all headed up.

So, now we’ve done 3 miles if the trail but have covered 9 miles and the next few miles was extremely hilly. I was whipped. Remember, I’m still adjusting from yhe absence of my thyroid and the lack of fitness post Lyme. Whipped.

Have a look at that  face. I was just surviving for the last section. I had ridden a flat 20 miles twice before this trip. I was not ready for 20 becoming 29 with hills! 

While my friend John tried to figure out where we went wrong, I got my alcohol stove out and made mashed potatoes and added hickory smoked tuna. We both decided that it was edible,  but only when starving. Off to a local diner. John’s car was with us at the campground. We left it there pre adventure.  Notice the darkness and John is still there. 

We both slept ok. It was a beautiful cool and moonlit night.

We got up. I made coffee. John’s bike had a flat tire. The patch kit was useless…very old and we had no tube. The plan was to go have breakfast,  find a bike shop and purchase a tube.

After breakfast my 65 year old brain awakened. We decided, at my request,  to just go home. I had pushed too hard. My body was asking for some peace and quiet.  I submitted. 

At the moment, I have just awakened from a nap and I am still tired. 30 hilly miles on a packed mountain bike had done me in. Riding back down the trail would have been proving a point to NO ONE! I won’t get cut from the team anymore if I quit at halfway. The imaginary team has had an exorcism. 

I had such big plans. On the plus side, we both stayed vertical. We’re still friends. Our wives will think we’ve grown. That probably hasn’t happened. 

Sorry. No pictures. My phone was too heavy and too much trouble.  Plus my hands were sweaty and shakey. It’s really good that we didn’t ride today. I could have really hurt myself. 

I know, you think God flattened that tire, right? Divine intervention. Him working in mysterious ways.  Him have a different plan. Him doing for me what I can’t do for myself. My path wad already Chosen.  You just go ahead and think that if you must. Not me. It was just a flat. A flat that changed my course and gave me an opportunity to get a little wiser. My HP feels more like love.  Love doesn’t flatten tires. It sits next to you while you fix them.  🙂