Struggles and Glory

Man down. Bike down. 

It was a leisurely stroll back through Amberly on our way to Warrington. Everything was running smoothly until the entire back rack of Josh's bicycle completely came off and dropped dead-to-rights smack down on the pavement. Like a bag of bricks it slammed down as Josh kept pedaling, thinking only the sleeping bag had merely fallen off. As we stopped in front of a library, Josh screwed the shit back together.

10 miles or so later, it happened again. This time, it wasn't funny. Before, it was only humorous because of how quickly and unnatural it looked collapsing, with such force. The second time was just a cause for alarm. Josh chalked up the big plummet to not being screwed tightly enough. After some time running on some pretty rough off-road terrain, it looks to be okay. One more occurence though, and we've both agreed on getting a new rack or getting it checked out. 

On to better things.

Jack Hengy. Yep, a shining soul gleams through the opaque and cloudy pessimism. The 54 year old cycling rat came hurtling down a backroad outside of Warrington. From the get-go; kind and attentive as could be. He listened to our story (with the natural profound disbelief) and lead us on a few shortcuts to our destination in New Hope, PA. 

"I usually bike down there to Dunk N' Donuts and come back up here. It's not a bad ride at all, quite nice. Say, where you kids from anyway?" said the heavy New York accent.

"We're from Cape May, yourself?"

"Cape May? Hell, you know Billy Myers?"

"He have any kids?"

"Yeah, he's got three; Christian, Greg, and Marissa."

"I used to work at Joe Canal's with Greg and Marissa went to my school!" I cheered.

"Small world! I've been to Joe Canal's down there before! Nice joint".

Jack pedaled with us for a little while, talking of his life, good places to eat, lessons. He's worked as a Juvenile Delinquent Officer for the past 30 or so years and was just about to retire. He kept saying, "I don't wanna act like a dad but..." I got lectured (appropriately so) for no helmet. We also learned his wife had ovarian cancer for five years but was getting better. He didn't have any kids and I liked to think the three of us kinda were... in some strange way. 

In another odd stroke of chance, I knew a girl from my study abroad in India that was from the town of Lockhaven where he resided. The last name Adgate didn't ring a bell but it was still a funny chance encounter.

Down the road from Warrington, we eventually made it to the town of New Hope. New Hope sits right smack on the border of NJ. Just across the Delaware River from New Hope, is the town of Lambertville, NJ. 

 Josh's manager in Manayunk actually lives in New Hope, PA. He told us of a few restaurants to check out. One of which was a Mexican styled cafe called El Taco Loco. The woman who worked the place and her assistant were amazed by our bike details. We stayed an hour or two, stomachs bulging from all the burritos, tacos, and chips. I had three cokes...

One employee named Matt told us about a bike trail that ran all the way to our end-goal of Frenchtown where there was camping. However, it was $30 to camp there... and free anywhere else. So you can probably guess what we did.

Eventually we left El Taco Loco and biked through the town of 

Stockton. I stocked up with a can of peaches, two boxes of pasta, soy sauce, and a can of beans. We had dinner in the woods a ways off the bike trail. 

Bike rack collapse numero uno.

Josh's bike rack fell off twice and his overweight bike took him down a few times. Throughout the whole day, regardless of those circumstance, his enthusiasm was an absolute joy and wonder. Hell, Mike and I were downtrodden and exhausted. Josh was always cracking jokes and getting us to smile. That's my fucking boy.

"Wait, let me take my helmet off so I look cooler"

Makin dinner... huntin in the woods.