Downtown Frenchtown
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 95 23:58:45 EDT From: dje@mail.bellcore.com (Don Eilenberger) Subject: BMW: Fandango part Deux (Episode 10 - the last) LONG!!
When we last heard from our motorcyclists, they were in Pittstown NJ, and had gotten instructions from a non- native.
Studying the map, I finally found Pittstown on it, and found the intersection we were at.. Rt. 579 and Rt. 513. I determined that Rt. 513 west would lead us into Frenchtown NJ where we could again cross the Delaware River into PA and the wonderful Rt. 32.
Rt. 513 from Pittstown to Frenchtown is a good motorcycle road, perhaps not as absolutely wonderful as 579, but good riding, especially the final decent into Frenchtown (hairpins and downhills - just the stuff FrankenCycle's warped front disk wasn't quite up to - lower gears kept me out of the bushes).
We came into Frenchtown by the back routes - I had previously visited it last year on Fandango-I, where we obtained fuel from the only station in town, and marveled at the commercial hotel in the center of town. We again stopped at the same station for fuel, which appeared to have changed owners - they were now very motorcycle friendly. While we were fueling up (Frank dropped the nozzle again) - several other bikes pulled in, generally taking over the service station.
We again crossed the metal grated bridge between Frenchtown NJ and Uhlersville PA, and this time headed south on Rt. 32 [1].
Frank and I stopped several times along the south route of Rt. 32 for some photo ops (and Frank had made the `pee' sign at me, so we looked for some big rocks for him to hide behind). At one spot there is a stone quarry on the western side of the road, which we pulled into and rested amongst the cut boulders. On the other side of the road was a part of the deserted canal and then the river. If we'd had a picnic lunch it would have been perfect!
We continued south on Rt. 32 into the section where it has been "Freshly Oiled" earlier in the week. The pea-gravel had started to rub off the road, so the surface was good riding, but there still had not been any lines painted, and we noticed again that cars coming the other direction appeared to be attracted to our headlights. We also were tailgated for some distance by a 4-wheel suburban commuter (Isuzu Trooper or such), until he finally saw 100 feet of straight road - when he passed, mostly still in our lane.
We were not disappointed by the ride between Uhlersville and New Hope PA - the weather was perfect, the road good, the traffic annoyances minor, and too soon we were in downtown New Hope PA on a Friday afternoon, seeking the impossible - a decent meal at not too high a price.
I think I may have made a breakthrough in dining in New Hope, we actually got edible food and left with a few dollars in our wallets. After circling the main street (Rt. 32) and some back streets, we finally lucked in, and a parking space opened up right in the center of town on the main drag [2].
We walked south a bit from where we'd parked looking for edible food. The NAY's were easy - anyplace I'd eaten before got one. We finally turned up "West Bridge Street" - which is the extension of the street that the bridge crossing the Delaware to Lambertville is on.. and found "Villa Vito" - about 15 small tables, almost empty (usually a bad sign) - with a lunch special for about $5.00 that consisted of: soup, salad, hot-sub (meatball, sausage, etc.) and drink. It actually was not a large lunch, but just enough, and the food was good. Service - by members of the owner's family was also good. If you go there and it turns out awful - not my fault - it just means the New Hope curse has finally attacked it!
From New Hope, we headed over the river into Lambertville and on our return journey. We had passed this way just a few days ago - but it now seemed as if we had passed a milestone of some sort. Our dream trip had happened - and was just as good as we'd expected. The return passage across the New Hope-Lambertville bridge seemed like the end of the trip.
We quickly headed towards home - Frank had a square-dancing party Friday night, and I had a Fossil Riders[3] ride to join in.
As we entered Princeton NJ - we hit it at early-rush-hour, about 3:45PM (evidently work ends early in Princeton on a Friday). The town was one continual traffic jam. At one point a woman driving a Mercedes decided that Frank and I didn't really NEED an entire lane to ourselves - and managed to pull up next to Frank in the lane, and attempted the same thing with me. I very purposely pulled over more into the lane and stopped - and looked back at the woman.
She looked though me, and shortly after during a two lane section, pulled around me. I was VERY tempted to follow her right to her house to explain the NJ rules of the road a bit to her, but figured assholes like this will never learn - better to avoid them.
Frank and I finally split up on NJ Rt. 33, near Freehold (where we'd met) with him heading northeast a bit, and me heading southeast. Before we parted - we did pull off at one light to chat - and Frank said "It was a damn good ride - we gotta do it again soon!" - I agree!
A few notes: We travelled 725 miles in total, home to home.
I averaged 45-48 mpg on my R65. Our average speed was about 30-35 MPH. We only went on one interstate, for two miles, and in general avoided completely any divided highways with the exception of a 10 mile stretch of NJ Rt.33 to get from Freehold to Princeton NJ.
[1] Retracing a route - as I mentioned in an earlier episode, one of my goals on the ride was to not go over the same road twice. In the case of PA Rt. 32, I was willing to make an exception. In previous rides on Rt. 32, I always ended up heading north on it - this was the first opportunity I'd had to try the road in reverse - headed south. A great road - it was equally as interesting heading in the other direction - and all the curves and one lane bridge approaches now were new to me.. so I really don't think of this a retrace - more a reverse Fandango.
[2] New Hope and Parking - these two terms are not natural friends. In general, if you arrive at New Hope on any Sunday, after 10AM, there is NO parking in the town at all.
If you arrive early in the day during an off-season-off-day (during the week out of tourist season) you may be lucky enough to find a space for $0.25/30 minutes. This isn't too bad a deal, since you can typically fit 4 motorcycles into a single space.
When we were lucky enough to find the main-street space, I convinced Frank that we should park both bikes towards one end of the space, with the front wheels OUT so it was obvious we were in the space. By the time we returned to the space about one hour later - we had been joined by two other bikes. I did notice that they had added their quarters to the parking meter - meaning that motorcycles had the space for the rest of the day - when we left, there was room for two more bikes to park - which they did before we went around the block on the way out of town. Sorta ends up being communal motorcycle parking, making the quarter/30 minutes a bit more tolerable..
[3] Fossil Riders of NJ - "ride'em - don't hide'em" is the motto of the Fossil Riders of NJ. This is a club of serious bike nuts - who all own at least one bike older than 15 years old (a fossil). We have regular monthly meetings and monthly rides, and appear in parades and such (badly overheating antique motorcycles). The overwhelming passion of the club members is the restoration and riding of some great old bikes - I think the record for bike ownership is held by a member who is also in the NJ-Shore-BMW Riders - last time I asked, he `thought' he had 21 bikes - but wasn't quite sure.
Don Eilenberger, SIE Bellcore 331 Newman Springs Rd. RM 3X224 Red Bank, NJ 07701 ======================================= EMAIL: dje@mail.bellcore.com PHONE: 908-758-3167 FAX: 908-758-3166 =======================================