July 3: Doylestown to Philadelphia, PA (52 miles)

As one of my veritable legion of blog followers helpfully pointed out (see Comments), since Ken drove me last night from Lambertville to my Warmshower host in Doylestown, I would technically have been "cheating" to continue to my tour west from Doylestown.

I suppose rules are rules.

For that reason, and also to check out the towns I'd missed at the Jersey/Pennsylvania border, upon leaving Bob Ruddy's home around 8:30 this Sunday morn, I biked roughly ten miles northeast back through New Hope, PA, and then a fraction of a mile to the intersection in Lambertville where Ken rescued me.

The fact that this side trip might satisfy the nitpickiest of my readers was not all that made this side trip deeply rewarding.  It also gave me a chance to see the charming town of New Hope and, best of all, to meet the members of First Baptist Church, literally steps down the road in Lambertville, NJ. 

After crossing the bridge on Route 179 into New Hope...

Bridge into New Hope, PA

 ...I continued less than a mile and noticed from the placard outside that services at First Baptist Church were just beginning, so I went inside.

The service wasn't held in the cavernous sanctuary on street level, but in the church basement.  I would later learn this was because the roof of the church, erected in 1868, needs $200,000 in repairs.  With only 25 members, I deduced that the congregants don't have $8,000 apiece to kick in.   

This morning there were fourteen  in attendance, myself included. The service started with a few hymns, after which congregant Rita stood up and sang "On Eagle's Wings."

Pastor Ray Force's sermon centered on Romans 7:14-25, in which the apostle Paul acknowledged struggling with sin in his body despite being "a slave to God's law" in his mind.  All Christians share his struggle and are a work in progress. Ray used the metaphor of his childhood drum set, which didn't begin to fulfill its intended function and make good music until he had first produced hours and hours of cacophony. Likewise, we all need to be properly "tuned" to perform in a manner God intends for us.

After the sermon and a communion service, there was a wonderful fellowship lunch, during which I met Ray, his wife, Cathy, and the rest of the congregation.  Everyone was exceedingly welcoming and inquisitive about my nascent bike tour.  I mentioned that I was on my way to Philly and, since I'd been anticipating a short biking day, was a bit concerned when all agreed it was "at least an hour by car."

During lunch I learned that Ray is an avid ham radio operator who once communicated with a man as far afield as Johannesburg, South Africa.  These days, his signal extends as far as the American mid-west.  Ray said it would be much further if only his wife would let him attach a 27-foot antenna to their house.

I also talked at considerable length with Jackie and John Sneddon, whose family own Sneddon's Luncheonette just steps down Route 179 (name Bridge Street in Lambertville).  If I hadn't just eaten, I would surely have stopped by and sent considerable business their way.

I was disappointed to learn that First Baptist will soon leave this venerable old church and that it'll ultimately be converted to retail space. 

At noon, I left my new friends at FBC, who indulged me while I snapped a few pictures. 

Ray and Cathy Force

Last night, Bob Ruddy very helpfully mapped out a graceful, southwesterly arc for me to travel to Philly.  But he had no way to know I'd decide on-the-spot to first detour northeast into New Hope.  As a result, my journey into the city was an ad-hoc, mirror image of what we'd intended, a more heavily-trafficked arc down Route 232 through Bucks Country (Wrightstown) and Upper and Lower Southampton, to Route 532, approaching Philly on the opposite (eastern) side, parallel to the Delaware River.   I was a bit taken aback by the hilliness of the terrain on these routes, only 25 miles or so from the pancake flatness of Center City.

 

It felt very good indeed to finally arrive at the home of Jason and Melissa Rubin around 6 p.m.