prologue

From the moment I discovered I could ride my bike from Trenton to New Brunswick I looked forward to this day. The plan was to ride my bike from home to the Haddonfield PATCO Station and take it to Broadway in Camden. From there I would transfer to the River Line and take it to Trenton. Once in Trenton, it was a mile or so to the DnR Canal Trail, then 36 miles to New Brunswick, where I planned to spend the night and reverse my trip the following day.  

I arrived at The Walter Rand Transportation Center in Camden several minutes before the next scheduled train. This was my first time visiting Camden alone and thankfully it was day time. I purchased my ticket and stood on the platform. It smelled like pee and I was the only person who spoke English. A man with a plastic shopping bag full of Greek Yogurt containers was engaged in an intense conversation (in Spanish) with the woman standing next to me, who had given me a puzzled look when I asked her a question (in English) a few minutes prior. 

The train arrived and I boarded, hung my bike and sat in the seat next to it. After a dozen or so stops (still can’t beat the one way $1.50 fare) I was in Trenton. My biggest reservation about this adventure was finding my way from the train station to the trail because Trenton wasn’t somewhere I wanted to be lost on my bike. I ended up taking a wrong turn, but was really close and a woman who was walking pointed me in the right direction. 

I grabbed a drink, popped in my ear buds and started pedaling. A few minutes later I encountered my first Canada Goose. It hissed at me as I rode by...not a big deal, there are plenty of geese on the banks of the Schuylkill and I never thought twice about them. Then there was another...this one hissed and came at me...spread it’s wings and charged...I unclipped (just in case I had to kick it) and screamed as loud as I could (like a big ROAR!) and the goose backed off...34 more miles of this, I thought to myself...this is going to be a long day. Thankfully, the geese became less aggressive as I made my way on the trail past Trenton.