Day 4: Hackettstown, NJ to Bethlehem, PA

Distance: 39.7 mi, Climbing: 1,978 ft
Completed: 144.3 mi, 8,851 ft

Joanna and I have been tested every day of our tour. On the first day, we faced short, very steep hills. On the second day, it rained all day. The third day was non-stop climbing. Today, was supposed to be easy – a 40-mile jaunt to Bethlehem on relatively flat roads. First, it was cold. We started and finished with wind chills near freezing. We did not pack for this level of cold and had to wear everything we had. I literally wore seven layers of clothes.

But the big challenge for the day proved to be the wind. We had a steady 20-mph head wind all day with frequent gusts up to 35 mph. The gusts were almost enough to stop us completely in our tracks. We had to downshift just to stay upright on the bike. Riding in the wind is unrelenting as you cannot coast. Our legs were really feeling it, and we had to take additional breaks to give our legs a chance to recover.  

But ignoring the wind, it was a fun and pretty day. We were excited to pass into Pennsylvania, our fourth state in four days. We rode through the suburbs of Phillipsburg, PA, on some very tiny residential streets before arriving at the Northampton Street Bridge over the Delaware River that crosses into Pennsylvania. We walked the bridge and had lunch in Easton, PA, stopping briefly to take a picture under the ‘Welcome to Pennsylvania’ sign.

After lunch, we rode the D&L Trail (Delaware & Lehigh Rivers) following the Lehigh River and Lehigh Canal all the way into Bethlehem. The river views as the sun went down were stunning. We also got to ride our first gravel sections of our tour. I was a little nervous as I have not ridden much gravel, let alone fully loaded, but it went well, and it was great being out in the forest away from all the cars. We finished the day by crossing Fahy’s Bridge into downtown Bethlehem and to our hotel near Lehigh University.