E-Biking Carnegie Lake to Rocky Hill

Photos from a ride a couple months ago. The lake was created in 1906 by Andrew Carnegie so that the Princeton University crew team would have a place to practice their rowing. It is parallel to but separate from the Delaware & Raritan Canal. The Lake Carnegie Historic District, like the canal, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

D&R Canal trail near Carnegie Lake, NJ. Source: TCM
Restored Bridgetender’s House foundation along the D&R Canal near Rocky Hill, NJ. Source: TCM
Source: TCM
Canal near Rocky Hill, NJ. Source: TCM
Carnegie Lake. Source: TCM

The Rogers Ruin of Mercer County

J + R R: The John and Rachel Rogers Stabilized Ruin, with Radmini. Source: TCM

The Rogers House is a fine example of 18th century pattern brick architecture that unfortunately was neglected long enough that by the time funding was acquired, the only option was to preserve it as a stabilized ruin. Mercer County acquired the house in 1970; the preservation project was not completed until 2019. Still, a stabilized ruin is better than a collapsed house.

“Pattern brick” means that letters and numbers are built into the walls using glazed brick ends inset among unglazed brick stretchers. On one end is “1751” commemorating when the house was built (although there has been debate about whether the third digit is a “5” or “6”). On the opposite side are the letters “J + R R” for John and Rachel Rogers, the original homeowners. The rest of the walls are built a Flemish bond with alternating brick headers and stretchers.

The Rogers Ruin, Mercer County Park, NJ. Source: TCM
J + R R Gable End. Source: TCM

Does a Radmini fit in a Jeep Cherokee?

Yes, although not that easily. One of the selling points of folding fatbikes is their enhanced portability. Folding them potentially makes it easier to carry them in a car without a bike rack. But the ebikes are still heavy, bulky, and take up a lot of space.

On the new (2014+) Jeep Cherokees, the hatch opening is narrow, compared to similar-sized SUVs, and the cargo floor is only 36.1 inches wide between the wheelwells. Even when it’s folded in half, it’s nearly impossible to fit the Radpower Radmini in without putting down the back seats. On its side, the bike takes up most of the cargo area. The low ceiling means you risk scratching the headliner if you put it in upright, although once it’s in, you could probably squeeze a second folded e-bike alongside it. Most of the scratches on my Radmini – and all the scratches in the back of the Jeep – are from loading and unloading the bike.

The official dimensions of the 2019 Jeep Cherokee cargo area are 25.8 cubic feet behind the rear seats and 54.7 cu ft with the second row folded down. That’s less than the otherwise similar-sized Subaru Forester, which has 28.9 and 70.9 cu ft of space, respectively, behind the second row and first row seats.

Dimensions of a folded 2019 Radmini. Source: Radpower

E-Biking the Forbidden Drive

As in, you are forbidden to drive a car on it, but you can bike, walk, or ride a horse on it. The former Wissahickon Turnpike, the main drag through Wissahickon Valley Park in Philadelphia, was built in the 1820s and got its current name in the 1920s when it was closed to vehicles.

Wissahickon Creek. Source: TCM

On a pleasantly cool weekend morning there were a lot of people in the park, meaning we had to drive around a bit before finding a parking spot. The gravel path is wide and the people spread out so it was a leisurely 8 mile ride.

Some nice Parkitecture in Wissahickon. Source: TCM
Philly’s first public drinking fountain, built 1854 and shut down in 1957 due to water pollution. Source: TCM

E-Bike to Hanover Pond at Whitesbog

Radmini at Whitesbog
Cranberry bog
Hanover Pond on Gaunt’s Brook. Source: TCM

My first time biking at Whitesbog, the birthplace of the blueberry, was almost a year ago. Today was hotter and the water in Hanover Pond and the cranberry bogs looked very inviting.

As peaceful as it is, Hanover Pond is part of what has been called a “highly engineered agricultural water supply system” for growing cranberries. Whitesbog was already a large, established cranberry operation when Gaunt’s Brook was dammed in 1896 to create Hanover Pond. Water from the pond is channeled into Whitesbog’s Upper Reservoir, built around the same time.

Bog pond at Whitesbog. Source: TCM

More Biking, Less Photoing

Crystal Lake. Source: TCM

Summer’s in full swing, and I’ve been revisiting some parks I last rode in colder weather, including Crystal Lake Park and Cadwalader Park, as well as visiting Tyler State Park in Pennsylvania early on the 4th of July. Too busy riding to take many pictures.

Crystal Lake Park
Tyler State Park. Source: TCM
Cadwalader Park. Source: TCM

The LHT through Carson Road Woods

An e-bike on a trail
Radmini on the Lawrence Hopewell Trail. Source: TCM
A field in Carson Road Woods
Carson Road Woods. Source: TCM

About one mile of the twenty-mile-or-so Lawrence Hopewell Trail passes through Carson Road Woods’ hedgerows, fields, and forests. The land was once farm fields and a peach orchard; in the early twenty-first century, it was preserved as a park, saving it from development. To the north, the LHT passes through the Educational Testing Services headquarters, home of the SAT, GRE, and other standardized tests, before looping back through Rosedale Park and Mercer Meadows, a.k.a the Pole Farm, which are about three miles west of Carson Road Woods.

Flowers along a trail
Source: TCM

E-Biking In and Around Black Run

The ups and downs of a typical sand road in New Jersey. Source: TCM
Trail to one of the log circles at Black Run. Source: TCM

The Black Run Preserve is 1,300 acre tract of pine barrens in Evesham Township, New Jersey. There is a an active friends group that has developed an extensive network of multi-use and hiking only trails; recently REI has also been involved.

Black Run Preserve. Source: TCM
Having such a good time I almost forgot to take a picture of the bike. Source: TCM

Spring Lake Park E-Biking

Staircase at Spring Lake. Source: TCM

Spring Lake is part of Roebling Park, which is in the Abbott Marshlands of New Jersey. The park has had many names over the years. In the early twentieth century, this was the White City Amusement Park. It was renamed Boiling Springs Park a few years before it closed in 1922.

The Casino restaurant, a c. 1820 mansion that is now privately owned, provided patrons a view of the landscape below. A grand staircase allowed them to walk down to the lake, where there were more rides. The staircase is one of the few visible remnants of its past.

Most of the trails are for walking only, but the Spring Lake loop is bikeable. This park is currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The staircase at Spring Lake. Overlook Mansion, formerly the Casino Restaurant, is visible at the top of the bluff. Source: TCM
Spring Lake in 1907 postcard. A staircase is visible in the center of the photo, but may be a precursor to the existing one.
White City Park in 1908. The top of the staircase is depicted on the left edge of the map. Source: Insurance Maps of Trenton, New Jersey. Sanborn Map Co., 1908.
Spring Lake. Source: TCM
Mural at Spring Lake
Source: TCM

Around Port Mercer by E-Bike

Port Mercer was a small town along the Delaware and Raritan Canal in central New Jersey. Since the canal closed down in 1932, commerce has shifted east to U.S. Route 1, where shopping malls, car dealers, and restaurants are now located. On the west side of the canal, there are still extensive swampy wetlands between Lawrence Township and Princeton.

Source: TCM

One of the buildings that remains from the canal’s heyday is the Bridge Tender’s House – the worker who lived there was responsible for swinging open the bridge when a canal boat came through. Several similar buildings still exist along the canal.

Bridge Tender’s house at Port Mercer, NJ. Source: TCM