Day 14: 7/21 - Hospitable Friends and Family

Today was an early wake up (not as early as we had wanted because Esmith's phone shut off halfway through the night; thus, no alarm). We hit the misty road and rode fairly hard all day. There were more raspberries and blackberries along the way, along with an incredible lunch at a market in Milford, PA. The workers behind the butcher counter were a couple (one from PA and one from NJ...their interplay was as entertaining as any comedy) who we found to be extremely nice. They got us ice-cold water for our bottles and delicious (I repeat, delicious) classic italian sandwiches for our bellies. These things were incredible. Thick fresh mozzarella, prosciutto ham, fresh basil, roasted red peppers, house italian dressing on super soft rolls. Just sublime...Esmith couldn't stop raving. The best part was that John and Linda, the best italian butchers north of the Mason Dixon Line, hooked us up by labeling our sandwiches as "liverwurst" which cut the price in half. That's alot of liverwurst. So kudos to John and Linda and thank you for your generousity. Hope you didn't give up hope waiting for your mention on here! The market was called the Milford Market and was just off the river on 26 Bridge St in Milford, PA. Check it out and get the classic italian (seriously, it was better than most of the sandwiches I had while I was IN Italy...that good!). Later in the day, we ended up "time trialing" for about 30 minutes. On a relatively flat area, Esmith and I would switch off the leader position every two miles so the other could rest in the slipstream. We were able to keep up a even clip of about 21 mph and covered alot of ground; this technique will come in handy on the flats down south.

We stopped off in Lambertville to take a dip in the Delaware one last time, but couldn't find a path to the river so we just ended up throwing rocks at a canal and train bridge for 45 mintues. We contacted our hosts for the night, my girlfriend's Aunt Colleen and grandmother, who generously offered to pick us up short of our destination (it was a hot day...so we complied). After managing to stuff our bikes and gear into the Tahoe, we headed home for showers with Esmith and I crammed together in one seat (better than being on the bikes!).
After showers, we all (Grandpa Rich, Grandma Loretta, Aunt Colleen, Uncle Jeff, Evan, and Evan) went to dinner at Johnny Apples in Holland, PA (great pasta) and returned home for a relaxing chat on the back porch (check out the picture in the gallery!). Jeff eventually drove us out to Blue Bell where were staying the night in Esmith's aunt and uncle's house (it was a long drive and we really appreciate it Jeff! and thank you so much for your hospitality, Menzen clan). The house was gorgeous and had a big screen, so we greedily soaked in the Tour de France as we dozed off.