[Bent] 5 DAY BIKE TOUR OF PENNSYLVANIA
Rich Sadler
richsadler at comcast.net
Tue May 26 21:51:51 EDT 2009
Hi Steve,
Sounds like a nice trip-thanks for the write-up. Amish country is great
for biking- I've done the Lancaster bike club's August covered bridge
metric century a couple of times (once with Dick Ludwig).
Rich Sadler
Sfriedlander2 at aol.com wrote:
>
> Here's a brief report on the 255 mile, 5 day tour of Pa. I did
> last week.
>
> The idea for this tour started when I signed up for a
> weekend Amish country ride with Country Roads Bicycle Tours
> http://www.crbyt.com/index.html, a small outfit with whom I have
> done two other tours in the past. The tour included two nights at
> a motel in Strasburg, a quaint little town located in the midst of
> Amish country, a few miles southeast of Lancaster, Pa. Naturally,
> I figured it would be more fun and adventurous to leave the car at
> home and get to Strasburg and back on my trusty old "Lightning
> P38" recumbent (with its F40 nose cone in front for a little extra
> speed).
>
> The main issue in planning the route was how to get through or
> around the Philadelphia area. Fortunately, there's a
> Philadelphia regional bike map that covers southeastern Pa. (and
> also a big chunk of NJ), with roads color-coded to show which ones
> are best and which are the worst. The Pa. Department of
> Transportation has also mapped out various bike routes that
> criss-cross the state. One of them, namely "Pa. Bike Route E",
> goes from Trenton through central Philly to Delaware and is part
> of the East Coast Greenway Route from Maine to Florida.
>
> I left my home in Hamilton Square, NJ (near Trenton) last Thursday
> morning and headed for downtown Philadelphia, following Route E
> for a substantial part of the way. Most of the streets along Route
> E have bike lanes, but much of the route is on major streets and
> highways that also have a lot of traffic, as I discovered on a
> trip I did last year. Accordingly, I used the bike map to locate
> alternate streets with less traffic for parts of the 38 mile route.
>
> Once in Philly, I checked out Jay's recumbent shop on the north
> side of town (Their selection of bents in stock turned out to be
> somewhat limited.), then used one of those coupons you get at
> freeway rest areas to book a room at the Holiday Inn for $89. The
> hotel is in a great location - right in the middle of Philly's
> historic district, a block from Independence Mall. (I suspect the
> $89 rate is probably not available on weekends.) After lunch at a
> nearby deli, I had the rest of the day to do a few things in
> Philly. I checked out the museum of Jewish history located a few
> steps from the hotel -- an interesting place, but really just a
> preview of the "real" museum that is currently under construction
> next door. The $150 million edifice is being built on the mall and
> is scheduled to open in November 2010.
>
> The next day's ride was 62 miles to Strasburg, mainly along
> secondary roads that run parallel to Route 30, the main highway
> between Philly and Lancaster: Haverford Ave, Haverford Rd,
> Conestoga Rd, King Rd, Boot Rd, Rt. 30B, Valley Rd, etc. After
> stopping for lunch in the small town of Coatesville, I entered
> Lancaster County, where I suddenly found myself immersed in a
> bucolic landscape with horse-drawn plows working in the fields,
> women in long dark dresses working in their yards, and thousands
> of cows grazing on the hillsides. It felt good to arrive in Amish
> country!
>
> After checking into the motel in Strasburg, I noticed a broken
> spoke on my front wheel and wondered how long it had been that
> way. Luckily, I was able to get the spoke replaced at a local bike
> shop that stayed open late on Fridays, then met the other riders
> on the tour, a congenial group of 10 people, with ages ranging
> from 11 to 70.
>
> On Saturday we rode a few miles to visit the "Amish Village" and a
> few more miles to Intercourse for lunch consisting of pretzels
> stuffed with either sausage or pizza ingredients. The afternoon
> was spent zig-zagging along back roads amidst the Amish farm
> country east of Lancaster, hoping that it wouldn't rain (which it
> didn't). Since this was supposed to be a "rest day" for me and the
> skies looked threatening, I opted for the shorter ride of 27 miles
> rather than the 46 mile ride.
>
> Sunday's ride took us into the more rural and hilly landscape
> southwest of Strasburg for a nice change of scenery. The entire
> group opted for the shorter ride of only 15.5 miles, which seemed
> a lot longer because of the hills, wind, and frequent turns. After
> a gourmet farewell luncheon at a quaint old Strasburg Inn, it was
> time to begin the trek home. I pedaled east toward West Chester, a
> nice town about half way toward Philadelphia, where I used another
> discount coupon to get a room at a Microtel Inn at the edge of
> town. After a shower and brief rest, I got back on the bike and
> rode into the center of town for a good meal and a quick tour of
> the town with its many stately old brick houses and college campus.
>
> The trip back was not without a few challenges. In addition to
> being more hilly, I encountered two "bridge out" signs along the
> route - one on Sunday and another on Monday. To make matters
> worse, the Philly regional bike map I was using to navigate had
> mislabeled 2 of the roads along my route, causing me to make a
> wrong turn at one of them. These pitfalls resulted in about 3 to 4
> extra miles each day, for a total of 37.5 miles Sunday afternoon
> and another 67 miles on Monday. Monday's ride was particularly
> challenging, following an intricate route through Conshohocken and
> the suburban area north of Philly, then back through Trenton. The
> many hills often had stop signs or red lights near the bottom that
> served to kill my momentum. But the various detours along the
> way took me to some lovely secluded back roads and past some
> magnificent stone mansions, so I can't really complain. All in
> all, it was a really fun experience.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *A strong credit score is 700 or above. See Yours in Just 2 Easy
> Steps!
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>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Subject:
> 5 DAY BIKE TOUR OF PENNSYLVANIA
> From:
> Sfriedlander2 at aol.com
> Date:
> Sat, 23 May 2009 10:46:30 EDT
> To:
> exeterz at optonline.net, martyspec at gmail.com, LaibleBenMoshe at aol.com,
> bentonlife at gmail.com, Drfinkr at aol.com, mfrieber at yahoo.com,
> tomf at westonmanagement.com, go4witt at optonline.net,
> goelz at cs.rutgers.edu, whalperin at att.net, path42 at embarqmail.com,
> info at jerseybents.com, JVDeluxe at aol.com, rkatz at lipmankatzmckee.com,
> lbrush at att.net, alan.lowich at gte.net, bent at list.marsride.org,
> BikenutSteve at aol.com, EJMCCOURT at aol.com, mmmassage at verizon.net,
> wellesley at att.net, mpsuber at juno.com, advisor500 at gmail.com,
> pollack.jeremy at gmail.com, bikefar at hotmail.com,
> sriddletwin at verizon.net, FSTANSKI at aol.com, bjwalmsley at verizon.net,
> wearebent at googlegroups, apdoo at apdoo.org, jzalon at zalonoffice.com
>
> To:
> exeterz at optonline.net, martyspec at gmail.com, LaibleBenMoshe at aol.com,
> bentonlife at gmail.com, Drfinkr at aol.com, mfrieber at yahoo.com,
> tomf at westonmanagement.com, go4witt at optonline.net,
> goelz at cs.rutgers.edu, whalperin at att.net, path42 at embarqmail.com,
> info at jerseybents.com, JVDeluxe at aol.com, rkatz at lipmankatzmckee.com,
> lbrush at att.net, alan.lowich at gte.net, bent at list.marsride.org,
> BikenutSteve at aol.com, EJMCCOURT at aol.com, mmmassage at verizon.net,
> wellesley at att.net, mpsuber at juno.com, advisor500 at gmail.com,
> pollack.jeremy at gmail.com, bikefar at hotmail.com,
> sriddletwin at verizon.net, FSTANSKI at aol.com, bjwalmsley at verizon.net,
> wearebent at googlegroups, apdoo at apdoo.org, jzalon at zalonoffice.com
>
>
> Here's a brief report on the 255 mile, 5 day tour of Pa. I did last week.
>
> The idea for this tour started when I signed up for a weekend Amish
> country ride with Country Roads Bicycle Tours
> http://www.crbyt.com/index.html, a small outfit with whom I have done
> two other tours in the past. The tour included two nights at a motel
> in Strasburg, a quaint little town located in the midst of Amish
> country, a few miles southeast of Lancaster, Pa. Naturally, I figured
> it would be more fun and adventurous to leave the car at home and get
> to Strasburg and back on my trusty old "Lightning P38" recumbent (with
> its F40 nose cone in front for a little extra speed).
>
> The main issue in planning the route was how to get through or around
> the Philadelphia area. Fortunately, there's a Philadelphia regional
> bike map that covers southeastern Pa. (and also a big chunk of NJ),
> with roads color-coded to show which ones are best and which are the
> worst. The Pa. Department of Transportation has also mapped out
> various bike routes that criss-cross the state. One of them, namely
> "Pa. Bike Route E", goes from Trenton through central Philly to
> Delaware and is part of the East Coast Greenway Route from Maine to
> Florida.
>
> I left my home in Hamilton Square, NJ (near Trenton) last Thursday
> morning and headed for downtown Philadelphia, following Route E for a
> substantial part of the way. Most of the streets along Route E have
> bike lanes, but much of the route is on major streets and highways
> that also have a lot of traffic, as I discovered on a trip I did last
> year. Accordingly, I used the bike map to locate alternate streets
> with less traffic for parts of the 38 mile route.
>
> Once in Philly, I checked out Jay's recumbent shop on the north side
> of town (Their selection of bents in stock turned out to be somewhat
> limited.), then used one of those coupons you get at freeway rest
> areas to book a room at the Holiday Inn for $89. The hotel is in a
> great location - right in the middle of Philly's historic district, a
> block from Independence Mall. (I suspect the $89 rate is probably not
> available on weekends.) After lunch at a nearby deli, I had the rest
> of the day to do a few things in Philly. I checked out the museum of
> Jewish history located a few steps from the hotel -- an interesting
> place, but really just a preview of the "real" museum that is
> currently under construction next door. The $150 million edifice is
> being built on the mall and is scheduled to open in November 2010.
>
> The next day's ride was 62 miles to Strasburg, mainly along secondary
> roads that run parallel to Route 30, the main highway between Philly
> and Lancaster: Haverford Ave, Haverford Rd, Conestoga Rd, King Rd,
> Boot Rd, Rt. 30B, Valley Rd, etc. After stopping for lunch in the
> small town of Coatesville, I entered Lancaster County, where I
> suddenly found myself immersed in a bucolic landscape with horse-drawn
> plows working in the fields, women in long dark dresses working in
> their yards, and thousands of cows grazing on the hillsides. It felt
> good to arrive in Amish country!
>
> After checking into the motel in Strasburg, I noticed a broken spoke
> on my front wheel and wondered how long it had been that way. Luckily,
> I was able to get the spoke replaced at a local bike shop that stayed
> open late on Fridays, then met the other riders on the tour, a
> congenial group of 10 people, with ages ranging from 11 to 70.
>
> On Saturday we rode a few miles to visit the "Amish Village" and a few
> more miles to Intercourse for lunch consisting of pretzels stuffed
> with either sausage or pizza ingredients. The afternoon was spent
> zig-zagging along back roads amidst the Amish farm country east of
> Lancaster, hoping that it wouldn't rain (which it didn't). Since this
> was supposed to be a "rest day" for me and the skies looked
> threatening, I opted for the shorter ride of 27 miles rather than the
> 46 mile ride.
>
> Sunday's ride took us into the more rural and hilly landscape
> southwest of Strasburg for a nice change of scenery. The entire group
> opted for the shorter ride of only 15.5 miles, which seemed a lot
> longer because of the hills, wind, and frequent turns. After a gourmet
> farewell luncheon at a quaint old Strasburg Inn, it was time to begin
> the trek home. I pedaled east toward West Chester, a nice town about
> half way toward Philadelphia, where I used another discount coupon to
> get a room at a Microtel Inn at the edge of town. After a shower and
> brief rest, I got back on the bike and rode into the center of town
> for a good meal and a quick tour of the town with its many stately old
> brick houses and college campus.
>
> The trip back was not without a few challenges. In addition to being
> more hilly, I encountered two "bridge out" signs along the route - one
> on Sunday and another on Monday. To make matters worse, the Philly
> regional bike map I was using to navigate had mislabeled 2 of the
> roads along my route, causing me to make a wrong turn at one of them.
> These pitfalls resulted in about 3 to 4 extra miles each day, for a
> total of 37.5 miles Sunday afternoon and another 67 miles on Monday.
> Monday's ride was particularly challenging, following an intricate
> route through Conshohocken and the suburban area north of Philly, then
> back through Trenton. The many hills often had stop signs or red
> lights near the bottom that served to kill my momentum. But the
> various detours along the way took me to some lovely secluded back
> roads and past some magnificent stone mansions, so I can't really
> complain. All in all, it was a really fun experience.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *A strong credit score is 700 or above. See Yours in Just 2 Easy
> Steps!
> <http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1222585033x1201462753/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072%26hmpgID=115%26bcd=Maystrongfooter52309NO115>*
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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