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<DIV>Here's a brief report on the 255 mile, 5 day tour of Pa. I did last
week.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The idea for this tour started when I signed up for a weekend Amish
country ride with Country Roads Bicycle Tours <A
title=http://www.crbyt.com/index.html
href="http://www.crbyt.com/index.html">http://www.crbyt.com/index.html</A>, 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).</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV></FONT>
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