Imagine if you would a place where everybody you meet is a avid bike rider. In your hands is a envelop with cue sheets for 30 great rides of any type or distance you could want. As you walk into the hotel, where you will be staying, there are bikes and people in bike cloths everywhere you look. The conference rooms of the hotel are filled with any food or drink you could want before, during or after a ride. There are people from the local bike club to help you decide which rides to go on, a massage therapist to ease your tired muscles and beer and wine to help you relax at the end of the day. You have entered another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A
journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. Next stop, the Twilight Zone! (cue dramatic music)
This is the strange world I entered when I attended the BCP Fall Foliage trip this weekend. The Bicycle Club of Philadelphia (BCP) runs two trips a year, one in the spring and another one in the fall. I have heard a lot of good things about these trip and decided it was time to go on one of the trips.
The Fall Foliage trip goes to Hanover PA just outside of Gettysburg. This is an area of farms and rolling hills that is rural and has a lot of nice places to ride. BCP has been running this trip for 10 years and always has a good turnout. There were 170 people on this trip and we took over all of the Hampton Inn as well as a good part of the Holiday Inn across the way.
I took Friday off so I could drive out early and do a ride that afternoon. I caravaned out to Hanover with Cheryl and Al. We passed through a couple of rain storms on the way out but by the time we got to Hanover it was just overcast and the roads were mostly dry. After checking in to the hotel and looking at the ride sheets we decided to do a 29 mile ride called the Northern Exposure. We pick up another rider on the way out and proceeded to head out to the country side.
It was still a little overcast but as we rode the sun slowly came out. I have never ridden in this area before so it was fun exploring new roads. For the most part cue sheet was a clear but there were a few turns where it was a little ambiguous so we had to stop and look at the map and my GPS to make sure we didn't get lost. The land we rode through was mostly farmland and small towns but there were a few interesting sites along the way. The first was the town of Hanover where there was a bakery with free coffee and a nice circle in the middle of the town. The trees in this area were close to the peak color and one on the square was one of the brightest that I have ever seen. The other oddity on the ride was a strange collection of sculptures at a farm house. The first one I saw was an eight foot elephant next to a small pond. Then next to the pond was a house with many more sculptures. Everything from a gorilla to snow white to saints and everything else in between.
After the ride we hung out with all the other bikers and tried not to over indulge in all the food that was out. I do know a few people in BCP but the only one I recognized was Linda. Al and Cheryl introduced me to a few other people who they knew but it didn't matter that I didn't know any one since we area all bikers and have a lot of stories to share. The main topic of conversation was what ride to do on Saturday. Since we were close to Gettysburg I wanted to ride through the battlefield. There was a 60 mile ride on Saturday to the hotel to and around the battlefield and back which sounded good but there were also a few other rides out toward Maryland that sound good too. In the end we chose the hills and foliage for Saturday and saved the battlefield ride for Sunday.
Saturday morning was a little cool around 50 but it would be sunny and warming up so it looked like a good day. From the hotel we headed to McSherrystown where we meet Ivan from the Hanover cycle club who took us to Littlestown then on a beautiful 32 loop through to farms and hills of Pennsylvania and Maryland. There's not a lot to say about the ride except that it was great choice. We road along some quiet road with good views of the some farms and near peak fall foliage. It was hilly enough to be interesting but nothing harder than a normal sourlands ride. Ivan was a good ride leader and keep the group together and moving along. The only thing the ride didn't have was a rest stop since there is a lot of nothing out here. We had been told about that before hand so I brought enough food and water with me. At the end between to trip from the hotel to Littlestown and back and the loop through Pennsylvania and Maryland we ended up with 58 miles. A good day.
Saturday night the group (i.e. all 170 of us) headed to Abbotstown for a nice sit down dinner at a local restaurant before heading back to the hotel for some more socializing.
Sunday Cheryl, Al and I headed out on our own. We decided to drive to Gettysburg and do an 18 mile loop around the battlefield since we wanted to do a short ride today so we could get home at a reasonable time. I had been to Gettysburg a number of times in the past but seeing it by bike was different since get to see it at a slower pace. The battlefield is literally almost filled with monuments and you can't go more than a few feet with out seeing another plaque or statue to some one who fought and die here. We did stop at some of the bigger monuments and sights to take in some of the history.
At the top of Little Round Top we listened to a great talk about the battle there. The person speaking was leading a small group of bikers and stopped to describe the battle for this high ground. He was very animated and not only described the battle in vivid detail but even acted out a few parts. Once he started talking we couldn't walk away.
We stopped at a couple other places along to way for pictures and to read about the history. We got back to the car just before noon and headed back to the hotel to a shower before heading home.
It was a great bike trip that was over all to quick. Linda and the rest of the gang from BCP did an excellent job organizing this trip. They created a beautiful alternate reality where the world is all about biking. It was hard to drive home and back to the real word but I will definite visit this world again next spring when BCP has there trip to Danville.
