Lehigh Valley Gorge Trail

It may sound wrong to drive over 100 miles just to do a 35 mile ride but it really depends on the quality of the ride. It's also not always about the ride itself but the entirety of the trip. This long day trip was a result of a talk with Bruno on July 4 at his shop in Allentown during one of our long and hot rides. He and his wife had just done the Lehigh Valley Gorge Trail and raved about how nice it was. Since I'm planning to do the Great Allegheny Passage trail in August I thought doing this ride would be a good warmup since it would be a similar type of ride.

Making a day trip up to the Poconos means an early rise and a long day but it also meant more people would join me since it wasn't an overnight trip. I got Jack, Dorthy, Laura and Martin to join me at oh dark thirty (7am) at Jack's house for the drive up to Jim Thorpe where we needed to get the shuttle to the top of the trail. After getting all the bikes loaded it took about an hour an a half to get to Jim Thorpe where Pete would joined us. We got there about 8:45 am and didn't have to check into the shuttle until 9:30 am so after we got the bikes unloaded we rode around the town and went down by the river to get our first look at the gorge.

We then checked into to Pocono biking and got our bikes loaded onto the trailer.   

I wasn't sure how they were going to load 40 bikes in a trailer but they have a pretty good system where they just throw the front fork of the bike over a padded bar and strap it in. The bus left at 10 am for the drive up to our starting point. The way this works is that they drive you to the top of the trail and then you ride back down to Jim Thorpe. They have a 25 and 36 mile option. Dorthy did the 25 mile option while the rest of us did the 36 route. I thought there would be two buses, one for each option but what they did was drive everybody up to White Haven where the 25 mile option begins then transfer to people doing the 36 mile option into a van to take then to Glen Summit.

The bus ride to White Haven was mostly uphill and I wasn't sure the old yellow school bus was going to make it up some of the hills. It took about 40mins to get to White Haven then another 20 mins to get to Glen Summit. It was a little after 11 am by the time we got on the bikes and finally did some riding.

The advantage of taking the shuttle is that it did most of the up hill work so the 36 miles of trails was flat or downhill. The first few miles was easy pedaling as we were going downhill. The trail was packed gravel through the woods and was a smooth surface that we could cruise on pretty quickly. The only real sights in the first 10 miles was a couple of lakes.

The first lake was Moosehead lake which wasn't really shaped like a moose head but was scenic. The other lake was Cranbury lake and looked like a large lily pond.

There was only one place where we actually encountered a road or any civilization. We had to cross over the railroad track by a road. They had this paved path, next to a road, up to the railroad tracks but we had to carry our bikes over the tracks then followed another short paved path back to the trail. Not sure why they added this path as it would have been easier just to use the road.

The last few miles of the trail before we got to White Haven was a little wet and rough. I'm glad I had the wider tires and shock. Once we got to White Haven we took a little break by a General Store that was more or less a crap shop that sold everything including smoked cheese but really didn't have any food. He did fill our water bottles though. There was also a Rite Aid in the town but the didn't have much food or drink either so I'm glad I brought a lot to eat and drink.

From White Haven the trail was hard packed white gravel that you could almost of ridden on a road bike. We were now following the Lehigh River down the gorge and heard the occasional yell of the many rafters that were floating down the river and going through the rapids. It was scenic but the trees along the river made it difficult to get any good pictures of the river.

Besides the river the main sight for the first part from White Haven was some waterfalls along the way.

The first was Buttermilk falls where Jack is cooling himself off in the water.

The second was Luke falls which wasn't as picturesque 

We eventually got a good spot to take a picture of the river

And the rafters.

The last main sight on the ride was at Glen Onoko where a bridge went over the river showing a tunnel in the cliff.

The cool thing was that we could actually walk in the tunnel. This tunnel is called Turn Hole Tunnel and you can find more details about it HERE.

From the tunnel it was about 2 miles back to the parking lot where our cars were. We had one more bridge crossing where we got a good view of the river and gorge.

Once we got back to our cars we found something to eat in a town that was now packed and teaming with people.

All in all it was a good ride. It wasn't as scenic as Bruno described it but the trail was one of the most well maintained smoothest trails I have been on and a very enjoyable ride. It also gave me a chance to test out the new mountain bike on a long ride and give me confidence that I should have no problem doing the GAP trail. If I came up this area again I would probably make a weekend of it since there are other trails along the Lehigh River and Delaware River that we could do. In fact I learned that we could probably ride all the way from Jim Thorpe to New Hope on rail trails if we wanted to so that is now on my list of future trips.

If was also fun riding with Martin as I have only met him briefly before and was nice getting to know him. He also took some great pictures so I'm officially making him the staff photographer on any future rides he joins us on.

Feeling the Burn

It's summer so that means riding in the heat but today was excessive with temperatures predicted to be close to 100 degrees and the heat index above 110. Most sane people would choose to not rides but like a meth addict who needs a fix I decided to just get out early for a short ride. Laura had the same idea and actually put a ride on the calendar for 7am from the Pig. I thought about joining that ride but just couldn't get up that early to driver over there for a short ride.

Instead I just did a loop from my house to Millstone and back. It was already 80 degrees at 7am when I went into my garage to pump up the tires and go. When I turned my Garmin on it beeped and displayed an "Excessive Heat Alert" which I had to acknowledge to continue. I'm not sure how it knew the weather as I don't have it connected to my phone or my WiFi network. I think it was trying to say "Don't take me out in this heat bro"

I ended up doing around 35 miles and was back home a little after 9am. It was strange getting back so early from a ride. It was a hot ride and was 90 degrees by the time I got back..I probably could have done another 5 or 10 miles before it got unbearably hot but I had already sweated away 2 pounds of water so 35 was enough. Luckily my Garmin survived the heat and didn't commit suicide by jumping off the bike like someone else's did a couple of weeks ago.

I will be hibernating in the air conditioning and re hydrating for the rest of the day and hope the weather will get a little cooler so we can do some longer rides.

Trexlertown Velodrome

 

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People who haven't ridden on or watched a race at a velodrome don't know what they are missing. Last year when the PFWs trip got rained out I started thinking about doing a trip out there and finally got one together this weekend sort of. Unfortunately the only people who could join me was Jack and Dorthy. Jack wanted to see the races this past because it was Tandemonium. Tandem bikes are not really that interesting to me but racing tandems going around a track, COOL, I'm in. A tandem bike breaking into pieces was an added bonus but I'll get to that later. 

Since the races were Friday night we decided  to go out on Friday morning and do a ride before the race. Luckily when we got there there were only a couple of riders on the track. One of the good things about the Trexlertown Velodrome is that it is open to the public and as long as there is no racing or training going on you can ride on the track. While the the riders finished a few laps on the track Jack and I road on the apron to warm up. Once the guys were off the track Jack and I went up the backing onto the track. Trexlertown has 28 degree banking in the corners and 12 degree on the straight aways. It is both an odd and cool feeling riding around a banked track where your bike is not perpendicular to the ground. The banking does make it easier to go fast, as I averaged 18.8 mph for the laps and I wasn't really trying to go fast but when your on the track you just feel like cranking. The coolest thing to do on the track is to ride high into the first corner then dive done the track in the second corner and try to stay as far down on the track as possible which isn't easy. The G forces try to push you up the wall of the track so you have to work hard to stay low.

The track is 333 meters in length so a spin around the oval is about a fifth of a mile. My fastest time around the track was about 38 seconds which is about 20 miles an hour. I'm sure I could do a little better if I tried but the racers do it in the low 20 second range which is close to 35 mph. I'll never get close to that.

After about 15 mins on the track we headed out for a real ride. Jack had suggested the doughnut derby ride. This is the bike event the Lehigh Valley Wheelmen put on every Labor Day. Although it is more a ride than a race they do measure the time it takes for each person to finish the ride and the winner is the person with the best time. A rider can reduce their total time by each doughnut they consume. The doughnut derby route is a nice route through the usual Pennsylvania farmland with quiet roads, a few rolling hills and some good scenery.

The only problem with the ride was that we had a nasty 15-20 mph head wind for the first half of the ride. It was also close to 90 degrees since it was the middle of the day. I was a beat by the end of the 37 mile ride. 

We had a couple of hours break after the ride as we checked into the hotel and cleaned up to go to the race. I did not know what the expect for the Trexlertown races since I hadn't been to them before. I have watched the track cycling during the Olympics so understood some of the types of racing I would see. Although it was Tademonium night there was a mix of Tandem and single bike races. The first type of races were sprints where two bikes compete against each other with the winner going on to the next round.

These women kicked ass and left their competitors in the dust. Its hard to convey the power and speed of these riders. It was something to see. There were other types of races like scratch races where all the riders would go around the track and each lap the slowest person had the leave the track until only 3 were left and then they would all sprint one more lap to determine the winner. 

There were a few interesting tandem bikes there like this one.

We sat in the grandstands and had a good view of the track. Here is the mass start of one of the women's races. They actually all grab the wall and then push off when they hear the gun.

Racing is a lot more than raw power. There is a lot or strategy involved. Most of the race is sizing up other riders and getting into the right position for the last lap.

This women timed her breakaway perfecting and ran away from the race even thought she may have not been the fastest.

It was her first win. There was an announcer explaining the races and doing interview with the winners. 

Even though there was a lot of close racing there were no accidents until close to the end when one of the tandem's front wheel clipped the back wheel of the bike they were chasing.

The bike went down and pieces went flying. Both riders eventually got up but I'm not sure if the bike will every race again.

Not sure if there are any cracks in the frame but it definitely needs a new fork and front wheel. 

The night was a series of short quick races so the two and half hours of races went by pretty quickly. It is definitely something I would do again.

The next day Jack and I did another ride in the area. Since we started early it was much cooler and there wasn't much wind. This ride was a little hillier. There was only one steep hill but it was short which was good because I had my Feather which isn't geared for steep climbs. 

Once we climbed the hill we had some good views of the valley and had some long gentle downhills.

We also found a covered bridge along the way.

There were plenty of cows along the way so I had to take a picture of some of them for Laura.

There was a lot more trees along this route as well as a lot of small rivers and streams so it was a very enjoyable and scenic ride. There are a lot of other roads and routes that would be fun to do and since this area is only about a hour and a half away I can see doing a few more trips out here. Hopefully I can get a few more people to join me next time.

 

Hot and Humid

Summer is now at full strength and with that comes the hot and humid weather. Last weekend I wanted a flatter ride and so went on Larua's ride out of MCP last week. It was a mostly flat ride to New Egypt to stop at a coffee shop. It was meant to be a sort of a birthday ride because the mileage was the age of Jim and Laura added up in kilometers if you started from Laura's house. The ride was suppose to happen a couple of months ago, when it was close to their actual birthdays, but I scheduled a conflicting ride and it wasn't until now that we could all agree on a date. Except that last Saturday Jim had to work so he could not come on the ride. Even thought a ride created to be a certain mileage to match the age of a couple of people one who isn't there my seem like a stupid idea its as good an excuse as any to plan a ride and besides we enjoy the stupid.

Besides Laura and myself, Ricky, Andrew and Chris join us for the ride. I got there early and hid under the shade of the pavilion as it is bright and sunny, already 80 degrees and at least 120% humidity. I'm sweating without even moving. Once we got moving and I had some air moving across my skin I hoped it would feel better. It did a little but was still ungodly hot.

The route Laura took as was on familiar roads through Imlaystown and down across 537. We hit a dead end when Laura tried to find a back way to the rest stop. We retraced our steps and found the right back road that eventually got us to the coffee shop. The rest stop had good food, a bathroom and Gatorade so I would stop there again if I was down that way. What it didn't have was good air conditioning and it was as hot inside the place as it was outside. I stayed out in the shaded breeze way.

It was over 90 by the time we left the stop and headed for home. We took it slower than normal because of the heat and I was definitely dragging a little when we went through Allentown. Laura decided to stop to get some water which I was happy about. We stopped in Bruno's which was a nice break. I ate a gel pack while I was there and that gave me enough energy to get back home. I had almost 57 miles by the time I was back home and was definitely starting to get dehydrated.  

July 4th was another hot and humid day and instead of doing the all paces ride I got Laura, Bob and Ricky to join me for an earlier ride to Rova farms. We did this route which is my shorter Rova farms route. This is one of the flat rides I like to do when I don't feel like going down to the pine barrens. Starting the ride at 8am didn't really mean it wasn't already hot but at least we would be home earlier before the weather got to death march status.

I actually felt better on the 4th than I did last Saturday so maybe I'm getting acclimated to the heat. It was still a slow slog down to Cassville. As expected our usual antique store/deli was closed as was the bar and doughnut shop but luckily Mr T's Deli (no not that Mr T) was open and was a good alternative and now may be my preferred stop when I'm down that way. It was another 57 mile hot ride but I did it with only one stop this time.

I was busy Saturday so ended up on Jim's ride out of Blackwell Mills on Sunday. To get more miles I rode up from Rocky Hill. It was suppose to be cooler and less humid but it didn't really feel any different than my last two ride. Yea it was 85 instead of 90+ but when sweat is dripping off you 2 minutes after you get out of an air conditioned car its ridiculously hot.

I got to Blackwell Mills about 20 mins early. I sat at the picnic table to wait for Jim but swarms of flies were attaching my sweat soaked body so I got back on the bike and headed up the canal slowly to keep the flies off me.

Jim's ride are nice and relaxing which means I didn't have to push myself in the heat. It was also good catching up with a few people I don't normally see. Jim decided to change his stop on 206 from the bagel place to Thomas's Sweets. You have to ride a little on 206 to get there so he wanted an alternate route. I looked at the map and saw there was a way to get there from a parking lot and dirt path on 518. It seemed like a good idea but while riding over the grass to get to the dirt path I hit hard dip in the ground and flipped over the handle bars and fell to my right. It was a quick unexpected jolt but I wasn't going real fast and landed on grass so a little rash on my knee and a slightly askew break level was the only damage.

 As most people who ride with me know I don't shy away from these off road detours but this time it bit me in the ass. The dirt path we had to descend was almost too steep to do safely so this will be the last time we will be coming this way.

On the way out of Thomas's Sweets we found a slightly easier way through the Wawa parking lot so the problem with getting in and out of Thomas's Sweets has been solved.

I ended up with 45 miles and besides the fall it was a good day of riding. I just hope there will be a few cooler and less humid days ahead this summer or I may need to find a way to add air conditioning to my bike.