Most people know Gettysburg as the site the of famous battle that marked the turning point of the civil war. Gettysburg National Military Park is one of the more popular national parks and a great place to learn about the history of the battle and the civil war. However when I go to Gettysburg I go there mostly to ride as the battlefield and the surrounding area has some of the best roads to ride a bike on.
The Philadelphia bike club runs a trip every year to this area towards the end of October and is one of the best organized bike weekends there is. That is why I have done this trip 4 times in the last 10 years and why I did it again this year. This year was different of course because everything is different now. This trip is usually a very social trip with a lot of gathering of bikers from different areas and even a few different clubs. I enjoy trading biking stories with other people and learning about rides they did. In fact the last time I was in Gettysburg I learned about the GAP trail and was so taken by the description of it that I ended up making a bike trip to ride it.
I haven't done any bike trips since because of Covid but as me and the posse are vaccinated and with the case counts falling some of us decided to venture out again and the Gettysburg trip seemed like a good place to go. We decided to stay mostly to ourselves and forgo all the group activities. It still felt good to be around other bikers as there was no need to explain why we were dressed in spandex and walking bikes through the hotel lobby.
We ended up doing 3 rides for the weekend. The first one was on Friday at noon right after we got there. We did this route called Northern Exposure which loops around to the town of New Oxford. Besides the climb in the beginning of the ride it is a mostly a easy rolling ride through some quiet farmland roads. The stop in New Oxford is first class and one of the better rest stops on any bike ride. In the center of town there is a circle that always has a coffee shop. This shop has changed owners and styles a few times over the years but they always have great treats and good coffee. The current incarnation is called Deja Brew and is the best incarnations so far. When I walked into the store I was greeted by a wall of different kinds of cookies, muffins and other baked goods including a chocolate mousse brownie which was tasted as good as it sounds. The person behind the counter was dressed as a witch with an excellent purple hat. It was so convincing a costumed that she shocked Jack when she came outside.
Friday night we hung out in my hotel room instead of hanging out in the conference room. Although everybody was suppose to be vaccinated and wearing masks it just didn't feel safe to me to be inside around that many people. I'm just not ready to be around crowds yet.
Saturday's ride was to and around the battlefield. It was cloudy and in the high 50's at the start of the ride. The ride out to the battlefield was through the many horse farms in the area. The roads in this area are in good shape with very few pot holes and there is almost no traffic so it is really a pleasure to ride.
By mile 20 we were on the top of Little Round Top surveying the battlefield. Even if you're not interested in the history of the battle it is a good place to get a view of the valley and surrounding area. There are a lot of monuments around the battlefield more than probably any other battlefield. If you take a little time to learn about the battle and aftermath you will realize the great lost of life that occurred here and the effect it had on the people of that time. A moment that was perfectly captured by Lincoln's Gettysburg address and used to call people to rededicate themselves to the principals that founded this country. It's a lesson that is still relevant today and one that we all should revisit.
After admiring the view we headed towards the Sach's covered bridge. This is a few miles away from the main battlefield but somehow covered bridges and biking just go together. Unfortunately the cloudy skies let go with some light rain. I blame Laura for this because this trip has been running for over 20 years and it never rains. For some reason when we are together the probably of rain increases even if it was not in the forecast.
We took refuge under the covered bridge (which was littered with candy corn for some reason) until the rain let up. We then headed through a few more miles of the battlefield and town before getting back to the quiet country roads that brought us back to the hotel. We were a little chilled because of the rain but it's never too cold for ice cream so I made a detour a mile from the hotel to stop at Brusters for some of the best ice cream in the area.
After the ride it got dark and cloudy and rain a little more. The plan for Saturday afternoon/night was to head back to the battlefield for some pictures. I spend part of the pandemic writing my Best Easy Bike Rides Gettysburg book. Because of the pandemic I was not able to get all the pictures I really wanted. Even though the book is now out I still wanted to get a few pictures I had planned for the book.
One of the planned pictures was a sunset from the top of Little Round Top. The sun actually came out about an hour before sunset so we headed to the battle field but unfortunately the clouds came back on the way over.
Normally Saturday night would be a dinner at a local restaurant with the rest of the people on the trip but we all decided that it wasn't a good idea so we all got take out. We hung out in the pool area for a little while before heading back to our rooms. It ended up being an early night. I know some people don't like hanging out in a hotel room. This wasn't a problem with me as it was a hectic week at work with not enough sleep and I was beat. I also wanted to work on the route for Sunday's ride.
Sunday was a little brighter but colder. I planned a 22ish mile ride around Lake Marburg. This ride went through some of the hillier parts of this area to get to the lake. We made a detour into the actually lake to get a view of the entire lake and surrounding shore. The trees were starting to turn but it was still a week away from peak. After the visit to the lake we headed around the other side and followed some train tracks a good part of the way back. We ended up crossing them a bunch of times including crossing then three times in a half a mile in the town of Porters Sideling.
Half the of this ride was new roads that I haven't done before. I did this to made the ride a little shorter and a little less vertical. It ended up being a good route and was a good way to end the weekend. After that it was a quick shower at the hotel before heading home.
This is the fifth time I have made a trip to this area and every time I leave I know I will be back again. There are just so many good roads out here to explore. There is also many places for sweet and salty treats (Did I mention that there are 3 different pretzel factories here with outlet stores). There are always ways to improve the trip. The hotel where we stay is in the middle of a concrete jungle of strip malls. It is a good central location and you can start most rides directly from the hotel but it is not a very scenic spot to hang out after a ride. The end of October can be a good time to come if you want to see the fall foliage but I the next time I come back I would like it to be during warm weather so I don't have bring tights and gloves. So next time I come I might try to rent a house just outside of Hanover and do that in the late spring or late summer. Either way I know I will be back out here again to enjoy the roads and other things this area has to offer.
