Overnight to Trexlertown

 

Since my trip in 2019 I have always meant to get back to Trexlertown for some riding and another night at the track but for one reason or the other I haven't been able to get back until now. One of the motivations to do the trip this past weekend was that the velodrome was having a 50th anniversary celebration which would include not only racing but some fireworks. 

We drove out early Friday morning and did a 30 mile covered bridge ride. We saw 5 different covered bridges. Two in the first couple of miles since we started from Covered Bridge Park

 

They were pretty plain looking covered bridges so I didn't really take pictures of them but the scenery along the way was worth slowing down and taking a few minutes to enjoy. We had some great views of the hills and valleys around us.

It was a hilly ride as we climbed 2200 feet in 30 miles. None of the climbs were too steep or long but there was just a lot of ups and downs. It helped that the weather was almost perfect in the mid 70s and sunny.  

After the ride we went for some ice cream then to the hotel to clean up before going to the velodrome. 

We ended up going out to dinner at the Foglesville hotel which was where we ate last time we were here and I forgot how good this place is. After that is was off to the velodrome. It was a little more crowded than last time but not as crowded as I was expecting seeing as this was opening night and the 50th anniversary celebration. 

We settled in to the grandstands and watched the races.

 

There were both women's and men's races. They have a number of different types of races.  Some are straight races where the fastest person wins. Other are points races where the racers gets points for 1st(5), 2nd(3), and 3rd(1) across the line on certain laps. So they not only have to race but do math in the heads to determine if they are in the lead or not. In one of the points races a couple of women actually lapped the field which was impressive and they get 20 points for that which gave them a big lead over the rest of the field. The announcer did his best to explain the race and keep track of the leaders but it was still a little hard to follow if you didn't know the racers. 

One interesting thing about the racers is that they are from all over the world not just the local area or US. I didn't realize that Trexlertown was that well known outside of the local area. I guess one of the reason Trexlertown has been around for 50 years is that this velodrome and the sport in general is popular enough to attract enough races and people to keep it operating. 

Beside the races there were also a few ceremonies between races with a few quick speeches from past athletes and current local government people telling how much the velodrome meant to them and the community. 

They also had a kids race around the track where they let kids from 3 to 12 ride around the track on kick bikes or regular bikes. One of the kids on the kick bikes really took off and will probably be a future champion. 

There was also a symbolic ride by the son of Bob Rondale to mark the anniversary. The history is that the first loop around the track was Bob Rondale in a sports coat so his son recreated the moment. 

 

After all the races and ceremonies were over it was time for the fireworks which were definitely worth the price of admission and better than most local fireworks shows I have seen,

 

Since I don't really follow the sport some of the longer points races were a little boring and hard to follow but just seeing the power of the racers and how hard they push themselves around the track was fun to see. 

After a well deserved night of sleep we headed out Saturday morning for another ride. It was just 60 degrees and windy and cloudy so not as nice a day as Friday. I mapped out a ride to Crystal Caves which was a little longer but less climbing than Friday's ride. 

We start the ride from the velodrome. One of the cool things about the velodrome is that it is a public facility so if there are no races or practices going on you can ride your bike on the track which we did before the ride. 

We each did a few laps on the track just for fun.

 

I photo bombed  Martin as he was making some kind of video for posting on Facebook or Strava.

I  also got a picture of Martin burning it around the track.

After a few laps we headed out on the ride. Jack and I had do a version of this ride so I knew the roads and terrain a little better. Most of the climbing is in the first part then we stayed on the ridge line before heading into the valley and riding along the rivers. On yesterdays covered bridge ride we hit almost no traffic. Today we had some sporadic traffic but still not bad. 

Since this was a Tom ride there was a bridge out. Luckily there was not problem getting around it. Which was good because I would have no idea how to find my way back to the route. 

 

The ride was mostly along small creeks and river and through farmland.

 

The hills were less and not as hard as yesterday which my legs appreciated. It was a good ride and good way to end the weekend. There are a lot of good roads out here and it is not far from home so I will try to get out here more often as it is a good place to do some different rides.