Pennsylvania Dutch Country Roads Adventure: a bike trip

This is a nice 3 day bike trip to Pennsylvania and Maryland I will lead August 22-24 to Valley Forge National Historic Park and then across Pennsylvania to a house in the town of Intercourse, in the heart of bicycle riding and Amish country. On Monday, we will spend a day riding around Lancaster and points north without our luggage. On Tuesday, we will ride back across Pennsylvania to Philadelphia and the train home, stopping for a look at French Creek State Park (a famous mountain-biking destination and campground) and the adjacent Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site  before we continue on to
dinner in the Elkin Park section of Philadelphia. After dinner, it's on to 30th St. station and the train home.

In order to make it more flexible for people outside of NYC and Long Island, the price of the trip doesn't include transportation.


On Sunday August 22, I'll take the 7:14 AM Trenton train from NY Penn station, change for the SEPTA train to 30th St. station Philadelphia arriving 9:45 AM. Anyone not coming from NY Penn with me will meet up in the main level of the station at the north arcade waiting room.  From the station we'll ride with our panniers on our bikes at a 16 mph pace out and over the Schuylkill River Trail to Valley Forge as the first leg of our trip. After we ride around the Valley Forge site, we'll continue west across Pennsylvania with a quick stop at Marsh Creek park.

The trip price includes two nights lodging and two days worth of expertly prepared freshly cooked delicious and nutritious meals by  Sharron The Kitchen Maven : Sunday dinner, Monday breakfast/lunch/dinner and Tuesday breakfast and lunch. All meals are glatt kosher / cholov yisroel / pas yisroel. The restaurant in Elkin Park is glatt kosher. 

Of course cue sheets and Garmin routes are provided.. I've also arranged for a car service on demand to come get anyone, at their expense, who cannot continue but doesn't need emergency medical attention and take them wherever -- back to the hotel, a bike shop etc. .
 

Day	Miles	Cruising speed - mph	terrain
Sunday	70	16+	Flat to rolling
Monday	60-80	17	Mostly hilly, some climbs
Tuesday	82	16+	Rolling to flat

Before the ride
Make sure your bike is in GOOD working order. Pump up tires to the pressure specified on the sidewall. Bring essentials: helmet, 2 spare tubes, a pump, patch kit, 2 water bottles or a hydration pack of at least 50 oz., pocket food, ID, money, credit card, and if you are using Metro North or LIRR to get to/from NY Penn station you need a train pass. Eat a good breakfast consisting of carbohydrates and proteins before you leave home. Bicycle helmets are required head attire for all rides on this trip, and "ipod"-like devices are not allowed.

Lodging:
There are 3 available bedrooms.
Bedroom 1: 1 King bed and a TV, $500
Bedroom 2: 1 Queen bed and a TV $500
Bedroom 3: 2 Queen beds and a TV: each bed, $375
Bedroom 4: Women only (sharing room with Sharron) no TV, 2 beds available $300 ea.
Bring your spouse for Bedrrom 1 or 2:: $225

Deadlines:
Paying by check: $175 deposit before July 21st.  Receipt of full payment is required by August 1st. Your registration is transferable but non-refundable after July 21st. The above prices expire July 21st; after July 21st, add $150. No registration possible after August 19th.

To pay by credit card, use this Active.com event.

All prices include PA tax.


Please note: there is absolutely no smoking permitted on this trip.

Bagels Storm King and Beacon 6/27/2010

A long hilly ride on a long summer day, with several featured climbs including: Little Tor; Seven Lakes; Perkins, and Mine Hill. Adapted from an NYCC cue sheet for the A-SIG.

We'll stop at a kosher bagel shop in Monsey after Little Tor. After Mine Hill we'll have a long ride with scenic views from Storm King and the banks of the Hudson River as we head to the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge to catch Metro North home. 

Our goal is to take the 5:57 PM train home from Beacon but do it at Cold Spring. We might well bail at Beacon.

Bring:
- front and rear lights for night return when you get back to the city.
- lunch or buy something at the bagel shop (dairy only)...or both.
- the usual: spare tubes; tire tools; pump/inflator; water.

Planned route

Pizza and 7 lakes

A route for 7 Lakes from Sloatsburg with a stop for pizza in Monsey.. This has a lunch stop at mile 32 of 86.8 -- with 26.7 to the top of Perkins after lunch.  The route to Perkins and Storm King with a bagel shop stop but no Little Tor is "only" 83 miles. The route I put in is 89.9

google maps with bike route is fun.  Now if I could only get that into my garmin with every turn and get an elevation profile from google maps...

Storm King

June 27th is a long day.  That makes it more practical to take a long hilly ride. While we won't have all the fall colors, the Hudson Valley and Harriman Park are pleasant in summer as well.  Since we have all this daylight and need to really work up an appetite before Bubba's Bagels, we'll climb Little Tor first. That puts the bagel shop at mile 40 of 90. A bit early for lunch but the opportunity for carbs and caffeine before the rest of the climbing will help get us up the hills.

Alyn 2010

They've published the routes, and included an elevation profile. The Challenge is always difficult but this year the end of day 1 is an incredible climb.  It's hard to say exactly the distance from the graph.  but the elevation change of 354.7 meters is quite clear. Oh sure, there's a short recovery after 177.4 meters of climbing followed by more steep climbing. Looks like the whole climb is over perhaps 6 Km distance.  That only computes to a 6% grade but the catch is that downhill on the elevation chart. One thinks one could just hit 72 kph and roll up at least part of the way, but the  route makes it quite clear: you're riding down the crater wall, then turning around and climbing right back up.  The day is "only" 51 miles, and I suppose I could bail and take the bus back up the wall.  For sure at this moment I'm not in shape to handle this but I've got 4 months to get in shape.