In the last post I wrote about a downed tree on the Bartol Trail at Springton Manor Farm. I emailed the Park Superintendent at 12:33 pm on June 22. The Park Superintendent emailed me back at 8:57 am on June 23 and said he would take care of it. Today when I rode, the tree was moved off of the trail. Great job Chester County Parks & Recreation !
From their website:
Celebrating our 50th year!
The Chester County Parks & Recreation Board was constituted January 1, 1958 for the purpose of "coordinating and promoting park and recreation facilities for Chester County."
In 1962, Nottingham County Park was the first park dedicated within the Chester County Park system. Since then, Hibernia (1963), Warwick (1973), Springton Manor Farm (1988) and Black Rock Sanctuary (2003) have been dedicated.
The Department presently manages over 4,500 acres of public parkland for passive recreation.
The Park system is great and there are several parks nearby. On my rode bike I have ridden to Warwick and Hibernia Parks. I also frequently use the Struble trail to go to Downingtown.
I rode 7.4 miles concentrating on my climbing. It was a good workout with the temperature already near 80 degrees before 9:00 am. Again the Fantom 29 performed flawlessly-- smooth shifting and good traction for the climbing.
I did make some slight adjustment to my brake levers and shifters. I have been feeling some discomfort in my wrists. I think that my wrists are still slightly bent back. I rotated the brake levers and shifters a few degrees toward the ground and it made a huge improvement. I will monitor this more to see if further adjustments are needed.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Return to Springton Manor
I am changing up my riding routine for the summer. The weather is so nice that I will be going on longer road bike rides on Saturday mornings. I will probably just be doing quick rides on the Fantom 29 to Springton Manor Farms on Sundays before Church.
Today I rode 8.0 miles to Springton Manor Farms. I haven't ridden there since March 29. Things have changed. The trail that I would pickup at Burgess Park on RT 282 was overgrown with sticker bushes for about half the length, so I avoided it on the return trip.
When I got to the park I took my usual ride but was prevented from getting on the Bartol Trail at the south end of the park by a felled tree. I was able to find another access point. They were able to remove that huge downed tree that I was playing around on in my March 15 post. I emailed the park superintendent to see if they can remove this tree.
At the Farm you can see a lot of farm animals and other wildlife. I saw a couple of goats standing on some big boulders. There are also horses, sheep and chickens. I also saw a family of gophers on the trail.
I have been starting to work on my climbing legs more on my road bike riding. There is a hill on Pumpkin Hill Road that I call the Glenmoore Wall after the famous Manayunk Wall.The "Manayunk Wall" is an inclined street, comprising all of Levering Street and a few blocks of Lyceum Avenue, that is a part of the Philadelphia International Championship, an annual one day bicycle race. The Manayunk Wall has a rise of 220 ft and a grade that varies between 6.5 and 17%. The Glenmoore Wall has a rise of 262 ft over about 0.5 miles which give a grade of 9.0%. It varies from 4.1 to 17.1%. I figure this all out on an elevation profiler tool.
There is also a similar climb at Springton Manor with a 223 ft rise for a grade of 9%, varying from 6.5 to 11.8%. This one is tougher because it is on grass with the fat MotoRaptor tires.
Today I rode 8.0 miles to Springton Manor Farms. I haven't ridden there since March 29. Things have changed. The trail that I would pickup at Burgess Park on RT 282 was overgrown with sticker bushes for about half the length, so I avoided it on the return trip.
When I got to the park I took my usual ride but was prevented from getting on the Bartol Trail at the south end of the park by a felled tree. I was able to find another access point. They were able to remove that huge downed tree that I was playing around on in my March 15 post. I emailed the park superintendent to see if they can remove this tree.
At the Farm you can see a lot of farm animals and other wildlife. I saw a couple of goats standing on some big boulders. There are also horses, sheep and chickens. I also saw a family of gophers on the trail.
I have been starting to work on my climbing legs more on my road bike riding. There is a hill on Pumpkin Hill Road that I call the Glenmoore Wall after the famous Manayunk Wall.The "Manayunk Wall" is an inclined street, comprising all of Levering Street and a few blocks of Lyceum Avenue, that is a part of the Philadelphia International Championship, an annual one day bicycle race. The Manayunk Wall has a rise of 220 ft and a grade that varies between 6.5 and 17%. The Glenmoore Wall has a rise of 262 ft over about 0.5 miles which give a grade of 9.0%. It varies from 4.1 to 17.1%. I figure this all out on an elevation profiler tool.
There is also a similar climb at Springton Manor with a 223 ft rise for a grade of 9%, varying from 6.5 to 11.8%. This one is tougher because it is on grass with the fat MotoRaptor tires.
Friday, June 13, 2008
28.4 Mile Thun Trail Run Part 2
After I returned to Birdsboro I continued on the trail toward Reading. I did not make it all the way to Reading as I had to get home. I rode 16 miles round trip on this portion of the trail.On about 4 miles of the trail the ride is on roads. The Schuykill Road is the first right you can make when you ride west on Rt 724 from the intersection of Rt 82. This road runs along the river and is very quiet with no cars while I was riding.
The picture on the left shows the crossing at Rt 724 at the end of Schuykill Road. The road in the background is Old River Road. You make a right after the railroad tracks.
At the end of Old River Road you take the trail that runs along side of the railroad.
You will then cross the Schuykill River twice. At this crossing you see the Titus Generating Station which is owned by Reliant Energy. Titus Generating Station is located on a 33-acre site (with adjacent property of more than 200 acres) along the Schuylkill River in Berks County, two miles south of Reading, Pennsylvania. The facility has a total generating capacity of 281 megawatts and consists of three coal-fired generating units (246 MW) and two combustion turbines (35 MW), which can burn either natural gas or fuel oil to produce electricity. There is also a coal blending facility on site.
This is the next crossing of the river. It looks like the class of 2008 got to "The Rock".
This was the end of the line form. I turned around at this point and headed back to Birdsboro.
28.4 Mile Thun Trail Run Part 1
I had a day off of work today so I gave the Fantom 29 (and myself) a good workout by riding 28.4 miles on the Thun Trail. This is my longest ride so far on the Fantom 29. The bike performed flawlessly-- smooth shifting, great breaks and comfortable. The bar ends really came in handy on the long ride.
I will break my report into 2 posts. Part 1 is 13 mile round trip from Birdsboro to The County Line back to Birdsboro. I did not ride all the way to Pottstown because the trail is paved.
It looks like they were doing some trail work. There was fresh crushed cinders, pretty thick and about 8 feet wide on a good portion of the trail. On some parts it was more dusty and soft so there was a lot of rolling resistance.
This is a view of the Schuykill River looking east. I was standing on the old railroad bridge that is part of the trail about 4 miles east of Birdsboro.
Watch out for the target range!. I do think it is really a problem as there is a pretty steep hill on either side of the trail at this point. I did not hear any shots.
I will break my report into 2 posts. Part 1 is 13 mile round trip from Birdsboro to The County Line back to Birdsboro. I did not ride all the way to Pottstown because the trail is paved.
It looks like they were doing some trail work. There was fresh crushed cinders, pretty thick and about 8 feet wide on a good portion of the trail. On some parts it was more dusty and soft so there was a lot of rolling resistance.There were a lot of hoof prints in the new trail that really put some good sized divots in the trail.
This is a view of the Schuykill River looking east. I was standing on the old railroad bridge that is part of the trail about 4 miles east of Birdsboro.
Watch out for the target range!. I do think it is really a problem as there is a pretty steep hill on either side of the trail at this point. I did not hear any shots.
This is the Berks-Montgomery County line. The Fantom 29 is posing in 2 counties.
After this point the trail is paved, so I turned back west.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Pedal to Preserve
I did not ride the Fantom 29 this weekend.
On Saturday I rode the Pedal to Preserve which is a nice ride that the Lancaster Farmland Trust puts on every year. The Trust works in partnership with landowners to preserve their farms and way of life for future generations by placing a conservation easement on their property. This is the second year that I rode the event. I rode 21 miles on my Raleigh Grand Prix road bike. It was really hot -- in the 90's. It is a great ride around New Holland among many farms that have been preserved. The $25 registration fee includes a T-shirt, snacks at the water stops, SAG support and lunch. I highly recommend the ride and cause!
On Sunday I just did a quick 11 mile ride on my road bike before it got too hot. The temperature will be in the low 90s today.
On Saturday I rode the Pedal to Preserve which is a nice ride that the Lancaster Farmland Trust puts on every year. The Trust works in partnership with landowners to preserve their farms and way of life for future generations by placing a conservation easement on their property. This is the second year that I rode the event. I rode 21 miles on my Raleigh Grand Prix road bike. It was really hot -- in the 90's. It is a great ride around New Holland among many farms that have been preserved. The $25 registration fee includes a T-shirt, snacks at the water stops, SAG support and lunch. I highly recommend the ride and cause!
On Sunday I just did a quick 11 mile ride on my road bike before it got too hot. The temperature will be in the low 90s today.
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