The Mighty Schuykill River

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.

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.

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.

ALMOST !!!!

Today I took a ride at Marsh Creek State Park. It started as a good day for a ride . The temperature was about 70 degrees and it was sunny. I only needed about 12.5 miles to get the Fantom 29 to the 100 mile mark. Surely this would be no problem.

Well the Fantom 29 performed flawlessly but I came about 2 miles short of the 100 mile mark. I was only able to get in about 10 miles as there was a tremendous thunder storm and downpour that seemed to come out of no where. I did like the bar ends as it gave me a number of different hand positions and was very comfortable.


I was able to get some pictures at Marsh Creek which I will describe below.
This is the dam marker at Marsh Creek. It says it was dedicated October 11, 1975. From Wilkipedia:

The commonwealth of Pennsylvania acquired the land that became Marsh Creek State Park between 1964 and 1978, with work on the dam done from 1970 to 1973 (the lake took three years to fill). Construction of the dam on Marsh Creek and formation of Marsh Creek Lake at Marsh Creek State Park solved several problems. First, the lake is now a reservoir which provides drinking water for the Chester County Water Resources Authority, alleviating a previous drinking water shortage. Second, the dam limits the possible damage caused by seasonal flooding in the area. Finally, the lake provided new outdoor recreational opportunities for the people of western Chester County. All this was not without costs: the area the lake now covers was once the farm community of Milford Mills, which now lies at the bottom of the lake.

Milford Mills was one of a cluster of small farming villages in Upper Uwchlan Township settled by Welsh, Scots-Irish and English in the first quarter of the 18th century. Like nearby Lyndell and Dorlan, Milford Mills grew during the 19th century as paper, grain and textile manufacturing flourished. Bypassed by large-scale industry in the late 19th century, the region remained agricultural until after World War II when the Pennsylvania Turnpike brought suburban development.

Upon completion of the reservoir the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania bought the land surrounding Marsh Creek Lake, constructed recreational facilities, and opened the land to the public. New facilities built from 1971 to 1979 included administrative and picnic areas, a playground, pool, and wells. The park opened in two stages: in 1974 the park was opened for boating, fishing, hiking, hunting, ice sports and sailing, while the pool and day use area opened in July 1979.

Notice the description does not say mountain biking. The official park website and printed material also does not mention mountain biking. It also does not prohibit mountain biking. Today I saw about 8 other mountain bikers on the trails.

This is Marsh Creek Lake that is held back by an earthen dam.














This is the top of the dam.















This is the bottom of the dam.















Some kayakers enjoying the lake.















This is a typical trail at Marsh Creek. Generally single track and shady. This trail leads to the Cornog Quarry. The quarry is actually not part of the park but is owned by Aqua America.










It is fenced off and you can not see the quarry at all. You can see the warning sign on the fence. The odd part of the warning is "Swimming, diving or ice skating can result in serious injury, death or drowning". I thought if you drowned you also died. Seems kind of redundant huh?









There is a good trail around the fence.













This is a picture of the old railroad tracks. It will eventually be part of the Struble Trail that will run from Downingtown to Hibernia Park, about 16 miles. Today I rode this trail as far as I could. It exists the park and I found myself on Lydell Road. I took it back into the park to continue my ride.


This is that drop off on the trail that I flipped over on my bike a few weeks ago. It looks deceptively small but it is not.

Installing Bar Ends

After my long Thun Trail ride last Saturday I still noticed that I was putting a lot of weight on my hands. I also thought the ride would be more comfortable if I could have more hand positions. So I ordered some bar ends from Nashbar and they arrived yesterday.

I ordered the NS-MBE-K Black Bar Ends for $8.49 . I also bought a short sleeved cycling shirt at $16.49 and cycling shorts at $21.24. Total was $57.74 with $7.75 shipping plus $3.27 tax.






The Bar Ends are easy to install, First I loosed the brake and shifter and slide them down the handle bar. Then using a screw driver to open up the grip, i sprayed some Endust Polish in the grip to loosen it.


























I then removed the end cap and did the same with the Endust and screw driver on that end of the grip. The grip is open ended and did not need to be cut.

I then installed the bar end on the end of the handlebar at a 45 degree angle. Then I slid the grip back to the bar end. Repositioned the brake and the shifter against the grip.







I then performed the same procedure on the other end of the handlebar.

Below are pictures of the finished product.

I also took the opportunity to top off the tires to 40 psi, lube the chain and adjust the disc brakes.

I can't wait for my next ride to check out the bar ends!!!

Thun Trail Ride

FINALLY A RIDE !!!!!
It was a beautiful day for a ride. Nice and sunny with the temperature in the 60s.

I haven't ridden the Fantom 29 since April 26. I usually mountain bike ride on the weekends but I have been busy or its been raining. The first weekend in May we went to Grove City College for my son's parent's weekend. The second weekend volunteer work at Good Works (a home repair ministry in Coatesville) and Mother's Day. The third weekend my daughter's graduation at Messiah College and some rain.



I still have been able to do some road bike riding in the morning's before I go to work. I did 78 miles since April 26th and I am up to 338 miles so far this year.

Today I rode 19 miles on Thun Trail from Birdsboro to Pottstown back to Birdsboro. This was my longest ride on the Fantom 29 and it performed flawlessly. The 29er is great for trails like this. I put the lockout on and was sailing along at 12 to 18 mph for most of the trail.

The Thun (pronounced Tune) Trail is part of the Schuylkill River Trail (pronounced SKOO- KILL) that will eventually be 140 miles long from Philadelphia to Pottsville, PA. For a map of the section I rode see :
http://www.schuylkillriver.org/trail_pages/birdsboro_to_pottstown.pdf

The trail is not very well marked and the Birdsboro trail head not very obvious. I asked a guy who was outside the VFW hall on Rt 724 where the trail was and he gave me directions. I took a right on a side road next to the VFW Hall and then made a right on Armorcrast Road. This road is pretty beat up and is not the pretty part of town. There is a sewage plant and some old buildings and a power substation. To the west of the power substation is a dirt road, which is the start of the Tune Trail but it is not marked. You can park either on the street or right at the beginning of this dirt road behind the baseball field. There is a sign that says "Foul Ball Territory- Park at Your own Risk". There are a lot of trees there so I don't think it is very likely that your car would get hit. Also at the time there was no one on the field.

At this point the trail is cinder and dirt. At the beginning it is pretty wide, probably about 8 feet. But then after about 1 mile it is narrower and in some places just single track. At road crossings there are posts to prevent vehicles from entering the trail. There are usually 4 and they are just the width of my handle bars, so you really need to be careful riding through them.

Schuylkill is a Dutch word for hidden river. It is appropriately named for this trail as I did not see the river at all until mile 4.2 where you cross over the river on an old railroad bridge. The trail is nice and shady.

At mile 6.5 you leave Berks County and enter Montgomery County. The trail is paved and probably about 10 feet wide. It is well labeled. I like the cross road posts better. There were three with plenty of space in between. The trail was nice put I prefer a dirt trail for the Fantom 29.

At mile 8.5 you enter Pottstown River Front Park. There is about 1 mile of trails in the park then I turned around and rode back to Birdsboro. The trail is flat and I was able to average about 13 mph.

I think I could do this trail with my road bike when it is dry like today. The cinder trail is hard packed, smooth and I did not see any ruts. The trail also goes from Birdsboro to Reading for 10.8 miles with 4 miles sharing the road. Maybe a future ride.



This summer I do want to check out some other longer trails to really test the Fantom 29. I was thinking about Blue Marsh Lake (about 24 miles), The Perkiomen Trail (about 38 miles round trip). I would also like to check out Warwick County Park, State Game Land 43, Saint Peter's Village and French Creek State Park which are nearby.