Ah!! It finally
happened today . . . the first warm, sunny weekend descended upon the Lehigh
Valley. So what did I do? I made the gut wrenching decision to leave
the Trikke in the garage . . . GASP!! WHAT?! WHY?
Well, there’s a significant new trail that opened over the
winter that I’ve been wanting to explore.
So I did . . . albeit on my bicycle.
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| Winding curves and rolling hills |
The
US 202 Parkway Trail spans nearly 9 miles from
Montgomeryville, PA to Doylestown, PA. Its 12 foot wide ribbon of asphalt parallels
the newly constructed Route 202 byway.
It’s fenced off from the highway for safety, and they’ve planted new trees
alongside it that will eventually give it some shade.
One of my coworkers lives nearby, and has been urging me to
check it out. But she warned me it was
quite hilly, hence my decision to take the bike instead of the Trikke. And that turned out to be the right decision
. . . for today at least. When facing a
new trail, particularly a longer one, I often do like to scout it out on
bicycle, as I can cover more ground and handle more difficulties that way.
I’ve been working out indoors for most of the winter, yet I
know I’ve been slipping from where I left off last year. The US 202 Parkway trail is constantly
climbing up and down, with very few flat spots to be found. I’d say it averages between a 2 and 4 percent
grade, but there are some steeper hills at both ends. The hill to climb the bridge crossing Route
309 in Montgomeryville has a sign warning of its 6.5 percent grade. Fortunately, this is as steep as the trail
gets.
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| A final challenge before the finish line |
If you’re an experienced Trikker, you can certainly handle
these hills. As of last year, I could’ve
handled all but the steepest of them.
However, I’m nowhere near being able to handle an 18 mile round trip
worth of hills. When I heard about the
generous width of the trail, I had really hoped I could host one of this year’s
LSM rides there, but that will have to wait.
However, if I ever reach a significantly better level of fitness, it has
occurred to me that this would be an optimal trail for a future endurance
Trikke ride.
I started my ride in Montgomeryville, and was feeling quite
weak and rundown by the time I reached Doylestown. I realize now this probably wasn’t the best
choice for my first ride of the season.
The return trip took forever, and I opted to walk up some of the hills. I would not let this discourage you from
trying this new trail though if you feel you are up to the challenge. You can certainly ride on a shorter segment
of it, because riding on hills like this is a great way to get you in shape.
There’s a few other things I’d like to make you aware of if
you check out this new trail. It has frequent
road crossings, most over busy 4-lane roads.
The dual crossover by the shopping center in Montgomeryville is particularly
tricky. Although there are crossing
signals, you still need to be very careful as there are cars coming from every
direction sometimes.
Given the trail’s newness, it is also lacking some amenities
that you might take for granted on a more established trail. None of the parking areas have porta-johns,
and except for the Montgomeryville end, there’s really nowhere to stop to take
care of business if needed. There also
aren’t any benches or picnic tables, save for a few at the parking areas. These are minor issues, and it’s possible
they will be remedied in the future.
You can see the map of my ride here:
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| Lake Archer on the campus of Delaware Valley College |
I started at the parking lot where Route 309 meets Route 202
in Montgomeryville. I did the short
round trip to the southwest end of the trail then took it northeast to
Doylestown. I missed the required
zig-zag to stay on the trail where Route 202 crosses Lower State Road. Hence I followed another spur that led to the
campus of Delaware Valley College. But
it lead me to the serenity of Lake Archer, where I was able to enjoy a short
rest on a bench before my return trip.
Overall, I’d say the US 202 Parkway Trail is a welcome
addition for a populated region that does not have the extensive trail network
I enjoy at home in the Lehigh Valley. It’s
over an hour drive for me to get there, so I won’t be there too often, but as
my fitness improves it’s certainly going to be a nice place to hone my hill
climbing skills. Perhaps it’ll also be
what motivates me to one day host a Trikke endurance event on the east coast
for hill climbing enthusiasts.
Our May LSM ride was held a week early to avoid conflict
with the Memorial Day holiday. However,
it was lightly attended as it’s a busy time of year and most of our regulars
had other commitments. Norman and I had
the pleasure of meeting our latest new member, Joan, and were able to devote
our time to teaching her the basics of riding a Trikke. I think Joan had as much fun as we did, and
we hope to see her again for our June ride.
