1speed
Incredibly profound yet fantastically flawed
Some time last week I decided that I needed a big ride this weekend. I knew the weather report was calling for almost perfect conditions and I figured that there may not be a whole lot of those kind of weekends left this year. And along with the weather, I had a perfect storm of circumstance to make it happen: my wife was working a fitness competition all day and I had a weekend off from racing with no other committments.
I like the idea of combining parks (as opposed to multiple loops in the same park.) I had done the Middle Run/Fair Hill combo a few times this year, and I've done Wissahickon/Belmont more times than I can count. So I wanted a new ride. There was one I've had in the back of my mind for a long time but never could work it out logistically, the French Creek/Blue Marsh combo. The problem is that the two parks are about 25 miles apart and neither links directly to the Schuylkill River Trail -- you kind of have to ride down from French Creek into Birdsboro and pick up the SRT off of Route 724. And then the SRT goes through a pretty shady area of Reading (where a friend of mine got stabbed while riding his bike a couple of years ago) before connecting to the Union Canal Trail for the last 8 miles to Blue Marsh. But I thought, screw it, time to give it a shot.
I contacted a friend who lives in that area and asked him for directions from French Creek to the SRT, and he advised me against it saying it was tricky. I had no other plan, though, so I sat down with a map and worked it out. Turns out it isn't that hard if you just take the backroads from Kulpstown to Birdsboro from French Creek (just one nasty feature, which I'll get to in a moment.) So by Saturday morning, I had a route worked out and drove out to French Creek.
I rode French Creek first -- hitting the Mill Creek Trail and then Boone, Lenape and Six Penny for about 15 miles before heading out to Blue Marsh. The ride over was just about 24 miles and then I did the Blue Marsh loop minus the race course for about 23 miles before heading back to French Creek. Total mileage was about 85 or so, but all day long I knew that no matter how many miles I did or didn't do, I was going to face one big challenge at the end: the only way back to the Shed Road parking lot where my car was all up. Like almost a thousand feet in the last five miles. Man, that's a bit of a cock punch after 80 miles. I was all good until the last little pitch. I could see my car off to the left when my left hamstring started to cramp. I wasn't about to walk the last bit, so I just unclipped and rode with one leg the rest of the way.
That was a really fun and unique ride, and so far I've asked a few friends from the area and no one else has ever done it, so I may have first wheels here! Probably not, since my sample of people asked is only like 5, but I still have to figure it was a rarity to do it. It's actually a really nice ride with a little bit of everything -- crazy tech in French Creek, cinder path along the freaight railroad near Shillington and some pavement along the SRT, and then the smoother but constant up and down of Blue Marsh.
I like the idea of combining parks (as opposed to multiple loops in the same park.) I had done the Middle Run/Fair Hill combo a few times this year, and I've done Wissahickon/Belmont more times than I can count. So I wanted a new ride. There was one I've had in the back of my mind for a long time but never could work it out logistically, the French Creek/Blue Marsh combo. The problem is that the two parks are about 25 miles apart and neither links directly to the Schuylkill River Trail -- you kind of have to ride down from French Creek into Birdsboro and pick up the SRT off of Route 724. And then the SRT goes through a pretty shady area of Reading (where a friend of mine got stabbed while riding his bike a couple of years ago) before connecting to the Union Canal Trail for the last 8 miles to Blue Marsh. But I thought, screw it, time to give it a shot.
I contacted a friend who lives in that area and asked him for directions from French Creek to the SRT, and he advised me against it saying it was tricky. I had no other plan, though, so I sat down with a map and worked it out. Turns out it isn't that hard if you just take the backroads from Kulpstown to Birdsboro from French Creek (just one nasty feature, which I'll get to in a moment.) So by Saturday morning, I had a route worked out and drove out to French Creek.
I rode French Creek first -- hitting the Mill Creek Trail and then Boone, Lenape and Six Penny for about 15 miles before heading out to Blue Marsh. The ride over was just about 24 miles and then I did the Blue Marsh loop minus the race course for about 23 miles before heading back to French Creek. Total mileage was about 85 or so, but all day long I knew that no matter how many miles I did or didn't do, I was going to face one big challenge at the end: the only way back to the Shed Road parking lot where my car was all up. Like almost a thousand feet in the last five miles. Man, that's a bit of a cock punch after 80 miles. I was all good until the last little pitch. I could see my car off to the left when my left hamstring started to cramp. I wasn't about to walk the last bit, so I just unclipped and rode with one leg the rest of the way.
That was a really fun and unique ride, and so far I've asked a few friends from the area and no one else has ever done it, so I may have first wheels here! Probably not, since my sample of people asked is only like 5, but I still have to figure it was a rarity to do it. It's actually a really nice ride with a little bit of everything -- crazy tech in French Creek, cinder path along the freaight railroad near Shillington and some pavement along the SRT, and then the smoother but constant up and down of Blue Marsh.
