Wobbegong
Well-Known Member
Another weeks vacation in the bag, they go by soooooo fast. 
I ended up keeping my cycling simple and rode the Lehigh Gorge Trail with my younger sister. She liked the idea of a bike ride, even though she hasn't been on a bike in around 10 years.
We got her hooked up with a rental bike (Specialized comfort cruiser type) and took the shuttle from Jim Thorpe up to White Haven to ride the 23 miles of trail downhill. You really couldn't tell it was downhill for the most part, it felt flat really. Occasionally you could feel the pull of gravity, but it wasn't free speed coasting in any part of the ride.
The trail was absolutely beautiful. The fall colors were in full effect. There were some really sweet waterfalls along the way and lots of mossy rocks and ferns. Some areas along the river has some nice rapids. The views up some of the ridges were amazing with really steep cliff rock faces with trees tucked in the ledges of the rocks. I would love to do this again in the spring when the rhododendron are in bloom. They grow wild EVERYWHERE along the trails ledges and hills.
It was really interesting how the temps. would change along the way. There was usually a steep rock face to our right and a steep drop to the river on our left, with the other side of the gorge going high up on the other side of the river. Sometimes when the rocks to our right were wet and dripping from groundwater, it would be cold like you were in a cave. Other times, the gorge would open up and the sun would warm things up, getting the bugs all excited and swarming. The temps were in the high 60's for our ride, but they would swing by what felt to us like 20 degrees depending on the terrain.
My little sister did really well. We rode at an easy pace that made her feel comfortable. She started to feel it at the end, but finished up the ride with a smile and tired legs.
I had my phone with me and snapped a few pics.
Here is a photo of her at the 2 mile mark.
One of the many waterfalls along the way.
We found this cool old round structure along the trail. I have no idea what it was. Kind of looks like a sentry post with a gun slot at the top.
We found this old abandoned rail tunnel and had to take a look. I rode in and out of the steep hill in the back of the photo. It was really interesting and dark in there. Lots of dripping water. I love this sort of thing.
Here is the GPS info for the trail. The gps signal was weak in the bigger part of the gorge, you can see how it got off track for a while.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/17192233
This was a really great day on the bike for me, even though it wasn't single track, or fast paced riding. It was nice to spend some time with my sister, and she took the journey as one of life's small victories. Riding a bike for 24 miles seemed crazy to her, but she did it, and was proud of the accomplishment.
I ended up keeping my cycling simple and rode the Lehigh Gorge Trail with my younger sister. She liked the idea of a bike ride, even though she hasn't been on a bike in around 10 years.
We got her hooked up with a rental bike (Specialized comfort cruiser type) and took the shuttle from Jim Thorpe up to White Haven to ride the 23 miles of trail downhill. You really couldn't tell it was downhill for the most part, it felt flat really. Occasionally you could feel the pull of gravity, but it wasn't free speed coasting in any part of the ride.
The trail was absolutely beautiful. The fall colors were in full effect. There were some really sweet waterfalls along the way and lots of mossy rocks and ferns. Some areas along the river has some nice rapids. The views up some of the ridges were amazing with really steep cliff rock faces with trees tucked in the ledges of the rocks. I would love to do this again in the spring when the rhododendron are in bloom. They grow wild EVERYWHERE along the trails ledges and hills.
It was really interesting how the temps. would change along the way. There was usually a steep rock face to our right and a steep drop to the river on our left, with the other side of the gorge going high up on the other side of the river. Sometimes when the rocks to our right were wet and dripping from groundwater, it would be cold like you were in a cave. Other times, the gorge would open up and the sun would warm things up, getting the bugs all excited and swarming. The temps were in the high 60's for our ride, but they would swing by what felt to us like 20 degrees depending on the terrain.
My little sister did really well. We rode at an easy pace that made her feel comfortable. She started to feel it at the end, but finished up the ride with a smile and tired legs.
I had my phone with me and snapped a few pics.
Here is a photo of her at the 2 mile mark.
One of the many waterfalls along the way.
We found this cool old round structure along the trail. I have no idea what it was. Kind of looks like a sentry post with a gun slot at the top.
We found this old abandoned rail tunnel and had to take a look. I rode in and out of the steep hill in the back of the photo. It was really interesting and dark in there. Lots of dripping water. I love this sort of thing.
Here is the GPS info for the trail. The gps signal was weak in the bigger part of the gorge, you can see how it got off track for a while.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/17192233
This was a really great day on the bike for me, even though it wasn't single track, or fast paced riding. It was nice to spend some time with my sister, and she took the journey as one of life's small victories. Riding a bike for 24 miles seemed crazy to her, but she did it, and was proud of the accomplishment.
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