Adventure

It's always fun trying out new routes. I decided that I wanted to ride my bike along the river beyond Falls Bridge. I ended finding a bike path that I didn't know about and wound up riding all the way to Conshohocken.

I never intended to ride that far, but when I found the path that goes all the way to Valley Forge, I just kept going. I rode a nice pace most of the way out. I didn't know how to get through Manayunk so I just went down Main Street on the way out. That was interesting because it's a busy street. The good thing was that it was slow enough that I could just ride behind a car.

After getting through there, I hit some wider roads that were more rider friendly. There were a couple tough hills though. I guess I should've suspected that in the Manayunk area. The end of that road was a steep downhill, which I knew would become a steep uphill on the way back.

I didn't exactly know which roads to take to ride along the river. I had looked at a map earlier, but didn't memorize them or write down directions. I ended up taking the correct route and eventually wound up on River Road. As I was on that road, I found the bike path to Valley Forge.

That's an excellent route. River Road is such a quiet road along the river. It reminds me of some of the houses along the rivers back home. It doesn't seem like part of Philadelphia. The bike path is mostly just a path through the woods. There were a couple businesses along the route. It's smooth, flat and fast, most of the way. Once I got to the Spring Mill/Conshohocken area, I finally hit more civilization. It's definitely a path I'll be using again. Eventually, I hope to ride to Valley Forge.

The way back was kind of tough, but could've been worse. I'm not used to hills, so the few I came across were tough, especially after I had already rode over 12 miles on the way out. When I got back to Manayunk, I found a canal towpath which goes around the town and also directly to River Road. I took the path through Manayunk.

The canal path probably wasn't the best for my road bike. There were a couple stretches of rough rocks and some wooden planks over the water. It was a good way around Manayunk, but not sure if I'll use it again.

The really interesting part of the ride was when I got to the Manayunk area. The sky had been getting dark and I saw a bolt of lightning. I heard thunder a few other times and it did rain some. I actually rode pretty hard to try to beat the storm. Luckily, it never started to pour and the weather got better as I approached the Art Museum.

A good portion of Kelly Drive was closed today because of the Dad Vail Regatta this weekend. It made for a good place to ride, although it got crowded down where the teams setup. I can't believe how many college crew teams there are.

I finished pretty strong, but certainly was a little tired. After 25 miles, it would be hard to not have a few aches and pains. I rode hard most of the way. More importantly, I rode consistently throughout the trek. The weather (other than the brief storms) was pretty good. It was nice and cool in the mid 60s and that was a big help.

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to run near the Dad Vail and watch it afterwards. Hopefully my body won't be too sore. I'll be heading to Virginia for an AAU tournament this weekend so I'm not sure if I'll get any exercising done there. Today's ride was excellent though so that should help out if I can't get anything done this weekend.