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visiting Philadelphia on a bicycle



 
 
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  #1  
Old June 12th 06, 04:38 PM posted to rec.bicycles.rides
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Default visiting Philadelphia on a bicycle

Sharon and I rode into and around Philadelphia last Saturday, and we pretty
impressed -- plan to do it again. Found some good route info on the web,
which led us to a wonderful variety of riding.

We started from the north out near Doylestown, Pennsylvania, then followed
some popular club route ideas to go thru Ambler and the Five Points into the
Chestnut Hill and Mt Airy sections in the city, and West River Drive to the
Art Museum. Next some "sightseeing" around the university and center city.
We tried riding around the perimeter of South Philadelphia. Then a quick
swing by Independence Hall and up onto the Ben Franklin Bridge. Exited along
the Delaware River up thru Bristol PA to visit Trenton the state capital of
New Jersey, and some pleasant Bucks county roads back to Doylestown.

What was most special for us was in and close the the city. Next time we'll
focus more on that, and skip some of the outlying stuff (or try exploring
some different outlying areas).
Highlights of our visit:
* houses in the Mt Airy + Chestnut Hill neighborhoods (northwest in city).
* high view from the up on the middle of the Ben Franklin Bridge.
* farms close in to city (e.g. Narcissa Rd + Flourtown Rd).
* visiting city sites that were special to us personally.
* West River Drive (closed to cars on Saturday)
* seeing big structures on our loop around South Phila: stadiums, ocean
liner, seaport cranes, etc.

It would be great to hear more suggestions for our next visit.

more of our details below.

Ken
________________________________________________

resources
* Greater Philadelphia Bike Map is an amazing level of detail for such a
large region:
http://www.bicyclecoalition.org/map/map.html
* Philadelphia Bike Map on the web -- covers only the city itself.
* Bicycle Club of Philadelphia
* Bill Cotton's website
* paper map of detailed Philadelphia city streets
* paper map of detailed roads of Montgomery county
* paper map of surrounding region (also had Central Bucks county, and some
printouts from web)

more highlights -- things we liked further outside:
* Radcliffe St alongside the Delaware River thru Bristol PA
* Stoney Brook Rd + Pineville Rd (in central Bucks county climbing northwest
up from the Delaware River near Washington's Crossing) -- and earlier riding
north on non-wide Rt 32 from Washington's Crossing turned out to be rather
nice because a bridge was closed, thus less vehicle traffic.

what we did not like:
* in center city Phila: riding on Chestnut St + Walnut St is too slow --
even though they're one-way streets, not enough traffic lanes.
* flat roads in Phila city northeast along the Delaware River went on for
too long. Most of the individual miles were OK -- some rather nice -- others
on the bumpy side. Just too many of them for us: we prefer the hills and
curves of the Hudson River.

specific route ideas:
* for next time, one route we found that seems to spend lots of time on the
kinds of roads + farms + neighborhoods that Sharon and I like was the "Five
Points Ride" by Myra van Inwegen, linked from the Bicycle Club of
Philadelphia website: http://www.phillybikeclub.org

* for the perimeter around South Phila, we found 25th St to be a nice way to
get south quickly. Then we rode a block east on Oregon, south 24th into
Roosevelt Park, around the park road a ways, then found a ramp to another
road near the naval base, sorta north on that lead to Rt 611 / Broad St near
the stadiums, then east on Pattison.

* bridges -- many of the Delaware River bridges (other than the Ben
Franklin) anywhere in range of Phila are not ridable. The sidewalk on the
Tacony-Palmyra bridge is only for walking. I took a closer look at it, and I
have to say it did not look very inviting for riding.

Ken



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  #2  
Old June 13th 06, 12:31 PM posted to rec.bicycles.rides
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Default visiting Philadelphia on a bicycle

Ken: I belong to two suburban bike clubs, Central Bucks Bike Club
(cbbikeclub.org) and Suburban Cyclists Unlimited
(suburbancyclists.org). Check out the cue sheets available on both web
sites. I think the best riding in the region is north and east, and
west of the city. You were, for part of your tour, in "lower" Central
Bucks and Lower Bucks, but it gets prettier and less-trafficked further
north and over in Hunterdon County, NJ. I would have suggested heading
east or north from Doylestown; I like to go into NJ.

Of some interest is the multi-use path called the Schuylkill Trail,
along the Delaware River, that runs from Center City far out into
Montgomery County, ~25 miles paved, when it changes to crushed gravel
and is called the Perkiomen Trail, fine for MTBs and hybrids. The
entire route is ~60 miles, if I recall?

I don't know your preferred pace and cycling preferences, but I'd be
glad to provide more info and guidance for your next trip. Regards, Roy
Zipris

  #3  
Old June 13th 06, 01:28 PM posted to rec.bicycles.rides
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Default visiting Philadelphia on a bicycle

In article . com,
"Roy Zipris" wrote:

Ken: I belong to two suburban bike clubs, Central Bucks Bike Club
(cbbikeclub.org) and Suburban Cyclists Unlimited
(suburbancyclists.org). Check out the cue sheets available on both web
sites. I think the best riding in the region is north and east, and
west of the city. You were, for part of your tour, in "lower" Central
Bucks and Lower Bucks, but it gets prettier and less-trafficked further
north and over in Hunterdon County, NJ. I would have suggested heading
east or north from Doylestown; I like to go into NJ.

Of some interest is the multi-use path called the Schuylkill Trail,
along the Delaware River, that runs from Center City far out into
Montgomery County, ~25 miles paved, when it changes to crushed gravel
and is called the Perkiomen Trail, fine for MTBs and hybrids. The
entire route is ~60 miles, if I recall?

I don't know your preferred pace and cycling preferences, but I'd be
glad to provide more info and guidance for your next trip. Regards, Roy
Zipris


The Schuykill River Trail follows the Schuykill River ( amazing! ) and
does not go anywhere near the Delaware River ( yet ).

The SRT is about 20 miles from the art museum to the Perkiomen Trail
which is 22 miles to Green Lane Park IIRC.
A little shorter if the detour become permanent.

Someday the SRT will go up to Pottsville and down to the navy yard
making it 75 miles long. Someday!


HTH
  #4  
Old June 13th 06, 02:05 PM posted to rec.bicycles.rides
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Default visiting Philadelphia on a bicycle

H M Leary wrote:
The Schuykill River Trail follows the Schuykill River ( amazing! ) and
does not go anywhere near the Delaware River ( yet ).


You're right, of course, H.M.; thinking of my preferred cycling along
the Delaware, my mind raced ahead and caused my fingers to type in the
wrong river. --RZ

  #5  
Old June 13th 06, 02:11 PM posted to rec.bicycles.rides
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Default visiting Philadelphia on a bicycle

In article .com,
"Roy Zipris" wrote:

H M Leary wrote:
The Schuykill River Trail follows the Schuykill River ( amazing! ) and
does not go anywhere near the Delaware River ( yet ).


You're right, of course, H.M.; thinking of my preferred cycling along
the Delaware, my mind raced ahead and caused my fingers to type in the
wrong river. --RZ


Yes!

I like to ride from I-95 up to New Hope.

On both sides of the Delaware.

HAND
  #6  
Old June 14th 06, 02:35 AM posted to rec.bicycles.rides
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Default visiting Philadelphia on a bicycle

Roy Zipris wrote
Of some interest is the multi-use path called the Schuylkill Trail


Good, we'll try some of that next time.

I belong to two suburban bike clubs, Central Bucks Bike Club
(cbbikeclub.org) and Suburban Cyclists Unlimited
(suburbancyclists.org). Check out the cue sheets available
on both web sites.


I checked those lists of cue sheets, and while they're probably helpful for
the club members, I found them kind of overwhelming for a visitor -- because
hard to decide which ones to start with. I found the Bicycle Club of
Philadelphia lists more helpful because for each route they had an
interesting little description that was designed to help choose.

I'd be glad to provide more info and guidance for your next trip.


How about say what some of your own favorite routes are and why.
Sharon and I generally like rides that are moderately hilly, and when we're
visiting some other area, we like to ride at least 75 miles to make it worth
the time + cost of travel (like our Phila loop was about 110 miles).

Thanks for your help,

Ken


  #7  
Old June 14th 06, 12:15 PM posted to rec.bicycles.rides
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Default visiting Philadelphia on a bicycle

Ken Roberts wrote:
How about say what some of your own favorite routes are and why.
Sharon and I generally like rides that are moderately hilly, and when we're
visiting some other area, we like to ride at least 75 miles to make it worth
the time + cost of travel (like our Phila loop was about 110 miles).


For general group rides, I tend to favor moderate terrain (CBBC
categorizes rides as flat, moderate, or hilly) and distances of ~35-50
miles, so I'm familiar with routes that would meet your preferences
more by reputation than by actual experience. What I will do is go
through the CBBC cue sheets and pull out the ones that might be of
interest to you; would it be easier to send you a PM or list them here?
(Incidentally, I am one of CBBC's cue sheet editors and you can
generally tell which routes I edited by the relatively extensive
comments, which I think are indeed helpful, even to club members.)

One resource that you might also appreciate is a wonderful web site, a
labor of love, by a fellow named Dustin Farnum, called New Jersey Bike
Map (http://www.njbikemap.com/). One of the great features is his
indication of elevation changes, marked with a circle at the bottom, a
flag at the top, and the number of feet. With these maps and cue
sheets, it's easy to link up parts of various routes so that you can
create longer rides to meet your interests.

Let me know if you'd prefer a PM or post. And if you let me know when
you'll be in the area, there may be a club ride or two that you might
enjoy. Regards, Roy Zipris

  #8  
Old June 14th 06, 12:31 PM posted to rec.bicycles.rides
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Default visiting Philadelphia on a bicycle

You may find my website useful. It has information for bicyclists visiting
Philadelphia, including links to local clubs, some featured rides, routes in
and out of the city, and relevent maps and books. The link is
http://home.comcast.net/~miketordoff/.





  #9  
Old June 14th 06, 01:04 PM posted to rec.bicycles.rides
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Default visiting Philadelphia on a bicycle

In article ,
"Michael Tordoff" wrote:

You may find my website useful. It has information for bicyclists visiting
Philadelphia, including links to local clubs, some featured rides, routes in
and out of the city, and relevent maps and books. The link is
http://home.comcast.net/~miketordoff/.


Probably the best of the lot, IMNSHO, is:

http://www.billcotton.com

he has cue sheets for everything!

HAND
ride safe
  #10  
Old June 14th 06, 02:24 PM posted to rec.bicycles.rides
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Default visiting Philadelphia on a bicycle


"H M Leary" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Michael Tordoff" wrote:

You may find my website useful. It has information for bicyclists
visiting
Philadelphia, including links to local clubs, some featured rides, routes
in
and out of the city, and relevent maps and books. The link is
http://home.comcast.net/~miketordoff/.


Probably the best of the lot, IMNSHO, is:

http://www.billcotton.com

he has cue sheets for everything!

HAND
ride safe

Thanks. I like the idea that ken mention about descriptions. I will look
into that. However, the cue are of ride that I have done and on myride page
are descriptions on my rides.

--
www.billcotton.com


 




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