PA ECG Team

  The countryside is pretty and about the same all along this section. Soybean fields, corn fields, and tobacco fields along with lots of pine forests. Logging is also very prolific in this area. It seems that the standard logging mode is to clear cut the woods and replant an entire area. The new trees are planted very close together such that tall straight timber is produced.  We passed through some small towns, but most of this day was spent in very rural areas. There was literally no place to eat until we got to Ashland, well after lunch time! We ate a late lunch in Ashland VA. It was a little deli along the train tracks called "Homemades by Suzanne." We enjoyed eating outside in the shade of our table umbrella. The train station area is very neat and colorful. We even found the train station camera and had a little fun walking out in front of the camera and then waiting for the two-minute delay to see ourselves on YouTube.  It was amazing that the train tracks running...

  Leaving Mount Vernon, we spent a significant amount of time on Route 1. This section of Route 1 does not have a bike lane or shoulder, so we rode on the right side of the right lane. This section is also very busy. Traffic was, for the most part accommodating, but I had a couple drivers who passed way to close. One in particular, a black pickup with a fifth wheel car carrier attached passed me so close the I could have reached out and touched it.  In Lorton VA, we entered the Cross County Trail. Along the trail we encountered a very unique underpass.  THIS BRIDGE WAS BUILT IN  1946 by imprisoned laborers from the nearby  Lorton Workhouse  using bricks made in  their brickyard . It is the only structure of its kind in the state of Virginia. Known as voussoir arch bridges (so named for the wedge-shaped or tapered stones used to construct arches) or barrel arch bridges (due to the resemblance to the inside of a wooden barrel), this complex building styl...

We left Bowie with overcast sky but no rain. It was misting. Soon after leaving the hotel, Dan stopped. He had noted an issue with his phone mount atop his bag. Upon further investigation, one of the two screws attaching the mount had disappeared! We looked in the bag, which is where you think the screw would end up! Nothing. I mentioned that it may have fallen on the ground. We scoured the area with no success. As we were preparing to wrap up and get going again, Bob noticed something on the ground! He had found the screw. With the screw back in, we were on our way again. Dan suggested that we find some Locktight to ensure the screw did not come lose again.  From Bowie we made our way to Greenbelt. In Greenbelt we connected with a trail and stayed on trails almost all the way into DC. We went through Berwyn Heights, College Park, Riverdale Park, Hyattsville, Bladensburg, and then connected with the Anacostia Trail. This trail conveyed us right into DC. We crossed the Martin Luther...

  Today we are facing another day of rain. Waking up and looking out the hotel window, we note dry ground. This makes us somewhat hopeful, however silly that may be, due to the forecast! After eating breakfast in the hotel, we again looked out only to see that it had started to rain.  My theory with warm rain is to keep my core dry with a raincoat and let the rest of me, like everything below the waist, just get wet. I put on my jacket and hood, then put my helmet on my hood. This prevents rain from going down my back and due to the position we take when riding, slightly bent over, hardly any rain enters the front of the jacket.   The biggest two issues with riding in the rain are the reduced traction and keeping our electronic devices dry.  Traction is severely reduced in the rain, especially those white lines, white crosswalk pads, and arrows. These areas become very slippery. Additionally train tracks become like ice when wet. You have to slow down and become more...

  We left Newark heading basically west. The route took us through Elkton, Charlestown and around the Charlestown Manor Beach and then through Perryville.   It was interesting crossing the Susquehanna River on Route 40. I am glad we got there on a Saturday morning because bicycles are only allowed to cross this bridge on a weekend day. Before you cross, a bicyclist presses a button which illuminates the “Bicycles on Bridge” flashing lights. The entire time I am riding, I am thinking “I wonder how long that sign stays lit?” That is one long bridge. We rode across in the right-hand lane because there is no berm or shoulder on the bridge.   Safely on the other side, we took the first exit toward Havre De Grace MD. The ECG route goes back toward the river and around the perimeter of the town. We elected not to take the “city and riverfront tour” but to attack the inevitable climb out of the seacoast area. We climbed for a distance of 1.9 miles and an elevation gain of 38...

  Shortly after leaving the hotel, we technically crossed into the City of Philadelphia, but it was quite a few miles before anything began to look like the city itself. Other than the row homes and traffic, it could have been any urban town. We came in on Torresdale Ave and wound around to eventually end up at Penn Treaty Park.  Once we got to the end the trail, we got dumped onto Spring Garden Street! We rode up Spring Garden all the way to Pennsylvania Ave and Kelly Drive. We rode around the PA Museum of Art and accessed the Schuylkill River Trail.  As we rode up Spring Garden, I stopped to take several photos of the Philadelphia skyline, including one showing the Jefferson building, where coincidentally a lot of Gower money has gone in the past several years! We continued southward on Grays Ferry where Bob picked up a piece of copper electric wire in his rear tire. It was lodged between his tire, brakes, and fender. He heard it, but due to all the traffic noise, thoug...

Day 3 takes us through New Jersey to almost Philadelphia! It was about 60% off road or trails. About 42 miles of the total 76 miles were on former canal tow paths. We passed Rutgers University agriculture teaching areas and then entered the Delaware and Raritan Canal Tow Path. The first thing we had to do was ford one of the canal’s overflow areas. Not too much water, but enough that if you slipped, you would get wet feet! The canal had frequent overflow areas that when ridden across were like riding cobblestones!  We stopped for lunch at an artisan pizza place in Kingston NJ called Toni’s Artisan Pizza Company. I had their daily special, a 12” pizza thin crust white sauce pizza with chunks mozzarella, ham, and figs! I am always open to try new stuff, but I really prefer the old standby, a hand tossed tomato sauce greasy meat pie! You know the kind, pick it up and let the grease drain off before eating! We encountered several former canal locks that have been fitted with more moder...