Introductions - Hello from Western Pennsylvania

My wife and I dusted off the tandem and decided to get back on the roads.

We used to ride daily when we live din Lancaster, PA (where the roads were plentiful and flatter), but haven't ridden the tandem together once since we moved here.

I've been riding my single regularly but it takes a while to get in shape given all these hills -- they are frequent and steep (8-12% grade average, with some as steep as 15%).

There are a few rail-trails nearby and we will use those to get some down-in-the-drops speed time.

We look forward to riding some centuries and other tours.

We used to enjoy Governor Tom Ridge's rides here each September -- sadly, our current Governor is too squishy to tackle Pennsylvania's roads!

Wow. I can't imagine riding a road bike in all those hills - let alone a tandem. Color me impressed.

p.s. Welcome.


My wife and I dusted off the tandem and decided to get back on the roads.

We used to ride daily when we live din Lancaster, PA (where the roads were plentiful and flatter), but haven't ridden the tandem together once since we moved here.

I've been riding my single regularly but it takes a while to get in shape given all these hills -- they are frequent and steep (8-12% grade average, with some as steep as 15%).

There are a few rail-trails nearby and we will use those to get some down-in-the-drops speed time.

We look forward to riding some centuries and other tours.

We used to enjoy Governor Tom Ridge's rides here each September -- sadly, our current Governor is too squishy to tackle Pennsylvania's roads!

Yeah, it takes a while to be in good enough shape to even go for a ride around here!!!

The real challenge is to ride route 40 up to the summit -- 4 miles, 6-8% grade, 1000 feet elevation gain.

Yeah, it takes a while to be in good enough shape to even go for a ride around here!!!

The real challenge is to ride route 40 up to the summit -- 4 miles, 6-8% grade, 1000 feet elevation gain.

We have a few similar to that around here. Maybe you rode them when you were here. I try to avoid them most times. :o

Oh yeah -- Lancaster county has hills!! I did plenty of road bike race training up in the furnace hills and down in southern Lancaster county.

I rode near Fort Indiantown Gap as well. There are some good hills around there!

At least there you had some respite going to and from.

Here there is no route we can take that doesn't have hills, unless we ride the bike path, which is a 20 minute drive.

Wow, that's impressive stuff! I have some nice big hills here, but valleys and flat spots abound as well. I still have to climb a hill to get home, no matter what, but not quite like that. Well, unless I go hit Mount Rainier...

Welcome to BF, and feel free to PM me with any questions :) !

East Hill
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Welcome Dan & Janet, I live in the Washington, PA. area. Lots of hills for sure. That's a good idea about riding the summit, I've been out that way plenty of times on my motorcycle but I've never done it on a bicycle. I may have to just head out there some saturday and ride that sucker. It would be great hill training. I usually check out the West Penn Wheelmen website for rides in the area. Welcome again.

Thanks for the tip!

We'd like to find some fall rides (Sept-Oct) to join within 4 hours drive.

The summit is a good ride BUT keep in mind there can be ALOT of traffic -- trucks, cars, motorcycles all whizzing by on the way up (I ride the left lane on the way down!). The shoulder is often littered with broken glass, etc.

I haven't taken Coolspring road up to Jumonville yet, but riding up that on a Motorcycle is a trip, so it would be a killer on a bike. I'm sure grades are as steep as 18% in some spots.

We REALLY miss the Governor's rides. I was invited as a member of the PA Army National Guard. Went a few times on my road bike, then bought the tandem. We had some absolutely beautiful days and rides. Every small town would roll out the welcome for the Governor, and of course the 200+ cyclists were welcomed and treated as royalty as well.