bautieri

As some of you know, I’ve been a bit waylaid this season recovering from a reconstructive knee surgery. I haven’t been out riding since May and my bicycle has been mocking me ever since. Every time I walk by she whispers: “hey bautieri, HTFU and ride me you little p*ssy”. Well, nothing gives you the urge to ride quite like irresistible combination of new bike stuff and a nice day. I had recently acquired some new cross tires, WTB Cross Wolfs for my Tricross, and my friend purchased a 2011 Trek X01 the night before…so a ride was in order. Heeding to what little good sense I have about me, we selected a rail trail. Specifically we choose Lancaster County’s Conwago(sp?) trail which connects the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail. Something flat and that had many road crossings in case my partner had to head back to the truck and SAG me out.

The weather was perfect, mid 50’s, sunny and not too windy. We set off into what was left of the fall foliage and had a great afternoon of riding.

Here is a picture of my bicycle, Miss Evil, posing with her new shoes. Her clipless pedals have been removed and replaced with platforms for the time being:


Now it’s a tradition for both “real cyclists”™ and the wannabes alike to get out and ride your age on or around your birthday. I happened to be three weeks overdue so once I was reasonable certain that my knee was in good shape, we set out to cover 26 miles. Well, the turn around point and came went. I’m glad we pressed on as we were rewarded with some neat things to see.

Here is a photo of a wrought iron bridge we crossed shortly before entering the town of Cornwall Furnace. It’s a bummer how cruddy my pictures turned out. Next time I’ll have to bring something with a little better camera than my blackberry:



Miss Evil with her new friend “Hugs and Kisses” (Good name for a bike with Xs and Os on it)



Now there is one aspect of riding with friends which cannot be stressed enough. Always, and I mean always, take the time to goof off. In Cornwall Furnace we found a gigantic keg which was built in 1969 to hold rootbeer. It was restored by a local Boy Scout troop in 1999 and I assume it’s been under the canopy since. My Google-Fu has not turned up any definitive information on it, so I’m going to go with the explaination that it is a big ole keg for the sake of being a big ole keg. Good enough for me. I think I’ll have some since I was running low on water anyways:



All in all, we covered 32 miles and had a blast. My "sit bones" need some work but all in all I felt pretty strong while riding.

It’s good to be back.

Bau

jr59

That keg looks to big to move.
So quit trying!

Neil_B

Bravo!

indyfabz

Ever been to the Jigger Shop in Mt. Gretna? Good ice cream and great outdoor deck. I believe it's only open weekends beween Memorial Day and Labor Day. Although you have to climb a few hills to do it, it's worth taking a spin around the town on the south side of PA 117. Lots of storybook looking houses. And many of the streets are named after colleges and universities.

Daspydyr 

Talk about yer kegger dude! That is a riot. Great pictures.

irclean

I get jealous when I see pics like yours; there is such a pitiful lack of cycling infrastructure in my neck of the woods. In this city of over 300K people we have
about 50 km (~30 miles) of MUP, but little of it is connected. I think the longest ride that I can do without negotiating any surface streets is about 20 km.
There is the 140 km (~87 mile) Greater Niagara Circle Route, but that's a 2.5 hour drive from where I live. If anyone knows any trails like this close to London,
Ontario that I'm completely ignorant of please let me know.

Great pics, BTW, and congrats on your recovery!

hendrick81

Congrats...

MVclyde

Welcome back!!

funrover 

Nice pics, welcome back!

2Klose

Glad you got back at it and felt great. The trail only extends a few more miles (maybe 5 more) into the city of Lebanon. Jigger shop is definitely worth a stop, but only open during the summer.
The cross tires look nice on your ride. Perfect for that surface. Any twinges on the incline up to Mt. Gretna?
Now practice up so we can ride that metric from up in Harrisburg down to Gretna and back.

2Klose

forgot to mention that the root beer barrel was some kind of roadside attraction. They sold things out of it way back. It used to be located close to the intersection with Route 322 and Route 72. Only a few miles away from the current location. I think a Boy Scout refurbished it as his Eagle Scout project. It was then moved it's current location.

ScottStr

Congrat. Looks like a great ride. Thanks for reminding me that I'm going to have to ride 49 miles right after New Years. Now I just need to find 50 miles that's downhill with a tailwind all the way.