ChiroVette

Okay, I have a buddy of mine who is disabled, and I promised him I would drive out to him in Jersey, pick him up, and take him to see his Mom, who lives in Ronks, PA, just about 11 miles east of Lancaster.

Anyway, I am going in just under two weeks, and I figured why not bring my bicycle and ride around an area I am not indigenous to?

However, my friend's mom told me that she thinks that area is very dangerous for people on bicycles because the roads are very narrow and hilly, making it hard for motorists to see cyclists. However, not being from that area, I don't know. So I was wondering if anyone here knew the scoop about areas like that?

I tend to take the worrying opinions of non-cyclists with a grain of salt, but I figured you guys might know. Not sure if this is important, but that is right in the middle of Amish Country, so there are a lot of horse drawn carriages on the roads.

Thanks!

wahoonc

The Amish ride kick bikes and drive horse drawn buggies on those very same roads...

I have ridden a lot of the roads in that general area with no problems. Though I do recommend fenders.

I usually stay near the Outlet malls on Lincoln Highway 30 near the Smoketown area. I have ridden from there, out past Strasburg and came back down through Ronks or Intercourse and Bird in Hand on the Old Philadelphia Pike. Some times of day are better than other, Lincoln Highway in close to Lancaster is not a good place to ride if you can avoid it.

Aaron

Paul J

Lancaster County is an awesome place to ride. You will find great routes in that part of the county.

datlas 

Agree, it's a fantastic area to ride. Just stay away from route 30 and other busy roads. I do advise a rear blinky and/or high viz clothing but that's true everywhere.

supercharger

I visit that area once a year and always bring my road bike. Though the roads may be narrower than what I'm used to riding they are well maintained and the drivers, for the most part, give a wide berth to bikers. Coming from the Detroit area (which is mostly flat) I found the hills to be the biggist issue. My impression is all the back roads are paved and have minimal car/truck traffic. Take your bike and have fun!

09box

Enola Low Grade Trail | Pennsylvania Trails | TrailLink.com

rm -rf

The Strava Heat Map shows popular biking roads, from a year's worth of uploaded GPS recordings. Dark red is the most popular.


Here's the Lancaster-Christiana area: link
Click Toggle Labels to see town and street names.

I also use the Heat Map to avoid some roads. If there's a light blue road with a lot of red roads nearby, it's often an annoying or busy road. For instance, the Lincoln Highway and Newport Road are both much less traveled than the other roads in the area.

indyfabz

Ronks per se can be tricky as it's near U.S. 30 and some busy roads.

Drive over to the Shady Maple Market near Blue Ball and ride through the Conestoga Valley on PA 897 and then east on Weaverland Rd., etc. Some hills, but not bad one. And a covered bridge. Let me know if you want some specific suggestion. BTW...Dress warmly. Could be cold in a few weeks.

ChiroVette

Hey thanks for all the advice guys! Sorry I haven't responded sooner, I was away a few days.

I am studying the map now on both Google Maps as well as preparing to create some courses on Garmin Connect to send to my Edge 1000, so I have options while I am there.

lol Sounds like fun! One concern I have reading this post is dodging HUGE piles of horse manure.


Why is that? I am bringing my carbon fiber road bike (Scott Foil 30) and I don't own a bike with fenders. Is this going to be a huge problem for me?

This sounds awesome, and I will definitely take heed of both your suggestions and your warning. However, to clarify:

-You are warning me away from Lincoln Highway close to Lancaster, so I assume you mean that stretch where Lincoln Highway is Route 462 and NOT Route 30? Also how much of it should I be avoiding? Looking at the map, I am getting the feeling that you are only talking about the part going from around the Conestoga river and that stretch going directly into Lancaster? Looks like its about a mile of road. That sound about right?

-I am not sure what the Old Philadelphia Pike is. BUT when you are talking about Intercourse, Bird In Hand, Strasburg, etc., it looks like you are talking about Route 340? If so, I am really excited to cycle that!


I am pretty well lit and have lights all over the bicycle and on my helmet. However, I may be misunderstanding either you or Wahoonc, because he seemed to be indicating that Route 30 is fine?



Checking this out now, thanks for the link!

Will be looking all these roads up on Google Maps in a sec, thanks!



Not familiar with the Strava Heat Map, but I will Google it. I use MapMyRide on my phone and Garmin Connect on my Edge 1000. Are there equivalents to Strava Heat Map on either of those? Or do I need to download Strava?

I will check out the link you posted to the Christiana area.


Thanks everyone, I really appreciate all this!

Oh and thanks, Paul J and supercharger, even though I didn't quote you guys.

wahoonc

them puddles of water AIN'T from the rain!

Lincoln Highway aka US30 from where it splits off 462 heading east to around 896 or even a bit further would be my last choice of roads to ride. It is a multi-lane race track with a bunch of outlet malls and inattentive drivers doing the stoplight grand prix. Once away from that area it isn't too bad. I looked at the Strava map and I am not sure what they are trying to show. If you avoid the main tourist attractions the riding is fine. It is quite hilly, but I managed on most of them just fine on a 3 speed.

Aaron

ChiroVette

lol wahoonc, I know you are being tongue-in-cheek, to a point, but let me ask the same question in a different way: I am going to be traveling there with a road bike (carbon fiber, Scott Foil 30, to be exact) with no fenders and size 700 x 23 tires. Am I going to have problems riding with this area? You did initially say I needed fenders, and as I said, I have none.

So I guess my real question is should I leave the bicycle home and scrap the idea of riding on this trip?

09box, I am looking over the Enola Trail info you posted, and I can't quite figure out whether or not that trail is or isn't road-bike friendly. I don't have thick tires, so should I forget that trail?

09box

Looking at the pictures from Trail Link's website regarding the Enola Trail, it looks like it is a mix of paved and really fine gravel.

wahoonc

You will do all right on the paved roads, just remember a lot of them are chip seal and will have loose gravel near the edges. My narrowest tires are in the 35+ range...

Aaron

Paul J

Lancaster county has a very large cycling community who ride 23c tires with no fenders all the time. You will be fine on our roads. I ride my Eddy Merckx with 23's and I'm a bike guy. I do want to say that the Enola trail may not be the best option and it is a long ways from where you will be. I would rather ride the roads anyway.

keg61

I used to pass thru that area a fair bit when I was a truck driver, as I recall the roads are pretty much standard fare BUT, shoulders are gravel at best and not very wide, ditchlines are pretty close to pavement. I'm talking about US rte 30 so i would guess the secondary roads would be no picnic either. the terrain is your basic rolling Pennsylvania hills, I never had much trouble with Amish buggies, unless you plan to ride in the wee hours of the morning. it seems they drive the buggies to a meeting place load up in a van and head off to the bar or some party, then you find them heading home sometime after midnight, possibly inebriated possibly just tired. I used to see a lot of that around 2:00-3:00 a.m. Mondays on my way to Philly

ChiroVette

Yeah I was thinking the same thing from the pics I saw.

Great to keep in mind whenever I need to get far to the right so cars can pass me.


Actually it isn't that far, from what I can see. It looks like the eastern most part of the trail, just south of Christiana, is only about 12 miles away from where I am going to be staying.
Maybe I will have an easier time with Garmin Connect, but I doubt it.


Thoughts?

Ah good to know. Mostly I will be riding late morning or maybe early afternoon.

Paul J

Riding is great on the roads,if you ride roads where you are, ride then here too. Personally I think bike trails are boring but if someone is afraid of riding on the roads, or if they are riding with kids it is good.

You can really just go out the door and ride the back roads. this is one of the best places I've ever risen and I've ridden around the country. I can't imagine that the one cautioning you on this thread live here, or ride here. Stay away from Lancaster city area and the probably the main numbered highways and just stay on the back roads you will have a great time. You could do a loop north and East toward New Holland. Maybe take a look at the Lancaster County Bike Club website and look at the rides they have there.

ChiroVette

I am leaving for Ronks tomorrow morning, and so I decided to create a couple of courses on Garmin Connect and I sent them to my Edge 1000. I used your advice of mostly back roads to make the courses, but I made sure both courses at least go through Lancaster even if briefly. I figure if I can ride a bicycle in Manhattan without any problems, I should be able to deal with at least the smaller streets in Lancaster. I like riding in big cities.



Thanks again!

FBinNY 

The Penn Dutch area east and north of Lancaster have been prime road biking destinations for decades. Yes, the roads are narrow, but that tends to hold speeds down a bit.

It's possible that development have brought more urban - bedroom community - people along with their lousier driving habits, but You'll still find a network on secondary and tertiary roads that these "in a rush" folks don't drive.

Bring your bike, and prepare for some great riding.

BTW - if you have time and pass close enough stop in at Shirk's Bike Shop in East Earl for an eye awakening. Tell Luke that Francis from Chain-L says hello.

Paul J

I hope you've had a good trip. we rode our tandem Sunday which though was a little cool we had a good ride. That ride has us with mileage in every month of 2016. More mile to come before the end of the year I'm sure.

Paul J

Shirk's is my shop, though I live in totally the opposite end of the county I've been going there for 30 years. It is funny seeing people from Philly, NJ and I guess NY State shopping. I did like his prices better before you all found him. :-)

FBinNY 

I've known Luke for about 40 years. He's one of my oldest customers, going back to when we were both young. I still remember when he was doing business out of a trailer in the front corner of the farm property.

I don't know how many folks go there from NY, but I do know that he's established a large draw, not only for his prices. He's also a highly skilled mechanic willing and able to take jobs that many shops refuse or simply can't do.

indyfabz

I live in Philly. Shirk's is the coolest bike shop I have ever patronized. A few years ago the GF and I did an organized ride from Wyebrook Farms. The rest stop for one of the loops was at Shirk's. I had heard about the place but never been. From the outside, we weren't expecting much, but we were quite impressed once we went inside. We were most impressed with how well stocked the place was. After the ride, we drove back to pick up some odds and ends. I even bought a pair of their socks.

ChiroVette

Thanks for the advice, everyone! Unfortunately, the trip was cut short, but I did get to ride for one day. I like the rolling hills, even though I am not a hills fan. It was nice, though, because I was able to time the hills so that the downward momentum of one hill took me up most of the way to the next one. A lot of fun riding and some really nice scenery. I wish I had more time to spend there, but I can say that even the main roads like Lincoln Highway were nice because they had a pretty big shoulder, and even when I was riding very close to Lancaster I had no problems at all. Manhattan streets are way crazier than literally anything I encountered in Ronks and Lancaster. Not to mention the motorists were very courteous and never acted like they were being forced to share the road with me at gunpoint.

I am going to be heading back there in the Spring, hopefully for a much longer trip where I will do a lot more riding. But even Lancaster was fine to cycle in, though I didn't spend a whole lot of time riding there.

ChiroVette

Hey all!

I want to revive this old thread I started waaaaay back in 2016. Unfortunately, when I went last time, I was only there for a day, so my riding was very limited. However, I am going to Ronks/Lancaster this coming Sunday, this time for 6 days and 5 nights. So I intend to do a lot of riding and exploration. Especially since I am off my militant, low carb diet for two weeks starting when I leave Sunday morning. So I am going to need to burn some serious calories to NOT take more than a step or two back from my bodyfat goals. lol

Anyway, I spent some time and really studied all your advice, since I am not at all familiar with the area. When creating my courses for the area, I tried to incorporate all the sage advice some of the Lancaster locals and others offered me in this thread, and came up with three courses of varying length, from 30ish miles to 50ish miles. If you guys can check these out, maybe scrutinize them, and tell me if I am on the wrong side of this area for these courses. Any changes I need to make? I am staying at the Weathervane Motel, as you can see by both the start and end points of all three courses.

Also, since I am surely going to be doing more than three rides, I am open to suggestions for more courses before I leave. I will also have Internet at my motel, and will be checking this forum daily while away, in case there are any other last minute suggestions. I can easily create courses on Garmin Connect from my laptop, so if I have already left to go to the area, it won't be too late for me to add more rides and courses to the itinerary. I am posting some screenshots of the courses for your evaluation. Finally, if any locals want to join me, or if any other fine members are passing through the area simultaneously to my arrival, I am totally up for riding in whatever group sizes you guys may want to do. Even if its just 2 of us or more.

Thanks everyone. Really looking forward to this trip!

Edit: I may have to create another post for the screenshots. Because the site is acting really weird with not allowing me to post pics from my image host.

Edit#2: Okay, it worked when I input the markup manually for the image links. lol Go figure.