Exploring a future gem

September 6, 2018

From the camping resort 2 miles outside of town, my riding partner and I flew down the hill into town, found our way acrosse River, and then down to the market, andthe accessroad behind the market. Only problemaccess road to the trail was listed as private property and “no cyclists”. Now while i’m one to “bend the rules” a bit, I didn’t want to get down .5 miles on the dirt access road and reach an impassable gate and then have to deal with police, so back up the road we went to ride the big climb out of Jim Thorpe on the highway.

7:30am departure, and the fog hasn’t lifted from the valley on our initial descent

Completed the 2-mile downhill run and now into the town center

The only other option to get out of the valley was to climb route 209. This is a steep road hugging the side of the mountain and to add insult to injury, there was construction on one of the lanes (active construction, too, so I couldn’t use the protected lane). Once through the rough part, we flew downhill into lehighton and picked up the Delaware and Lehigh trail. This is a non-congruous (fancying of saying not connected) trail going from Wilkes Barre all the way south to Bristol. Once connected, it will be more than 100 miles so it’s a gem in the making.

This trail, when complete, will be a gem

So here’s where taking detour is good. We decided to cut across Northampton and Lehigh counties instead of taking the trail around Allentown and Bethlehem. I rode that trail before when I lived here route across the countries due east would be something new. When we arrived in Northampton, we found a deli hidden away behind some buildings, where they prepared each sandwich by first cutting the meat for each sandwich. And chips and a drink and the sandwich only set my back $6.50. I hold nt believe they took all that effort for one sandwich and for me, it was so cheap.

Nor-Bath trail. 8 miles of shade on a sunny day. And in our direction as well

Oncethe Nor-Bath trail ended, we were back on the roads, rolling up and down the hills that is the eastern end of the Lehigh Valley.

“You CAN go home again #2 (or 3?)” - I rode the Plainfield trail many times when I lived in the area. It has been extended a mile or so south from the original trailhead.

We diverted from the Plainfield trail about 1/3 of the way into the trail so we could head to our overnight (and Kim could head home and complete her first tour and a personal best of 50 miles for the day).

Good to see these roads again. They were my haunts on my road bike when I lived in the area. Of course, I wasn’t riding with 22 pounds of gear then

And then, we hit Engler Rd. I forgot about this climb. It’s brutal, and in the hot sun, but it climbs up and over one of the last hills to get to our overnight. Very pretty scenery, and “you CAN go home again #4” - I can still climb the hill, even with all my kit on the bike. I remember how pretty this area is north of Easton.

Engler Rd. I forgot about this climb, but my legs remembered

In the evening I caught up with longtime friends for some dinner - great end to the day.

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Today's ride: 50 miles (80 km)
Total: 322 miles (518 km)

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