With Cirque coming up fast, I'm thinking classic bikes and rides. It may be a bit early, but I'd like people to plan to join us for our annual ride (our eighth year) if they can (and hopefully not get any competition for that weekend!).
The date for our annual vintage ride is Saturday, July 11, 2008. Bring your vintage, classic, keeper of the flame and/or BOBish bikes for a beautiful ride and garden party in celebration of Summer, biking and getting together with friends old and new. Start time will be around 10:00 am to beat the heat. Feel free to come early to talk bikes and unload. Feel free to bring one, or as many bikes as you wish to show off, we all like to see those cool classics. You'll have plenty of admirers.
It's almost the same route as last year, but I've taken us off a bit of a busy stretch for a spectacular downhill to show you a bit more of our beautiful riding country. It'll add some mileage, but should still top out at around thirty miles. I would recomend your rider to have brakes you trust, and fixed only for the truly heroic. I'm thinking of revising a bit of route near the end too, but we'll still have the rollicking fast few miles along a ridge capped with a great two mile descent to the finish. Those new to our ride will find out that we live in a fairly hilly, but beautiful area for riding, very low traffic and lots of farm land. A 42 x 24 racing low will have you spending time out of the saddle. For those too used to the flatlands or looking for an easier ride, we live along side the Little Falls of the Gunpowder river and the 40 mile long North Central Rail Trail. The trail crosses the path of our road route in New Freedom, PA, about 8 miles north from home with railroad grades of no more than 2-3%. That crossing is about 18 miles into the road ride, a rest stop featuring a nice local bike shop and Bonkies home made ice cream & snowballs to energize you for the last 12 miles. The party is at ride's end for all.
We'll have hot dogs and brats on the grill, vegetarian dishes plus all the usual sides and refreshments. Feel free to add to the menu if you wish. There's plenty of space to show your bikes, you might wish to bring stands too. The Tour will be on TV, and will feature (from the Tour's website): "... Part two of the Pyrenees triptych, three ascents will offer good climbers the chance to stand out. The Ariège passes ... will serve as potential springboards. This stage will undoubtedly have some surprises in store."
We'll try to make the trip worth your travel. We're making the day of it, no need to rush off. Please e-mail us to let us know if you're coming and we can provide directions. Almost all mapping programs screw the route up close by when coming from the south.
Happy trails,
Dan Artley in Parkton, MD