A Classic in Reverse

Over the last twelve years, the ride from the Philly Art Museum to Betzwood Park has been a staple in riding. It's about 42 miles round trip, with a flat 4-mile section on West River Drive, a 5-mile hilly section through Manayunk, and then a 12-mile flat section on the Betzwood trail.

My first exposure to the course was when I was still skating. Small groups of 3 to 6 skaters would head out together. The downhills on the return were especially difficult, since racing skates do not have brakes. My biggest memory of that course was the day we did it as part of a skating century. Two laps from the Museum to Betzwood and two laps of West River for a total of 100 miles on skates. Ah, the good old days....

As a cyclist, that course is much easier. The hills through Manayunk, either up or down, are not that bad. They just give you a little more to work on during an otherwise flat course.

Yesterday, since I now live so close to Betzwood Park, I rode the course in reverse. It's a lot different!

The differences were more psychological. The long flat section on the Betzwood trail is now the beginning and end, not the middle. West River Drive is no longer the "almost home sprint." It's the turnaround section. It was weird seeing the Museum and thinking "just 21 miles to go!" not "I'm done!"

Most of all, I never realized how hard the hills in Manayunk could be. When you are only 6 miles out, they are not so bad. When you have 27 miles in your legs, it's another story. The little zig-zag hill going from Main Street up to Umbria is a lot harder.

It wasn't all that bad, though. On the way back, I didn't stop at home. I kept going out to Phoenixville, for a total of 52 miles in about 2 hours and fifty minutes. It was a fun ride that I'm sure I'll repeat in the future.

I was just happy that I felt better. I'd been fighting some kind of stomach thing the last few days and I didn't have any problems at all today.

A City Smurf goes to the Country

Saturday I did the suburban QCW ride that left from Betzwood park and went about 60 miles. Let me tell you, it's a lot different starting in Center City Philly and going 60 miles than starting near Valley Forge and going 60 miles.

First of all, there's a lot more country roads. Within about 15 minutes, we were passing stables and cow pastures.

Next, it gets real hilly real quick. I'm not much of a climber, especially since I'm still carrying a few extra points. I really struggled to keep up with the other four guys a few times. I figure that's a good thing, since now I'll work to keep up with them.

We had a few notable experiences. One was the seemingly endless, straight climb that we took at about 8 mph. It was only about a 6 minute climb or so, but felt like forever.

The other was going across the closed bridge around Evansburg State Park. We went a little off-road and were handing our bikes over the railing to each other. Talk about team building!

It was a really great ride and I'm looking forward to doing them through the winter. I do kinda miss that last 4-mile burn coming in West River Drive though...

A bit cooler

Today was the first time I've ridden below 50 degrees in quite a while. When I went out for my morning ride at 8AM, it was 48 degrees.

I was a little overdressed, with a long sleeve jersey (which is fleece lined) and tights over my normal cycling shorts. I could tell I was overdressed and could feel the extra heat the whole time. Combined with the cooler air, my heart rate was running high the whole ride.

It felt good to do a foundation ride. My average power for the day was a mere 156 watts (a out 16.7 mph average), doing 37 miles in 2 hours and 12 minutes.

It felt good to get out on a sunny day and do an easy ride like that. Over the course of the winter, this ride will grow to be 4 hours long.

The down side: in the last month I've only lost a half pound. I'm hoping now that I live right next to the trail and I am settled into the new apartment, I can devote more time to training,