Tag Archives: recumbent trike

Trip Report: Wally’s Niagara Falls 2015 Tour

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I’d like to invite you all to visit our fellow Delaware Valley Trike Riders’ Club member’s “ride summary” of his recent trip to Niagara Falls on his recumbent trike. Wally Hertler, a long time member of the White Clay Bicycle Club, has been leading cyclists on yearly, long distance tours for over 40 years.

Wally’s “summary” is actually a wonderful photographic journal, annotating highlights of the trip and thoughtfully reflecting on the challenges that rolled up. With the dust hardly settled behind him, Wally has started organizing for next year: Wally’s 2016 Tour of Somerset that will include a visit to the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, PA.

Thank you for sharing this with us, Wally, and we hope to ride with you soon!

Wayne K

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Club Ride: Lower Perkiomen Trail with Lunch

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Reaching out to our Delaware Valley Trike Riders’ Club members from our more “western” regions, I would like to invite you to join our next club ride on Saturday, July 18, 2015 (starting at 10:30 AM, sharp). Beginning in Lower Perkiomen Valley Park, we will follow the Perkiomen Trail north to Schwenksville where we will take a break to stretch and grab a quick slice at Ortino’s Restaurant before turning around and heading back.

Note: If there is interest in joining this ride on a future Sunday, please let me know and we will add it to our schedule.

Please Register your intent to ride via email, phone or a comment to this post, by 8:00 PM, Thursday, July 16, 2015. This is a fair-weather event and trail conditions may be affected by heavy rain within 24 hours prior to ride. Please include your phone number with your registration (it will remain protected). If Ride Is Canceled, I will call you, or text you if you prefer, between 6:00 and 6:30 AM on the day of the ride (sooner if conditions are clearly dreadful).

Key Points:
Arrive early – After a brief introduction the Ride Starts at 10:30 AM, sharp, Saturday, July 18, 2015. This is about a 22 mile round trip, and is mostly flat. Average speed: 11 MPH (faster speeds possible when on paved surfaces). The Perkiomen Trail provides mixed surfaces, crosses a few small roads and provides several miles of tree-shaded travel following the stream. No one left behind and we will stop for breakdowns. Restroom opportunities are available at our start and turnaround points as well as in Collegeville. Ortino’s is a well regarded Italian Food and Pizza shop that is located about 50 feet from the trail. A picnic style lunch is also possible on the shaded, nearby trail.

Please bring a lock and cable for a group lock-up during lunch. Also, please familiarize yourself with Preparation Guidelines and Rules for Club Rides. Trip Sheet and Map are available (but you likely won’t need it for this ride).

Cautionary Note:
This is a summer season ride so please prepare for yourself accordingly: adequate hydration, snacks, and protection from the sun.

Geo-Coordinates:
Lower Perkiomen Valley Park: 40.131151, -75.446247
Ortino’s Restaurant in Schwenksville: 40.260804, -75.464627

As always, all members are encouraged to lead a ride on your favorite trail, or if you are looking for some company to test yourself on a challenging route, there are Delaware Valley Trike Riders ready to join you!

I look forward to riding with you soon!
Wayne K

Stockton – Frenchtown “Do Over” Club Ride

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This post was edited on 6/18/2015 to correct the name of the trail. We will be riding the D&R trail in New Jersey to Frenchtown, not the D&L trail in Pennsylvania. 

I would like to invite you to join our Delaware Valley Trike Riders’ Club “Do Over” ride on Saturday, June 20, 2015 (starting 9:30 AM sharp). There were a few disappointed members who missed our first ride this season and a few new members requesting a Saturday ride, so this will be our second-chance “Do Over” ride. Starting in Stockton, NJ (at the Prallsville Mills/Stockton Visitor’s Center) we will cycle north along the D&R (mistakenly referred to as “D&L” when originally posted) Canal trail to Frenchtown, NJ, returning via Rte. 29. While in Frenchtown, we will take a brief break at Marie’s Cafe (snack, restroom, stretch) before returning.

Please Register your intent to ride via email or phone or a comment to this post (please include your phone number, it will remain protected), by 8:00 AM, Friday, June 19, 2015. This is a fair-weather event and trail conditions may be affected by heavy rain within 24 hours prior to ride. Please include your phone number with your registration – if Ride Is Canceled, I will call you, or text you if you prefer, between 6:00 and 6:30 AM on the day of the ride (sooner if conditions are clearly dreadful).

Key Points:
Arrive early – After a brief introduction the Ride Starts at 09:30 AM sharp, Saturday, June 20, 2015. This is a 24 mile round trip, and is mostly flat. Average speed: 10 mph (faster speeds when on highway return leg). Mixed trail surfaces: bike-friendly highway, paved trail, hard-pack gravel, hard-pack dirt with spotty grass. Mostly shaded and tree-lined closely following the Delaware River. No one left behind and we will stop for breakdowns. There are several opportunities for breakaway sprints. Several restroom opportunities are available along the trail.

Please familiarize yourself with Preparation Guidelines and Rules for Club Rides.
Trip Sheet, and Map are available (but you likely won’t need it for this ride).

Cautionary Note:
This is a summer season ride so please prepare for yourself accordingly: adequate hydration, snack/power bars and protection from sun.

Geo-Coordinates:
Prallsville Mills/Stockton NJ Visitor’s Center: (40.409095, -74.984901)
Frenchtown NJ: (40.526301, -75.063015)

I look forward to riding with you!
Wayne K

Challenging Tyler State Park Ride Report

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I’m offering this report to my fellow members of the Delaware Valley Trike Riders Club. As I write this I’m still catching my breath. Note: if anyone is interested in joining me next time – please let me know of your interest – I will be riding this again while applying what I’ve learned from this attempt. Just bring a strong heart, strong legs and a strong will to succeed. That is about all I had with me and it was great fun!

A few DVTR members, who I’ve not had the chance to ride with yet, have hinted that they were looking for a ride that was challenging. In an effort to find such a ride I visited some well known and beautifully paved trails that run through Tyler State Park in Newtown, PA. If you are looking for a challenge, this is the place… particularly for recumbent trikes. Tyler State Park offers about 10.5 miles of paved, cycle-friendly trails that seem as though they are all uphill.

I mapped out roughly a 9-mile route so that the steepest grades were on the down slope and set out early in the morning in order to beat the heat (it was very warm when I got there and warmer still when I finished). As I was preparing my trike after parking, I began mentally reviewing over all of the advice I had heard from others regarding challenging, novel rides:
• Start with a carbo-load
• Pace yourself
• Hydrate often
• Take a break at the plateaus
• Remind yourself “This is not a race”
• Take in some of the beautiful scenery along the way

I scored 1 out of 6 for myself. I skipped my toast and honey because I wasn’t feeling hungry after loading the trike (it was *very* humid at 6:00 AM and I just didn’t feel like eating when the deed was done). I was very excited to ride on a paved surface so I just took off like kid on the last day of school (I’ve been triking gravel trails almost exclusively). I did drink, but maybe not enough on a day like today (I probably should have mixed my raspberry electrolytes before I left home). Admittedly, I’m a second-wind person and thought that I could catch my breath sufficiently on the descending trails (“Ride Leader School” says “Always wait at the top of a climb to regroup”). Again, I couldn’t help but to “race” after finding so little friction between me and the smoothly paved road. After all of this, I did somehow notice that the cornfields had matured nicely since my last visit (hiking) and that the Neshaminy Creek was still flowing well in the absence of needed rain, and that most of the folks sharing the trail with me, cyclists, pedestrians and equestrians, were friendly and accommodating (except this one guy who insisted on running the center of the trail with headphones – arrrgh!).

If you’d like to join me on my next, more thoughtfully strategic attempt, here are some statistics to help you decide (this WILL be a challenge no matter what your training has been):
• 9+ miles – about 6.5 of them uphill
• 445 foot elevation gain
• 7.5% Max uphill grade (granny-gear all the way!)
• 25+ MPH downhill coasting
• Average Speed was 9.8 MPH

Following this post, I’ll announce another ride for this upcoming weekend.

I look forward to riding with you soon!
Wayne K

Moment of Remembrance & Appreciation Ride

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I would like to invite you to join the Delaware Valley Trike Riders on a Memorial Day round-trip ride from Morrisville to Washington Crossing Park’s Cemetery for Soldiers of the Revolution (Monday, May 25, 2015, 9:30 AM start).

Tucked away along the banks of the Delaware River is a very small, but special cemetery where an unknown number of Continental soldiers are buried. These men, all of them unknown except for one, didn’t die in battle, but their contributions and sacrifices while encamped a few miles north of Trenton, enabled the Continental Army to wage a uniquely decisive attack on British and Hessian troops marking the turning point of the American Revolution.

Cemetery for Fallen Soldiers at Washington Crossing Park

Cemetery for Fallen Soldiers at Washington Crossing Park

The conditions these soldiers faced, including the deprivation of food, equipment and clothing necessary to survive an extremely harsh winter, hastened their deaths from exposure, disease and injuries incurred during previous battles. Most of these men hadn’t been paid in months (increasing hardships for their families at home) yet still they reenlisted for this winter campaign because they understood that the value of life and liberty could only be realized if they could drive the rule of an oppressive and invasive government from their lands.

Details:
Please register, with your phone number, for this ride no later than 8:00 PM Sat., May 23, via Text Msg, Phone, email or reply to this post. Ride will be canceled, by phone and/or text, Sunday morning if rain is heavy or sustained.

All cyclists welcome!

• 9:30 AM Depart from Williamson Park, Morrisville PA, 19067 (at the flagpole in parking lot, geo coord: 40.213184, -74.775204).
• Ride North along D&L Canal Trail in Pennsylvania to the cemetery.
• Dismount for a silent moment of remembrance and appreciation.
• Return ride South along the D&L to Yardley, PA for a Bagel Brunch at the Bagel Train (honestly, you haven’t had a bagel until you’ve had a Bagel Train bagel!).
• Return ride South along D&L to Williamson Park in Morrisville, PA.

• 24-mile round trip, leisurely 10-mph pace with occasional sprints, mostly flat. None will be left behind.

I look forward to riding with you!
Wayne K

Hazon Philadelphia’s “Ride the Pines” Event

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I would like to invite other Delaware Valley Trike Riders to join me at the Hazon “Ride the Pines” bike tour, Sunday, May 31, 2015 (check-in begins at 7:00 AM). Detailed registration information and schedules are available at: http://hazon.org/calendar/philly-bike-ride-2/
Please note: There are a limited number of open registrations available, so act quickly if you intend to join this ride event.

In summary, this ride event offers 19-, 42- and 65-mile routes starting and ending at the JCC Camps in Medford, NJ. Each of the rides, escorted by a knowledgable ride leader and sweeper, will pass through pine forests, farmland and local villages. While this ride is not a “trike specific” ride, the flat terrain of the NJ Pinelands will provide trike and recumbent riders miles of peddling fun!

This day-long event (ending at 4:00 PM) offers a light breakfast during check-in, mobile SAG, fully supported rest stops (snacks, water, loo and shade), a catered, kosher barbecue lunch and vegan/vegetarian meals as well. Afternoon activities will include a collection of local vendors offering a marketplace of sustainable, Earth-friendly goods. Additional activities are planned to keep young children entertained (while accompanied by a parent) at the camp during the ride and a child-centered environmental educational program will be available in the afternoon. Other activities, that include swimming and boating are also available (but may incur additional fees). Please contact Hazon for details.

I hope you can join me and I look forward to riding with you soon!
Wayne K

P.S. If you do join this event, please drop me a note… I’ll be on the 42-mile route.