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| Loop around back roads near Blain and over Doubling Gap |
May 26, 2012
Gypsy Stats:
Elapsed time and riding time: 1 Hr 27 Min
Distance: 51 Miles
Ave Speed: 35 mph
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| Into Carlisle and back plus larger loop on numbered roads |
May 27, 2012
Gypsy Stats:
Elapsed Time: 4 hrs 49 minutes
Riding time: 3 hrs 3 minutes
Distance: 135 miles
Ave speed: 44.3 m ph
Beemer Stats:
139.4 miles
45 mph
49 mpg
I have always been in the ride-it-there-and-ride-it-back school but this weekend I wanted to take the family and dogs to Perry County to visit and was hoping Cousin John might show up with his bike so we could get a ride in. So, for the first time, I loaded the bike in the back of the pickup truck to take it along. Loading single handed was a bit of an adventure, especially with the truck parked slightly downhill; after cresting the top of the ramp, the bike wanted to take off downhill into the bed just when my feet were transitioning from ramp to tailgate (I walked the bike up the ramp under power). By loading cocking the front wheel, loading at an angle in the bed, and nudging the back over to the side a might. I was able to get the bike in with the tailgate closed. Four ratchet straps secured it from moving.
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| Loaded the bike in the pickup truck with the tailgate closed |
The best unloading location, behind the barn backed up to a bank to minimize the ramp angle left the truck parked on a slight downhill. It definitely took two to unload under these conditions, one to drive and one to provide some motive power. Luckily, Josh was there to lend a hand. I had been studying some of the back roads around Perry County on the iPad map-of-maps and had picked out a couple of loops that I wanted to investigate. According to Josh, these were not all paved, especially going up into Tuscarora State Forest. I headed across the valley on Book Rd, then down Hidden Valley Rd, eventually coming out on Rt 233. As Rt 233, Doubling Gap Road, is one of the Blue Mountain crossings in the area, I gave it a run over and back, turning around in the village of Doubling Gap on the other side of the mountain. It was a nice ride but, as indicated by the map, pretty straight running a diagonal up the side of the ridge. Seems in this area Blue Mountain is a pretty straight ridge with no ravines or hollows to twist and turn around while traversing the contours.
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| A break in the end-of-day storm in Perry County |
Back on the north side of Blue Mountain, I tried riding Laurel Run Road from end to end since the map showed it running up valley parallel to Hidden Valley Rd, then curving around to meet the top end of Fowler Hollow Rd (the road the farm is on). This started out as a good run with only two surprises: exiting a fairly sharp turn at speed to find a two track wooden deck bridge which had to be negotiated fairly accurately; and the sudden change from paved to gravel road without warning immediately after cresting a rise at speed. Well, that's why you're supposed to be paying attention. In general, the gravel was well graded and packed, readily negotiable without a GS, but it slowed the going to about 30 mph and wound its way into some pretty desolate sections of Perry County. I had always seen Perry County as predominantly farm country and it is down in the valleys. But cresting out on the gravel road at 2100 ft I could definitely hear banjo music.
Laurel Run Road eventually worked its way back to civilization at the top end of Fowler Hollow Road. I ran down the pavement to the junction of Fowler Hollow and Book Roads and parked the bike at the Red House.
A quick recon of some of the other back roads I had been interested in truck proved that they too were unpaved.
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| Clear roads in Perry County |
Since I was in Perry County and Tim and Dave were still home in the Reading area, we had agreed to meet at Fay's in Carlisle for breakfast at 9:00 on Sunday morning. This gave us each an hour+ ride to breakfast and a great eating destination. I headed out at 8:00 up over Waggoners Gap (Rt 74) and got to Carlisle with time to buy gas, find Fay's, and a little to spare. We didn't dawdle over breakfast since Tim and Dave both had to be back to Reading by early afternoon. By 10:15, full of steak and eggs, we were hading back up over Waggoners Gap. I was leading (for a change) since I knew where we going (for a change) and was getting tired of following slow Corollas through the countryside. Based on my exploration from the afternoon before, I was able to quit the numbered roads and divert up Hidden Valley road, pretty much unencumbered by traffic.
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| It was a misty-moisty day |
We made a quick stop at the farm to see if Levi had shown up with his bike to join us (he hadn't) then headed out, sticking pretty much to numbered highways and pavement. This took us out over Rt 274 to Rt 75 towards Willow Hill, where Tim had to deke off to the Willow Hill turnpike exit and make tracks for home to be there in time for family activities. Dave and I ran Rt 641 north over the next ridge (a come-backer), then Dave had to turn around and head back to Willow Hill and turnpike for a quick run home. I completed the loop up the valley on Rt 35 and down Rt 850 over the ridges.
It was a misty-moisty morning with gray skies and low hanging clouds. Temperatures dropped into the low 70's and at one point I stopped and added back the jacket liner layer. In the run up Rt 35 from Rt 641 to Rt 850 I saw two vehicles coming in the opposite direction - an old pickup truck and a man on a horse - and passed three going in my direction - three kids on bicycles. That was it.
So, riding cut short by family activities on a family oriented weekend, but the concept of trucking out and riding local loops proven out. Both times I was able to load the truck single handed; both times I needed help to unload (nearly dropped the bike trying to get it down the ramp at home). Managing a bike in the back of a truck is definitely a two person job. But maybe one of those hitch mounted ramps systems... I feel more farkle coming on.
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