Uh… still getting the hang of this thing… Here’s what I meant to say along with the pics…
I’ve been road biking for a while (53 year old guy here) and decided to try a new challenge. I got out my nearly 30 year old (and seldom used) Jamis Citizen hybrid bike that feels like driving a cement block compared to the Giant carbon fiber road bike I usually ride, strapped a bunch of newly purchased cheap-o gear to it and took off!
Saturday morning I got on the [Delaware and Lehigh Trail](https://delawareandlehigh.org/) at the Cementon Trailhead, had lunch in Jim Thorpe, left the trail at the Tannery Trailhead, biked over to the Hickory Run State Campground, and camped for the night. Sunday I came back the same way. It was ~55 miles each way.
I was blessed with gorgeous weather, my old bike held together, and my old body held together too. I was pretty well prepared for my first trip – largely thanks to stuff I’ve picked up right here on Reddit, which I only started with recently too – see, I’m doing all sorts of wild stuff in my mid 50s!
The trail winds along an old railroad bed by the Lehigh River through a very picturesque landscape. The Lehigh Gorge area is particularly lovely. The outbound leg was a gradual ascent until I left the trail and headed to the campground. Wow, those hills along Route 534 were brutal. That last 4.5 miles was more taxing than the previous 50. But the return trip on Sunday was then mostly downhill.
The number one thing I forgot to bring was Tylenol. I didn’t sleep well because my body was aching and I’d probably had too much caffeine (iced teas at lunchtime) during the day. Sunday morning I picked up some ibuprofen at the camp store and felt much better. Plus I made some tweaks to my saddle position that helped a lot.
I’m certainly going to want to acquire a new bike to continue this hobby. I’ll bet I can find something easily 15 pounds lighter than ol’ Blue but, hey, she worked. Saving up for that next year.
No_Ant_5064 on
This is awesome! I live near the Delaware canal section of the trail, and I ride it frequently. This summer I finally rode the entire D&L trail up to the black diamond trailhead and I loved it. In my opinion, it’s a criminally underrated trail and think it should way higher on the list of beloved bike touring trails. Only downside is there’s tons of closures and they really don’t address them at all, some of these closures have been around for years! They’re bypassable but it takes some preplanning. Hey, maybe if the trail got more popular, they’d find the funds and the will to fix it
soccerperson on
Mans living in 3025 with the bar bag on the inside instead of outside the bars
3 Comments
Uh… still getting the hang of this thing… Here’s what I meant to say along with the pics…
I’ve been road biking for a while (53 year old guy here) and decided to try a new challenge. I got out my nearly 30 year old (and seldom used) Jamis Citizen hybrid bike that feels like driving a cement block compared to the Giant carbon fiber road bike I usually ride, strapped a bunch of newly purchased cheap-o gear to it and took off!
Saturday morning I got on the [Delaware and Lehigh Trail](https://delawareandlehigh.org/) at the Cementon Trailhead, had lunch in Jim Thorpe, left the trail at the Tannery Trailhead, biked over to the Hickory Run State Campground, and camped for the night. Sunday I came back the same way. It was ~55 miles each way.
I was blessed with gorgeous weather, my old bike held together, and my old body held together too. I was pretty well prepared for my first trip – largely thanks to stuff I’ve picked up right here on Reddit, which I only started with recently too – see, I’m doing all sorts of wild stuff in my mid 50s!
The trail winds along an old railroad bed by the Lehigh River through a very picturesque landscape. The Lehigh Gorge area is particularly lovely. The outbound leg was a gradual ascent until I left the trail and headed to the campground. Wow, those hills along Route 534 were brutal. That last 4.5 miles was more taxing than the previous 50. But the return trip on Sunday was then mostly downhill.
The number one thing I forgot to bring was Tylenol. I didn’t sleep well because my body was aching and I’d probably had too much caffeine (iced teas at lunchtime) during the day. Sunday morning I picked up some ibuprofen at the camp store and felt much better. Plus I made some tweaks to my saddle position that helped a lot.
I’m certainly going to want to acquire a new bike to continue this hobby. I’ll bet I can find something easily 15 pounds lighter than ol’ Blue but, hey, she worked. Saving up for that next year.
This is awesome! I live near the Delaware canal section of the trail, and I ride it frequently. This summer I finally rode the entire D&L trail up to the black diamond trailhead and I loved it. In my opinion, it’s a criminally underrated trail and think it should way higher on the list of beloved bike touring trails. Only downside is there’s tons of closures and they really don’t address them at all, some of these closures have been around for years! They’re bypassable but it takes some preplanning. Hey, maybe if the trail got more popular, they’d find the funds and the will to fix it
Mans living in 3025 with the bar bag on the inside instead of outside the bars