Pedal Power

   I had mentioned a couple of times previously that Sue and were looking for an e-bike for her. She was doing some longer rides during our stay in Rochester this summer, and I asked her, if fitness and hills weren't a consideration, what type of distances she would consider riding.

   There are plenty of routes that I do regularly that I know Sue would enjoy, and I thought, with a little boost, she might be able to join me a little more regularly. I also mentioned to her some of the longer rides and the fact that being able to do them at a little quicker pace would reduce time in the saddle.

   So a bicycle with more of a road setup became the priority, but we also considered a bike with some flexibility, maybe with mounts for a rack and wider tires for gravel trails. Because she enjoyed a test ride on an Orbea e-bike with pedal assist, we came up with the Bianchi e-Impulso Allroad, essentially the electric version of the bike I recently purchased. This bicycle had the same motor as the Orbea and had all of the flexibility features we had discussed.

   Normally we wouldn't consider a Bianchi that wasn't celeste, but we really aren't the "his and hers matching bikes-types", and the black and silver color scheme looks pretty slick. We also had real trouble finding the bike in an extra small size, and this was the only one available anywhere!

   It is going to take a bit of trial and error to find the maximum range at the desired power output, and we had a real taste of what that might involve during a recent trip to the shore. We had set out on a 40-mile loop from Stone Harbor, down to Cape May and then out along the Delaware Bay side of the peninsula to return.

   This route is practically pan flat, except for the steep bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway, so we were doing a fairly consistent pace of about 18 mph. With the pedal assist, Sue seemed to be handling that speed fairly comfortably, but as she had mentioned a few times, "It's not like you are just taking a ride on a moped - you are definitely pedaling!"

   Light rain started about 25 miles into the ride, and we decided to cut the ride short, but we didn't quite escape a drenching. Unfortunately the power started to fade shortly after our decision, so Sue was forced to pedal the 30-pound machine back to the house, completely unassisted, in the pouring rain.

   A couple weekends earlier, we had a Saturday with spectacular weather, and we put out trail bikes in our Fit to head out to the Enola Low Grade Trail. I had heard that the re-decking of the 1560-foot-long curving steel bridge at Safe Harbor had been completed, and was itching to check it out. I had been to this trail many times in the past and dreamed of being able to one day ride high over the Conestoga River on this structure.

   The bridge did not disappoint! 9 million dollars of locally donated funds were put to excellent use, affording wonderful views 140 feet above the Susquehanna River gorge. A couple of binocular stands were installed to exploit the vantage point, and construction of the concrete decking included a couple of glass panels, through which viewers could look down into the Conestoga River and the labyrinth of steel beams supporting the bridge.

   Amazingly, we found out that repairs to the Martic Forge Trestle had also been completed last autumn. The previous wooden deck and railings on the bridge had been destroyed by arsonists in 2018, and the detour to connect the two isolated sections of the trail involved a rather unpleasant 150-foot climb in each direction. Wisely, the new decking was made with concrete and the new railings with galvanized metal.

Sue pedals high over the Pequea Creek on the new trestle deck 

   We had equally spectacular weather when five members of my regular crew joined me for the annual Tro-Bro Brandywine ride last Saturday. Many of us noticed that what once was about a 50/50 proportion of asphalt and gravel roads has "improved" to about 60/40, but we weren't sure if all of the involved roads had actually been resurfaced, or if the gravel had just been scrubbed clear over time from weather and traffic.

   We had some unexpected company along our route when we found the Marshallton "Triathlon" was taking place around Northbrook, Bragg Hill and Unionville/Wawaset Roads. This is more of a fundraiser than competitive event (760 participants - three of the top five were over 60), involving a downhill bike ride to Northbrook Canoe for a rowing trip down the Brandywine's West Branch, a walk back to Northbrook and finally the ride back up to Marshallton.

   Near the start of our ride, we briefly shared the road with walkers, and at the end of our ride, we shared the road with cyclists, but other than a few clueless walkers, no one seemed to mind that we were there. The area seems to have events planned every other week, and I think folks are used to occasional having to share space.

   Otherwise the day was full of the normal beautiful scenery, as well as the suffering on over 2500 feet of climbing. I told my friend Dan, who is good on ascents but was not used to the quantity of hills in this relatively brief circuit, that it probably would have been more fun with company that was out of shape!

Thanks for snapping the photo, Steve!

   The Bianchi Camaleonte (C-Sport 3) is now officially on the market. Below are some photos of the reconfigured bicycle, and you can find the full spec sheet on the For Sale page.

   We're going to do something a little different for this year's Turkey Trek, starting at Riverfront Park at the end of Haws Avenue in Norristown. Our leisurely-paced, 42-mile loop will start on the SRT into Philadelphia, but then, at the Art Museum, we'll follow the bike lane on Spring Garden Street to reach the new bike path at Penn's Landing. We'll work our way south to Spruce Street and cut back across the city on the bike lane there. Along the way we can check out a couple of my favorite little streets in Society Hill and Rittenhouse Square. The MLK Drive bridge is being repaired, so instead we'll weave over to the west river trail on some bike-laned streets and make our way back towards Manayunk for the return on the SRT. Please join us, and feel free to ask a friend or two!