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Biking in the Brandywine Valley: Hills, headwinds and Hurricane Ida’s wrath

Wow what hills. And what gorgeous scenery. Two days of bicycling in the Brandywine Valley southwest of Philadelphia.

Wow, what hills. Not really long, and only a brief moment of 12% grade. But non-stop. Even when the route looked flat on a map, it was still small ups and downs throughout our Brandywine Valley routes. Tour de Pines this was not! Perhaps my hardest two days of riding this year?

We pulled our routes for two days off Ride With GPS, so you really never know what you are going to get. These were fabulous — nearly 44 miles from Chadds Ford north, then west, then back through Kennett Square, the mushroom capital, and skirting south back to Chadds Ford on day 1, and straight out of our hotel — the Inn at Mendenhall — north past Longwood Gardens, then looping south into Delaware and then back north to the hotel for 34 miles and change on day 2. Parts followed Pennsylvania Bike Route L (a north-south route from near Binghampton, N.Y., to Delaware) and Delaware Bike Route 1, another north-south route.

I’ve found another 5-star trail on the East Coast Greenway — this time in D.C.

There’s a fantastic newish trail that takes you into Washington, D.C.

Back when I biked from Annapolis to Alexandria, Virginia, along the East Coast Greenway in 2014, the route to Washington, D.C., relied on the Northwest Branch Trail. Today there’s another option, and I think it’s even better.

This is the Anacostia River Trail, which runs along the eastern side of the Anacostia River, which feeds into the Potomac River, and crosses back into D.C. nearish to the Capitol. There’s more on the western side (some still under construction) that goes past the old (soon to be demolished?) RFK Stadium and near the pro baseball and soccer stadiums.

Tour de Pines 2021, day 4: I’m in love with Belleplain State Forest

We venture even further south in New Jersey to a rare area where people are relatively scarce.

The final ride of the 2021 edition of Tour de Pines may be my favorite yet: so much time bicycling on quiet roads plus my first time in gorgeous Belleplain State Forest. Who would have expected all this in the most densely populated (and can I say most congested?) state in the U.S.?

Tour de Pines 2021, day 3: The hunt for the Jersey Devil

We looked hard. What we found instead.

Oh I looked for the Jersey Devil on this 51-mile ride on the Tour de Pines, particularly around Leeds Point, the eastern-most part of our route and its alleged birthplace.

No luck.

Tour de Pines 2021, day 2: Historic Whitesbog Village plus Potato the baby pig

A tale of immigrant New Jersey deep in the Pine Barrens.

We aborted this bike ride after nearly 5 miles (I’ll spare you the explanation, but all is fine — we’ll find another day to ride the 52 miles, maybe a bit less, and finally see Chatsworth, the heart of the Pine Barrens).

On the other hand, I had time to explore historic Whitesbog Village, once New Jersey’s largest cranberry farm and a place where they apparently treated their workers better than the rest. It also was home to Elizabeth Coleman White, who developed the blueberry cultivar we eat today.

Tour de Pines 2021, day 1: Cranberries and ice cream sandwiches

We biked nearly 50 miles in southern Burlington County.

This is my third year exploring New Jersey’s giant Pine Barrens ecosystem and preserved open space, thanks to the Tour de Pines bike rides organized by the Pinelands Preservation Alliance. It’s back as group rides this year, though over four days instead of the five pre-COVID.

Hurricanes Henri and Ida ripped up the D&R Canal towpath

I dreaded seeing the damage from Henri and Ida. What a mess.

The remnants of Hurricanes Henri and Ida walloped New Jersey in August and September, and the D&R Canal towpath was smack in the path of both. The Millstone River flooded, Canal Road flooded, all kinds of major roads flooded … it was not pretty.

I dreaded seeing the damage to the canal towpath (also part of the East Coast Greenway).

We finally biked the section from Trenton to Princeton after Sunday’s big rally for the Essex-Hudson Greenway. Here’s what we found:

Let’s get the Essex-Hudson Greenway built!

Gov. Murphy, commit to building this trail!

Today we joined the tail end of a bike ride from Newark to Trenton to tell Gov. Murphy that we want an old railway line turned into a 9-mile trail connecting Jersey City and Newark — the two largest cities in the state’s most densely populated counties — and on to Montclair.

My awesome bike summer — make that my awesome bike year

This essay for Rails to Trails is my thanks to my neighborhood — especially the kids — for the highlight of my COVID year. May it bring a few smiles or, better yet, inspire you in some way.

Zeba, I hope you one day bike all of the East Coast Greenway and you’ll let me ride with you part of the way.

This bike ride hits just about every beach in Cape Elizabeth, Maine

A scenic through Cape Elizabeth and beyond.

You know how you swipe someone’s ride off Ride With GPS or similar and it’s … not what you hoped it would be? Not this one!

We picked it because it went past a friend’s house and the mileage — about 34 miles — was right. One word: fabulous. A lot of quiet roads, roads that dead-end at beaches, roads with generally respectful drivers (and when they came a bit too close, odds were the cars had out-of-state plates).

Did we miss any beach?

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