Levittown

Last Sunday, I rode to the Pennsylvania incarnation of Levittown. After, Artur Levitt & Sons constructed the original mass produced suburb on Long Island, they started a second project in Pennsylvania northeast of Philadelphia. Having passed through the Levittown train station numerous times on my way to and from New York, I thought it would be a great biking destination.

Setting out at 9:00 AM, I used the new bike lane along Pine Avenue to reach Columbus Avenue. At Columbus Avenue along the Delaware river, I began a long segment northeast directed segment. Sixteen miles and an-hour-and-a-half later, I final exit Philadelphia at one of its extreme northeast points. Dropping in to Huntington Valley, I rode east, including a very brief pass back through part of Philadelphia. On Brownsville Road, at about the northernmost point on the ride, I enjoy a rapid descent on a smooth room, followed by a quick bust up the other side of the gulch. Once through Langhorne, I crossed into the snowball section of Levittown.

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Levitt planned the development in 41 individual section, with few connections between them. Major roads, which I presume pre-existed, criss-cross the development. Within each section all the road begin with the same letter. There are no four way intersections. Today, the development houses about 50,000 people. On a bike it's easy to appreciate how large it is.

I turned away from my GPS and tried to navigate from the western edge to the central-southeastern edge that housed the original commercial center, Levittown Shop-a-rama, which was recently demolished in favor a modern power center with Walmart, Home Depot, and Ross. I lost my since of direction and took a more southerly route than I would have liked, but managed to touch at least 11 different sections, taking a nice long break in the park between Cobalt Ridge and Quincy Hollow. The later was the nicest section through which I rode.

Leaving Levittown behind, I found the towpath trail along the old Delaware and Lehigh Canal, which took me in to Bristol, an old town along the Delaware River that I explored in more detail. Outside of Bristol, I maintained a steady pace into the teeth of a stiff wind out of the southwest. My circuitous routes rarely accommodate long steady rides. I appreciated the chance to test my endurance.

Back in Philadelphia, I found a short trail around Holy Family University that led into Eden Hill Park. Trying to hop a curb on to a trail in the park a caught my front gears on the curb. I'm still not sure the long to consequences, but with a little on the spot tweaking did I keep in bike in semi-working order. I had to ride with lower gears than I would have liked, but I made it home. Starting in the 9500 block of Torresdale Avenue, I stayed on the same road all the way to the 1800 block where it became Erie Avenue, which took me in to North Philadelphia for the last section of my ride.

Statistics
Length: 75.7. miles
Ride Time: 7 hours 52 minutes
Total Time: 6 hours 32 minute
Avg. Speed: 11.6 MPH
Max. Speed: 34.0 MPH
Avg. Cadence: 58 RPM
Cumulative Ascent: 2300 ft.
Max. Elevation: 284 ft.