Power Line Trail

Today, I took my second bike ride of the year. Having logged so many miles on my first ride, I upped the ante and aimed for a 70 mile ride this time out, and fell just a a few miles short of that goal. I started the ride retracing the route I used in 2006 to reach Willow Grove Park, a mall my company owns in the northern suburbs of Philadelphia. Repeating this route provided good perspective on how much stronger a rider I've become in the last four years, as well as the effectiveness of the hours I spent riding in gym over the winter. What in 2006 was a late-season half-day trek to reach Willow Grove Park is today a warm-up early-season ride that is but a launching point for explorations in lands beyond.

I rode north along the Schuylkill River and up through Wissahickon Gorge for about 13 miles. Even though I've since found an easier route, I stayed true to the 2006 course over two hard hills along Thomas Road. I thought I'd have to divert from the route when I saw road construction signs and barriers indicating a bridge over Wissahickon Creek was out, but I was able to walk my bike through the construction zone without any difficulty. Riding through a suburban neighborhood, I saw one girl in her Easter dress hunting Easter eggs. Approaching Willow Grove my adherence to past decisions, again, took me up an avoidable hill. I stopped to rest and recharge in a public park opposite the mall

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Continuing on, I followed some busy roads into to Hatboro and found my way to the Warminster regional rail station, my furthest point from Philadelphia. Zigzagging in a westerly course, I reached the southern trailhead for the Power Line Trail, a short paved trail in Montgomery County. This trail is one of the few in the area that I had not ridden. I wanted to check it off my list early in the season.

At the end of the that trail, I joined the course of an ambitious 2007 ride which reached all the way to Doylestown. Riding in the opposite direction along Limekiln Pike I reached Maple Glen. The recommended lunch stop, a pizza joint, was closed for Easter, which I thought a good thing, but it led me to decide it was time head back to Philadelphia, though it was not yet 1:00 PM. My route back took me through Ambler. I rode a couple circuits along the side streets in the lovely small town before continuing south. I crossed over the same out-of-commission bridge--this time to avoid those two hills on Thomas Road--to get back to Wissahickon Gorge for an easy downhill ride back in to town.

Lots of Pink and White Blossoms throughout the ride. These Cherry Blossoms line the Schuylkill River in Fairmont Park

It's no secret how the Power Line Trail got its name.

Ambler Theater in downtown Ambler

First signs of spring along Forbidden Drive is Wissahickon Gorge

Statistics
Length: 66.2 miles
Ride Time: 6 hours 30 minutes
Total Time: 5 hours 49 minute
Avg. Speed: 11.9 MPH
Max. Speed: 31.7 MPH
Avg. Cadence: 59 RPM
Cumulative Ascent: 2700 ft.
Max. Elevation: 504 ft.