Pogwatigue Perambulations: Perkasie

I didn't plan on taking a long ride last Sunday. I was out of town for the previous three weekends. Though I did complete a respectable ride from Niles to South Bend, I had not completed any over 50 miles since my Levittown ride in early April. Additionally, I wanted to reprise my leisurely Saturday with a relaxing Sunday. I didn't really want to take a ride at all, but since I had not been out for so long I dragged myself from bed--twice--early in the morning so I could complete a 30-40 mile ride before Noon. Once on the bike, I began to contemplate a few far-flung goals. Twelve hours after leaving my apartment, I returned having ridden 107 miles, my first century of the year!

I started north through Fairmount Park into the unwelcome melee of some organized race, not a good beginning. After being directed like cattle through the teeth of the staging area, I continued up through Wissahickon Gorge and out of Philadelphia proper, where my ambition gear clicked in, "I've already ridden this far, I might as well try to make Souderton." Souderton is a town more than halfway to Allentown. My brother lived near there for a few years. I almost reached it in 2008 and it was on my list for 2010.

Thirty miles out, I connected with Limekiln Pike, which I would ride for another eight miles as close to a due north direction as you find in Pennsylvania. You can make good time, when you don't have to think much about navigating. North of Chalfont, I passed Peace Valley Road, which reminded me that there was park of the same name in the area I wanted to see. A short while latter I took my first rest in that serene park surrounding Lake Galena.

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Outside Peace Valley Park, I climbed to 630 feet above sea-level, among the highest elevations I ever reached starting from sea-level Philadelphia. Then I began a wonderful long coast down PA-313. At the bottom of that run, I reached the most northerly point on the ride--the most northerly of all rides save NYC--and turned left in search of the Liberty Bill Trail, which I followed all the way to the Perkasie Dairy Queen for refreshment.

After that second rest, I sought out some areas I remembered from earlier visits to see my brother, St. Agnes Church, his old condo complex, and the towns of Telford and Souderton. I was sixty miles in to the ride and really beginning to feel my limits and the heat of the day, but I was confident the Perkiomen Trail, a shady, level and shady path connecting with the shady, level Schuylkill Trail all the way to Philadelphia, lay just a few miles to the west. Eleven-and-a-half miles and a few too many climbs later I finally reached the deceptively distant trail.

I pressed on to Lower Perkiomen Park with one stop at Wawa for provisions (water and energy bars). After a final rest in that park, I started the final leg. Despite the number of miles behind me, I managed to force myself to maintain above normal speed for a pretty good stretch--9.5 miles from Valley Forge to Coshohocken. After one more, much shorter run, to brought me near Manayunk, I no longer cared about style. I just wanted to be finished, but that mindset did not prevent me from appreciating the ride through Fairmount Park just before sunset.

Statistics
Length: 106.8 miles
Ride Time: 10 hours 17 minutes
Total Time: 12 hours
Avg. Speed: 10.3 MPH
Max. Speed: 31.1 MPH
Avg. Cadence: 54 RPM
Max. Elevation: 641 ft.