32 km point-to-point - Hilltown to Holland

Today's ride was quite a bit longer than yesterday morning's short 5 km circuit. It was time to visit my in-laws and what better way to get there than by bicycle. True, I actually enjoy these roads in my Chevrolet Optra⁵ being a retired semi-pro hillclimb and rally car driver, but I do digress. I really enjoy riding my 07 Schwinn Voyageur GS XL, so that alone gave it precidence over mijn auto.

I wanted to get the opportunity to really give the bicycle a good break-in. I was hesitant before with taking any rides more than 10 km because I lacked a tyre repair kit, a pump, and a Deuter storage bag in which to place everything. I have since rectified this problem by stopping in and acquiring it all at Newtown Bicycle and Fitness in Newtown, PA.

View Larger Map

My wife and child were going to be attending the Pirates exhibit at the Franklin Institute with her parents and as such they would be heading over to their abode whilst I was still at work in my home office. It was decided that I would meet them over in Holland at their home in the early evening. I decided that this would be a great opportunity to really exercise the Schwinn. I know this route particularly well as I drive it via auto weekly for family dinners, but had never bicycled it. It is approximately 32 km from my traditional chosen start point of the Hilltown Fire Department Ladder 60 to their Cul-de-sac.

I would work from 08:00 to 16:00 and leave at that time allotting myself approximately 2 hours to traverse the distance and terrain as the route involves quite a few steep grades. This is all not to mention that I am not in the shape I used to be from my years riding behind me with my Raleigh. I can say that after more rides along the lines of this one I will lose those extra 35 kg I've unfortunately found myself carrying. Either way, onto the ride.

Taking the ride up the short hill that is Hilltown till the point at which it turns right onto New Galena is a non-issue, as the grade is not even noticed. New Galena for the purposes of this ride is a fairly flat road, albeit twisty at points with very little room for error as both sides of the road drop off into drainage ditches. There are also a few points during which the road narrows and due to subtle twists, larger trucks will use more of the road than they ought to which presents a possible danger for cyclists.

New Galena feeds into Barry Road, a short straight which connects to Sunset Rd/Railroad Road. This is a lesser travelled artery and as such is fairly flat relaxing top gear ride. Turning left onto Sunset/Railroad at the T-intersection brings up a point of which to take notice. The corner house on the left is an old farm house from the time of the American Revolution (possibly before) and it is beautiful if you're into older architecture.

Sunset Road/Railroad Road is the first real 'open' section of road sandwiched between a dense wood on the left and the Septa R5 railway on the right. This road is not too narrow, but one still needs to be cautious, especially as it curves to the right at the halfway point. Be aware of the traffic and take the lane around the curve due to driver visibility can be hindered. This is of course for the cyclists protection. At the end of the road where it meeds Main St. (Route 152), there is a slight incline but being as it is so short, a quick flick of the wrist to jump down a half dozen gears and it is almost inconsequential.

Our section of roadway is fairly short 300 m long straight on a slight downhill grade. Be cautious as the road is heavily utilised and while one lane for the first 250 m, splits into left and right turn lanes at the end. This route dictates a left turn so planning to get over at the 100-75 m mark is good advice.

Turning left onto Butler Pike (Route 202 N) allows for a quick burst of downhill speed and a fairly slow increasing grade for the next ¹/₂ km. There is an adequate shoulder at it is suggested to use it here as the road is overly trafficked and narrow at points. Be forewarned though as the shoulder is full of fine debris in brief sections but is easily avoided if the rider heeds caution and checks the upcoming sections of road.

For those who have hesitations on the busier roads, a brief respite arrives in the form of Hibiscus Drive to Lilac Lane by way of Clematis Way. This is a quiet suburban looking neighbourhood with little to no traffic whatsoever, just plenty of trees, grass and solitude.

Now the fun begins as Bristol Road approaches and is merged onto via a right hand turn. This is the overwhelming majority of this ride. A section lasting 15.5 km with undulating hills, steeper grades and narrowing sections of road with little to no shoulder at times. If paced correctly regardless of bicycle being ridden sans an inexperienced one on a fixed gear, this is a fairly enjoyable ride albeit relatively straight. There are places to stop at the midway point as it intersects with Route 611 (Easton Road) near not only a Shopping Centre, but a small strip of stores on the other side of Easton/611, as well as a petrol station on the left side. They do not complain if a sole rider walks his/her machine into the convenience store. I found this out as I made a brief stop for some Gatorade as I surprisingly don't own any mounted water bottle(s) yet. This is being rectified.

The second half of this leg of Bristol road proves to be a far less stressful one even though the peaks and valleys transition sooner, and are taller and deeper (depending up on your perspective). I found that due to the incline at certain places I was actually passing vehicles downhill and carries significant momentum uphill that it was a rather exhilarating set of transitions. Only once one cross Route 263 (York Road), do the hills get more tame and the ratio of downhill to uphill sections goes lopsided. With a couple of exceptions initially, the remainded of this leg is a slow and steady uphill ride finishing at Hatboro Road. A slight caveat needs to be stated as traffic can be busy here dependant upon the time of day during which this road is being traversed by a cyclist. Take the lane and take it early so as to allow ample time to position into the left turn lane.

Hatboro Road is a delightfully flat 2.3 km section of road passing by a newly established park immediately noticeable on the rider's right after turning off of Bristol Road. This is a nice flat road with few imperfections and exceedingly wide lanes. It is also worth mentioning that about 1.2 km into this leg a vast agricultural farm is viewable to the cyclist's left.

Tanyard Road appears at the first traffic signal at which the cyclist will arrive.

After turning right onto Tanyard Road one can expect a series of lightly rolling hills for a little over 1.7 km, with the latter part being mostly downhill, albeit slightly. Make sure to leave room for merging into the left turn lane.

2^nd Street Pike (Route 232) is a very short connecting road for the purposes of this ride but again, takes place in a more commercially populated area with a Wawa and Rita's Water Ice on the left and Cross Road Plaza with a multitude of stores including a supermarket on the right. The shopping centre also contains a road which is not documented on Google Maps, it is the first light to which the cyclist will come. This road is technically part of the outer drive of the shopping centre car park, but it segues into Upper Holland Road at the next traffic signal.

The Upper Holland Road/Middle Holland Road combination (as one feeds becomes the other) is the final 'long' leg of this journey weighing in at 4.1 km. The first 2.2 km of such is a steadily rising but constant grade climb. I found this to be the most trying section of the entire ride but not because of the grade as it is by no means the steepest. It is because it is a straight road which seemingly rises into the sky.

Upon reaching the summit of this road (designated by the passing of Florence Road on the rider's right) lets one know that the rest is downhill from here on out for the remaining 2.2 km overall. There are only two traffic signals remaining and both come in fairly quick succession.

The ride from this point out passes by Council Rock North High School reminding those cycling that they are definitely in Lower Bucks County, some 30+ km from where they started in Central Bucks County. One can proceed to finish this ride via turning right onto West Village Road and congratulating themselves on an enjoyable ride.

I completed this ride at a comfortable pace in approximately 1.5 hours at an average speed of 21.3 km/h. I enjoyed this route so much by bicycle that I am going to be making it every Saturday afternoon. If you see me on the road during this time, please feel free to say hello and maybe we can stop to chat for a few.

I hope readers of this blog and fellow cyclists find this somewhat informative. If you do this route and find pleasure in it, please let me know by responding here on the Bucks Bicycling blog.

My Early Cycling Years

I remember the first time I rode a real bicycle. I'm not counting those old banana seat kids bike bought from Sears by grandparents to replace the one I had with integrated training wheels. I was at said grandparents home and being that this was the central familial meeting place, there were usually several cousins over at any given time.

I don't recall as to whom it was to which the green three speed Schwinn belonged, but I do recall that I was roughly 5 years old when I first rode it. One must know that I was exceptionally tall as a child, due I believe to my Dutch genes. I do remember quite clearly that no one thought I'd be able to ride this teenager oriented machine given that my previous experience was rather limited. I loved the feel of three speed, even though I didn't understand gearing at the time. This was the beginning of my appreciation of bicycling.

Flash forward 9 years to the age of 14, circa 1987. Years had passed and I was still riding hand me down bicycles when all of my friends were riding brand new Mongoose and BMX style dirt bikes. I wanted to get a new bicycle, but was never into the whole dirt bike scene. I wanted a road bicycle, a sport one at that. So I went to what it now called (and maybe was called then) Bustleton Bikes and purchased my first real bicycle meant for serious riding. A Raleigh Record 10-Speed, 22" frame which in retrospect was far too small for my tall stature.

I used to ride this bike as if there were no tomorrow. It wasn't only riden to school every day, and to my friends houses on a very regular basis but was so well liked by my best friend at the time that he too went and purcahsed the identical model from the same cycle shop. We would bike together through the once beautiful Pennypack Park in Northeast Philadelphia. The asphalt bike paths led from the Far Northeast entrance(s) to the park to within 2.5 km from the Tacony Palmyra Bridge linking Philadelphia, PA to Palmyra, NJ. We must've ridden this path up and back 4 out of every 5 week days for a year. I would even get up at a ridiculous hour just to go ride to the park (7 km away).

Time progressed and I stopped riding with my friend, but I end up riding with my new best friend (now my wife) but even that ended abruptly once I acquired my driver's license. It sadly ends this way for many people, but I'm glad to see that this isn't the end. While I do not live in the city of Philadelphia where bicycling is a far more viable form of transport, I do live in beauftiful Central Bucks County and it has a bountiful supply of roads as well as trails.

Flash forward to current day. I recently was fitted for, and purchased a 2007 Schwinn Voyageur GS from Scooters Bike Shop in Souderton, PA. Needless to say I've returned home again to not only a mode of transport on which I used to depend soely, but I've returned to that mindset and community which for so many years I've considered family.

Well, that's enough writing for me tonight, I have to be up early as I have a 32 km ride in the morning from Holland, PA to New Britain, PA.