| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
60.87 miles
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Max Speed:
19.10 mph
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Time: 05:41:39
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Avg Speed:
10.69 mph
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Bike: Rans Screamer Rd Bent Tandem
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Club: 'BentRider Recumbent Club |
| Weather Conditions: Cool, cloudy and foggy start with temps in the upper 60s. Clearing mid ride to partly cloudy and temp in the mid 70s. Winds light and variable. |
Ride Description: Allegheny River Trail-Franklin to Emlenton, Pa. We arrived here in Franklin, Pa. last night and are staying at the very nice Comfort Inn. Last night we at the McGinnis Pub which was in the basement of a grand old mansion here on Liberty St. This morning we ate the hotel breakfast and took off about 8 am. We rode the side streets for the 1.5 mile trip to the trail head which is just over the bridge on the other end of town. The morning was cloudy and a bit foggy but visibility was not bad. We headed south and rolled along on a near perfect surface of newly paved asphalt for a few miles. Then older asphalt which was still mostly smooth the rest of the way. The trail runs along the Allegheny River and we were treated to lovely vistas of forest, hillside, and river views. Three inch long millipedes appeared every so often crossing the trail which looked like sticks moving across the trail. Numerous chick-monks scurried in front of us as well as rabbit and groundhogs. We spotted a number of mule deer along the hillsides and on the trail. Lots of flickers, geese, ducks, and one heron flying low over the river were seen. Many trailside information signs dotted the trail giving the stories of the oil drilling legacy of this area. Now all that is mostly gone and nature has reclaimed the land. About 5 miles in we approached Belmar where the trail crosses the Sandy Creek Trail. Here a large bridge trestle crosses the river and carries the Sandy Creek Trail to the other side. We continue on for few more miles where the trail pavement ends and we had to walk almost a mile on a gravel road around an area where the trail has been blocked by land owners. On this road we passed many small houses and met Penny and Nickel, two friendly dogs and their owner who stopped us to chat for a few minutes. Then finally back on to the paved trail and a few more miles where we encountered our first tunnel of the day. This is the Kennerdell Tunnel. An old railroad tunnel 3800 feet long. We had our LED bike light which we hoped would light up our way but turned out to be insufficient. I suggested Marilyn use her EVO's flashlight app to supplement our lighting and this worked well. The pavement in the tunnel is flat and smooth and has reflectors on the edges and down the middle. This is what we used to navigate. We walked into the quickly darkening tunnel and soon were unable to see the other end. This was quite spooky at first but eventually as we continued to walk on through we got used to the darkness. After a while we began to see a glow in front of us and this was the other end. It turns out there is a turn at the end of the tunnel which precluded us from seeing the other end until we were close to it. It was quite a relief to ride out into the warm sunlight at the other end and continue o n out way. A few more miles down the path we hit the Rockland Tunnel which is 2800 feet long and also had a kink at the end. We were now pretty used to walking these cool, damp, tunnels and eventually we got back on the bike and worked our way into Emlenton. Here we stopped for lunch at the new restaurant (really the only restaurant) in town. An elderly lady came out of the front door and asked us if we had ridden the trail. She asked us in and we parked and went inside. She sat down at the next table and took our order after chatting for a few minutes about our ride. After a nice lunch we headed out and back on the trail for the return trip. We loved reeling in the miles back to Franklin along the tree lined trail. Back through tunnels and walking the connecting road we remarked about what a fine adventure this had been. We finished up back in town by hitting the local ice cream place the locals here call McDonalds.
Today's route may be found here:
http://g.co/maps/34r2p |
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Allegheny River Trail-Franklin to Emlenton, Pa. We arrived here in Franklin, Pa. last night and are staying at the very nice Comfort Inn. Last night we at the McGinnis Pub which was in the basement of a grand old mansion here on Liberty St. This morning we ate the hotel breakfast and took off about 8 am. We rode the side streets for the 1.5 mile trip to the trail head which is just over the bridge on the other end of town. The morning was cloudy and a bit foggy but visibility was not bad. We headed south and rolled along on a near perfect surface of newly paved asphalt for a few miles. Then older asphalt which was still mostly smooth the rest of the way. The trail runs along the Allegheny River and we were treated to lovely vistas of forest, hillside, and river views. Three inch long millipedes appeared every so often crossing the trail which looked like sticks moving across the trail. Numerous chick-monks scurried in front of us as well as rabbit and groundhogs. We spotted a number of mule deer along the hillsides and on the trail. Lots of flickers, geese, ducks, and one heron flying low over the river were seen. Many trailside information signs dotted the trail giving the stories of the oil drilling legacy of this area. Now all that is mostly gone and nature has reclaimed the land. About 5 miles in we approached Belmar where the trail crosses the Sandy Creek Trail. Here a large bridge trestle crosses the river and carries the Sandy Creek Trail to the other side. We continue on for few more miles where the trail pavement ends and we had to walk almost a mile on a gravel road around an area where the trail has been blocked by land owners. On this road we passed many small houses and met Penny and Nickel, two friendly dogs and their owner who stopped us to chat for a few minutes. Then finally back on to the paved trail and a few more miles where we encountered our first tunnel of the day. This is the Kennerdell Tunnel. An old railroad tunnel 3800 feet long. We had our LED bike light which we hoped would light up our way but turned out to be insufficient. I suggested Marilyn use her EVO's flashlight app to supplement our lighting and this worked well. The pavement in the tunnel is flat and smooth and has reflectors on the edges and down the middle. This is what we used to navigate. We walked into the quickly darkening tunnel and soon were unable to see the other end. This was quite spooky at first but eventually as we continued to walk on through we got used to the darkness. After a while we began to see a glow in front of us and this was the other end. It turns out there is a turn at the end of the tunnel which precluded us from seeing the other end until we were close to it. It was quite a relief to ride out into the warm sunlight at the other end and continue o n out way. A few more miles down the path we hit the Rockland Tunnel which is 2800 feet long and also had a kink at the end. We were now pretty used to walking these cool, damp, tunnels and eventually we got back on the bike and worked our way into Emlenton. Here we stopped for lunch at the new restaurant (really the only restaurant) in town. An elderly lady came out of the front door and asked us if we had ridden the trail. She asked us in and we parked and went inside. She sat down at the next table and took our order after chatting for a few minutes about our ride. After a nice lunch we headed out and back on the trail for the return trip. We loved reeling in the miles back to Franklin along the tree lined trail. Back through tunnels and walking the connecting road we remarked about what a fine adventure this had been. We finished up back in town by hitting the local ice cream place the locals here call McDonalds.
Today's route may be found here:
http://g.co/maps/34r2p
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