Here's the description from the Bicycle Club of Philadelphia ( BCP ) newsletter: Saturday, February 26 - Lehigh to Nockamixon. Class B, 15 mph, 50 miles, fairly hilly. We start on the beautiful, overly- manicured campus of Lehigh University and head through some quiet, bucolic, but hilly back roads to Lake Nockamixon and beyond. Possible snack & drink stop, but not much opportunity for food, so bring some power bars. Meet at the parking area in front of Stabler Arena at 9. From Philadelphia, take your favorite route to 309 North, then bear right at 378 to Bethlehem. After you go under 78, follow the signs to Stabler. You will turn R onto Black River Road, then left at the T onto Bingen, which becomes, at the light, Mountain Drive South. Stabler will then be on your right. Turn R into the campus, and park near the soccer fields in "Lot F". About one hour from Center City. Leader: David Johnson, 610-828-3708 or david.johnson@lehigh.edu Maps to the start, and maybe the cue sheet when I get around to it, will be online at http://www.lehigh.edu/dlj0/rides.html
Now, that is not entirely correct. This time of year, I don't think I can manage 15 mph for 60 miles. And that brings up the other error. When I finally got a chance to preview the ride, it turned out to be 60 miles rather than 50. On the other hand, I did discover a restaurant on the route, almost exactly half-way around. If we get there after 12:00, the restaurant should be open. It's a bit chi-chi for us, but they'll probably let us in. I may warn them about our arrival, but that might just give them an opportunity to insist that we wear ties and take off our cleats.
But the ride itself is really pretty. The lack of sanitary facilities along the way is more than made up for by the long stretches we will be riding through forests. There are some significant hills, but nothing gut-wrenching. The steeper ones are short. The longer ones are not steep. There are only a couple of stretches (we have to use 611 for about a mile, and Allentown Road for a few miles) that have significant traffic.
Like most BCP rides, there is the required gravel stretch. Most of the roads are good, though. I cut out the one ford I had originally planned, since when I designed the route (this was part of my ``Zen and the art of bicycle maintenance'' course's final-exam century) I previewed that route in my car, which I did not trust to make it across the ford. It's a little cold for that, anyway.
Here is a map to the start.
Here is a map of the route. It's not too good, since my machine barfed on converting thw whole image to a color gif. So, it's black and white.
Here is my cue sheet.
Here is a link to the weather.com weather forcast. We obviously will cancel if it is raining, or very likely to rain/snow , or if the roads will be icy (not likely), or if our fingers will be freezing onto the bars.
Rather than taking the time to e-mail me to say you are coming, we have, through the miracle of modern technology, on-line pre-registration. Juse enter your name, e-mail address, and telephone number in the spaces below.
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