The SBT is on vacation this week in the wilds of
Pennsylvania, specifically the Pocono Mountains. To be really specific the Poconos are not a
mountain range, rather a plateau region of the Appalachian Mountains. Mountainous or not the Poconos are a popular
destination for vacationers. An easy
drive from New York City, Philadelphia and most of the Northeast region, the
Poconos are Pennsylvania’s largest tourist attraction. Each year over $15 billion is spent in the
area by tourists. Most of the state’s
largest vacation resorts are in the Poconos and at one time it was the place to
go. That is until the Depression
hit.
At the turn of the last century a brand new railroad network
brought city dwellers to the wilderness.
Awaiting the urbanites were a series of lavish hotels and getaways. For a
generation the great hotels thrived until the Crash of 1929. Beginning in the 1930s the hotels began to
burn down. The fires were an epidemic
afflicting the region during the 1930s.
Not to point fingers but when times were good nothing caught fire. When the bad times came the places went up in
smoke. When the interstate highway
system was completed in the 1960s the all new Pennsylvania Turnpike began to
bring people back to the Poconos.
That turnpike brought the SBT to the Poconos. We picked a nice day and took a bike ride but
it wasn’t the round bar bike and road ride that we are accustomed--it was a
mountain bike ride. Hey, when in Rome…
A number of small bike shops in the region rent the fat
tire, flat bar machines and they provide shuttle rides to the top of a
mountain and let you loose for a ride back to town. The bike shop the SBT selected offers 10,
15, and a 25 mile rides along long-abandoned rail lines. The old railroads are everywhere in the
Poconos. At one point in time this was
coal country and for a generation the “anthracite boom” provided the coal that
powered American factories. The boom
went bust in the 1970s and slowly the railroads that moved the coal from the mines
to the cities closed. One such line was
the Delaware and Lackawanna Railroad.
Today it’s the D&L Trail and it was the 25 mile mountain bike ride
enjoyed by the SBT. When one thinks of mountain biking the brain
conjures images of hopping rocks, jumping tree roots and fighting off hungry
bears and salivating pumas.
The D&L Trail is a flat, packed cinder path with a slow
downhill grade with views of a flowing Lehigh River, green rhododendrons, and
tall cedar trees. The SBT passed some elderly
pedestrians with grandchildren in tow.
On occasion the only danger may come from the local indigenous timber rattlesnakes. They tend to venture out on to the trail and
in the warm sun they fall sound asleep.
The 25 miles took the SBT 3 hours and 18 minutes to
complete. We rode at a slow 8 mph. Once back to the bike shop it was short walk
to a large pizza and cold beer.
Please visit our website at www.stickybottleteam.net for a new
promotion from our friends at Performance Bike.
No comments:
Post a Comment