ALL TRAILS LEAD TO ICE CREAM

Sunday morning rides are often my favorite.  It sometimes seems as if I am the only person awake.  Because of this, I will often ride into, through, and around York City . An amazing morning for a bike ride.  Church road looking back towards the Emigsville exit of Interstate 83 -- August 30, 2015 Today's ride  took me out of Manchester and straight down the Susquehanna Trail towards York City. Like any other city, there are parts of York City that I normally avoid.  However, on Sunday morning, most of it is fair game.  Coming into the city I turned onto Beaver Street and passed  Central Market .   On the corner of Beaver Street and Market Street is the spot where the headquarters  of Revolutionary War general  "Mad" Anthony Wayne  once stood.  General Wayne made his headquarters here in the spring of 1781.  The old iron lamp post attached to the M & T Bank building on the site today is original and was attache...

Often, when I ride out Codorus Furnace Road, I see a road off to my my right that wanders south over the hills near Starview.  I've always wondered what it was like...but I never rode it simply because I was on a mission to to go somewhere else.   Well, today my mission was to ride it.  Again, with limited time, my goal was to get at least a fifteen mile ride  in.    The Codorus Creek near Central York High School.  A great put in spot for rafting or kayaking--August 29, 2015 Most of the time, when I ride, I shuffle the music on my phone.  Not today.  For some reason I loaded up Springsteen's The River  album.  The music just seemed perfect for my mood.  This morning I crossed the Codorus Creek near Central York High School. This section of the creek is one of York County's hidden secrets.  Often times you will find cars parked along the bridge.  It is a great put in for rafting and kayaking.  Thi...

The big event of the day was the Van Halen concert tonight at  Hershey Park Stadium .  Alex and I have had tickets for the show since the beginning of the summer.   My son has been pumped to see Van Halen with David Lee Roth as front man.   So....if I wanted to ride  Michaux  today with Tim and Chris we knew we would have to stick to a tight time frame.   It was a nice surprise when I picked up Chris and he told me that a buddy of his, Chip, was going to ride with us.  Chip is just an all around great guy.  He is an assistant principal in  Spring Grove  school district.  He's fun to hang out with, he's fun to talk to, and, for someone who doesn't get to ride as much as he wants, is a heck of a mountain biker.   Chris and met Tim and Chip at our usual meeting place in East Berlin and headed out.   As always, because I am a creature of habit, we parked at the  Furnace Stack pavilion  section of...

The humidity is gone and the weather was perfect for a ride into Central Market  in York City today. From my house in Manchester it is only a six mile trip into  Central Market  so I took a round about route that adds some miles and some fun.   The Colonial Courthouse on West Market Street in York, PA.  8-22-15 I came into the city today from West Market Street and passed the  York Colonial Complex  on the  corner of West Market and Beaver Street.   The main building in the complex is the  Colonial Courthouse .  The building that stands here today is a reproduction of the original courthouse that was destroyed by fire in the early 19th century.  During the Revolutionary War, the  Second Continental Congress , in exile from Philadelphia, met in the courthouse in York, PA.  It was here that the  Articles of Confederation , our countries first plan of government, was adopted.  York County's copy of the...

The mountain biking gods got together today and arranged it so that I could squeeze in a  ride with Chris Keller  this afternoon at  Rocky Ridge .  I really was on a time crunch so we tried to get in as much as we could.   Today we decided to stay up on top of the park and not do a lot of climbing.  With the temperature in the 90s again I was just fine with that. Chris and I estimated that this black snake was about 4 feet long!  It was so big that I honestly thought it was a branch laying across the trail. Our ride today was only six and a half miles.  The view from the top of the park  was amazing.  The highlight was the four foot black snake I ran over on my Stumpjumper.  I honestly thought it was a branch lying across the trail until I saw it move in my peripheral vision as I rode across it.  Let it be known that I HATE SNAKES.  I must be getting better because I was willing to get off of my and go back to tak...

The 90+ degree weather couldn't keep me off of my bike after school today.  After meetings all day at school it was just what I needed.   I must have been in a hurry because, for the first time in my life, I took off without my helmet!  I noticed it about a quarter of a mile from the house when my shadow looked odd.   One of the most prominent features of the Manchester, Mount Wolf, York Haven area is the huge stack that lets out steam from the coal generated power plant at Brunner's Island.  I use it for every road ride.  It is a good way to gauge which way the wind is blowing...and how hard.   Steam from Brunner's Island can be seen from almost anywhere in York County!  It is a great way to gauge the direction and speed of the wind. I knew for the start of  today's ride  that it would be tough coming home with a head wind coming strongly from the southeast.    Despite the heat and the wind the views today were fabu...

The best part of living two minutes away from  Northeastern Middle School  is that I am home from work by 3PM each day.   That means after school rides are easily fit into my daily routine.    My ride  today also was an errand to  Zirkle's Garage  to pick up the keys to my son's car.  If the most direct route is taken, Zirkle's Garage is only a six mile round trip.  I was able to turn it into an eleven mile ride.  With the temps today hovering around 98 degrees that was plenty long enough. David A. Raymond//August 17, 2015

The first time I rode  Potapsco Valley State Park  in Maryland I was not a a good frame of mind.  It was a turning point in my life.   It was also the last ride I had with one of my very best friends, Mark Lentz, for a long time.  That was the year 2009.   It's going to be a great day for a ride. 8-13-15. After a rough patch, I finally got my life and my back together, Mark and I are much better friends than before, and Potapsco is still a fun place to ride.  At least I think so.  I felt a little bad on the way down when Mark mentioned that he would have rather gone to  Michaux.   I think that we were both pleasantly surprised today.   After a few "hike-a-bikes" we ended up  riding a lot of hilly and twisty single track.   Some of which we have never ridden before.  Even though the trails are color coded it is easy to get lost because, until recently, the Maryland Park Service made you purchase trail maps t...

With two separate doctor appointments today I knew that this mornings ride  wouldn't be a long one.  That doesn't mean that is wasn't fun. Orchards on top of Starview Road.  In the distance you see Three Mile Island on the left and Brunner's Island on the right. Even though Starview Road is a category 4 climb I enjoy starting a ride with it.  The view of the Susquehanna Valley at the top of Starview Road is one of my favorites.  Looking through the orchards in northeastern  York County  you can see  Three Mile Island nuclear plant  and the  Brunner Island  power plant.    Rolling though the farm fields of the area I headed towards the Codorus Creek at a spot  The Codorus Creek just feet before it merges with the Susquehanna River. right before it merges with the Susquehanna River.  The road makes a sharp left at the creek and turns into River View Drive.   A nice stretch of flat bicyclin...

I actually had no intention of riding my bike today.  The weather man had been predicting a washout.  I had planned to sit a home and work on an on-line course.  I also planned to take a break in the middle of the day to go to  Central Market  in downtown York, PA.   Central Market building in York, PA.  Picture taken from Philadelphia Street. Central Market in York, PA.  Picture taken from Beaver Street. Well...the weather man got it wrong and the skies cleared up nicely by 9 AM.   So....naturally, instead of driving my truck into the market I decided to  ride my bike  there.   My main reason for going to the  Central Market  in York was to visit  Kramer at Market .  You see, Kramer's has become a vital part of my life.   Quite the selection to choose from at Kramer at Market. Central Market in York, PA Parking my bike at Kramer at Market Fifteen years ago I was ...

Today my  Specialized  Roubaix road bike took me on a scenic  ride through northeastern York County and along the Susquehanna River.   When I left the house this morning I had in mind that I wanted to do one thing....whatever else I did determined on where my bike took me.  The one thing I wanted to do was ride River Drive.  River Drive is as short road along the Susquehanna River between  Cannas blooming on the York County banks of the Susquehanna River. 8-10-15 the  Accomac Inn  and the top of Furnace Road.  I always enjoy riding through Mt. Wolf and Saginaw, PA.  Both are quaint little towns in the school district in which I teach.  Once through Saginaw you will cross the Codorus Creek and the  Codorus Furnace.   The furnace was built in 1765 by William Bennet on a 150-acre tract of land that was purchased from the Penn family.  In 1771, it was purchased by  James Smith , a signer of the  Decl...