ALL TRAILS LEAD TO ICE CREAM

My first option is ALWAYS mountain biking.  It's my passion...but, especially during the late winter months, not always an option.  The days are too short and, most likely, the local county parks are closed to mountain bike riding because of the conditions.  Due to the limited daylight hours, and the distance needed to travel, the local state parks are still out of the question for afternoon mountain bike rides.  Normally, if mountain biking is off of the table, I'll default to my road bike.  Unfortunately, during this time of year, snow and ice and winter muck tend to creep onto the Pennsylvania roads.  Along with the rock salt and gravel spread across the asphalt by PennDOT, road cycling, in my neck of the woods, becomes sketchy (at best) during the winter months. Out for a road ride with my mountain bike in York County, Pennsylvania. -- February 8, 2018 Ten years ago, during this time of year, I would have hung up my bike and just went jo...

As a kid, I loved snow days...they were a chance to hang out with the kids in the neighborhood and earn a little extra cash by shoveling sidewalks.  As an adult, I'm typically not a fan.  I like school, I like my job, and I like my summer vacation (which snow days eat into).  Last week, Mark and I were both taken by surprise when we received the call from our school district cancelling school for the day because of the weather.  We had talked the previous evening about the possiblity of a day off...and even decided that, if school was cancelled, we would get out and ride...but neither of us really expected it to happen. Mark and I pausing at the top of Reservoir Park overlooking York City before descending down the hill and wrapping up our snow day ride. -- January 30, 2018 Mark was already at school before he knew we had the day off.  To keep things easy (and relatively safe) I met him at his house in York City...figuring we could do a little urban...

  I discovered my love and passion for mountain biking when I moved to York County, Pennsylvania in 1995.  That love and passion was born and nurtured, in no small way, by the availability of nearby parks that provided me with the opportunity to ride.  With multiple State and County Parks, providing miles and miles of trails, York has become a main destination for mountain bikers in South-Central Pennsylvania.  Here are just a few of my favorite places to mountain bike in York County! ROCKY RIDGE PARK Trail Rating:  INTERMEDIATE/DIFFICULT Probably the most popular mountain biking destination in York County, Rocky Ridge (located northwest of Hellam) offers 750 acres of forest and over 12 miles of fun, technical, and challenging mountain bike riding.  This York county park features a multitude of rock gardens and super cool trails with names like Broken Arrow, Rusty Chair, and The Gut ...just to name a few.  On the most challenging of the t...