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...

There's a fire road over in Michaux State Forest named Dead Woman's Hollow Road.  It's tough.  I'll never forget the first time I rode up it with Mark.  It seemed impossible...but I just put my head down and pedalled. To this day...I always approach Dead Woman's Hollow with the mindset that "this hill will NEVER end."  As long as I do that...I don't get disappointed with each false horizon.  I don't hate the hill...actually, I love riding up it.  An incredible sense of accomplishment engulfs me each time I conquer that road. Taking a breather at the top of Dead Woman's Hollow Trail -- June 23, 2012 I've accomplished a number of goals and passed a lot of milestones while biking and hiking.  Most of them personal and relatively small...but each had their own special meaning to me.  Sometimes those goals are things I set out to do at the beginning of the calendar year...such as distances I want to ride or hike.  Sometimes I simply set...

Back in August, while visiting my family in my hometown of Bedford, Pennsylvania, I took a hike on the trails near the Bedford Springs Hotel ...the same trails that I use to explore as a kid.  I made a promise to myself that I would revisit the trails around the historical resort with my mountain bike as soon as possible.  The opportunity came around this past weekend when I travelled solo to Bedford to visit my dad who recently underwent knee surgery.   Pausing in front of an ice covered Davey Lewis' Cave. -- January 14, 2018 When I woke up in Bedford, PA on Saturday morning there was a fresh coat of snow on the ground and the air temperature hovered in the single digits.  Nevertheless, I pulled on the cold weather gear and headed out on my Stumpjumper for, what I estimated would be, an hour.  My ride Saturday would be a first for a number of reasons....it was my first ride of the new year, it was the first time I ever mountain biked in Bedford,...

Winter is a fact of life if you if you live in Pennsylvania.  The coldest and snowiest months tend to be January and February...but I've seen snow on the trails as late as mid-April.  I'm not a skier...and I'm not a fan of snow or cold...but I do like winter mountain biking. Without the foliage on the trees, it's possible see much more of the landscape, making the forests seem much more immense.  The frozen trails make the riding fast, fun, and downright exhilarating! Riding the Parkway Trails in single digit wind chills. -- December 28, 2017 Mark Lentz and I riding Gifford Pinchot State Park in full winter gear.  -- December 27, 2017 Years ago...when I first started riding...mountain biking was seasonal for me.  I rarely (if ever) hit the trails during the winter months.  As my passion for mountain biking grew...so did my desire to keep turning the pedals no matter what time of year it is.  I've always had limits to what I would rid...

This past week really has been "like Christmas" for me.  Mark and I both have the week off for Christmas vacation and, even though the wind chills have been in the single digits, we've managed to get out on our mountain bikes for a couple of very cold, but equally amazing, rides...both of which were in locations I had never ridden before.  Two super cool, and unexpected, presents. The intersection of Old Farm Trail and Ridge Trail at Gifford Pinchot State Park. -- December 27, 2017  That's been a theme for me in 2017.  Since April, when I was cleared by my doctor to begin riding my bike again, I've mountain biked in six new places:  Codorus State Park, Stony Valley RR Trail, The Parkway Trails in Harrisburg, Tuscarora State Forest, Gifford Pinchot State Park, and even in the City of York.  Over the past eight months I've also revisted trails that I haven't ridden for almost a decade...like the York County Heritage Rail Trail and Ohiopyle State Park...