biking out to valley forge.

i know i've mentioned several times on the blog that i ride my bike frequently; i ride to work and class every day, and occasionally ride on the weekends longer distances. it's difficult for me to make time (sometimes 4 hours) to go for rides, but i'm trying to make a better effort, especially after buying a new road bike last year. philadelphia has amazing trails for cycling; riding out to valley forge national park is definitely one of my favorites. there's a trail dedicated solely for cyclists and runners, and you can take a 2 mile gravel path through the woods to get to the beginning of it. a couple of friends, bryan, and i left monday morning for our ride; it was over 85 degrees!

here's us as a group - kevin, amanda, bryan, and jon.

here's the "tow path" that goes through manayunk. it's through woods, and along the river - absolutely gorgeous.

i found this little guy on the path. it looked like he was trying to make his way to the water, but was blocked by that giant inflatable pipe in the background. wildlife sighting #1!

there were tons of baby ducks (geese?) all over the place. we stopped to take a couple of pictures, and the mama bird was not happy.

here's my "outfit". the jersey is from twin six, and yes, bryan and i have matching ones. i'm not sure where the shorts are from, and i'm wearing vans. i tried clipless pedals but they're just not for me. i keep forgetting to clip out and end up falling over.

if you're in the area and looking for a ride, you can check out the map of the ride here. it's about 55 miles round trip, but you can definitely make it shorter if you're a beginning rider.