Rail trail praised by Greenway Sojourn bicyclists

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JERSEY SHORE - Camping out four nights and bicycling four days, the more than 250 participants in the 2009 Greenway Sojourn unanimously praised the 62-mile-long Pine Creek Rail Trail.

Most bicyclists stuck it out, though, despite a torrential downpour one late afternoon and evening, and intermittent rain throughout the rest of their July 23 to 26 trek.

Stan Winikoff, a lawyer from the Pittsburgh area, called the event a "summer camp for adults." Indeed, most of the bicyclists were in that category as ages ranged from 7 to 89.

Their physical conditions also varied considerably, but as Jodi Larison, of Nyack, N.Y., said after the group's first-day ride of 36 miles to the village of Cedar Run, "anyone could do this trail of any age or ability."

Riders came from more than 20 states to be a part of the roughly 130-mile round trip expedition along Pine and Marsh creeks from Jersey Shore to the northern terminus just above Wellsboro.

They pedaled from Jersey Shore to Cedar Run (36 miles) the first day; up to the northern terminus near the intersection of Routes 287 and 6 (33 miles) the second; back down to Cedar Run the third; and then finished back to the Jersey Shore southern terminus by late morning-early afternoon on July 26.

Aside from their main experience of bicycling along Pine and Marsh Creek valleys, some early arrivals enjoyed a July 22 afternoon "warm-up" ride to the Woolrich Outlet Store, led there by members of the Williamsport Bicycle Club. That night, after registration outside Jersey Shore Area High School, most of the 250 set up their tents and camped in the field by the school's parking lot.

Most participants camped all four nights, enduring the extremely heavy rain Thursday evening in Cedar Run. They also had to put up with some light to moderate downpours Friday and again Saturday night. Just a few of the bicyclists "wussed out," according to one proud-to-be-among-the-non-sissy campers, opting on one or more nights to stay in hotel or motel rooms.

Greenway Sojourn support trucks carted the participants' camping equipment to each night's site, so riders didn't have to be loaded down with tents and other gear. They had nothing to do but cycle freely, easily and casually, enjoying all the region offered them. And they had a lot to say about what they experienced.

"I thought the flowers were just fantastic. To see all the yellows, the blues and the pinks - it just amazed me," said Bill Grun of Bucks County, the oldest rider at age 89. "And since I can't really ride that fast, I have the chance to really see the flowers."

A retired public school teacher, Grun still teaches shop one day a week at the Central Bucks Middle School, calling that day "the best day of my week."

Riding along with him were his daughter Margaret and his 12-year-old granddaughter Lindsay Kibben. Margaret is a captain in the Navy Chaplain Corps.

"This is the realization of a dream for me," Grun said. "I wanted the three of us to do a trip like this, and now Lindsay is old enough that we can."

Josie Schelling, the youngest rider at age 7, said, "I rode all 36 miles today on a bike by myself."

Her favorite part about the four-day adventure was "the ice cream," which she enjoyed quite a few times, including at McConnell's general store in Waterville, at the Cedar Run general store and at the Pago-Mar Farms Market at the northern terminus. Josie's 9-year-old brother, Costin, liked the river best of all.

Their parents, Paul Schelling and Kate Hughes, said it was the fifth Greenway Sojourn they all had participated in since the organized rides began in 2002. On their first, "Josie was in diapers," Hughes said.

The family lives in Corning, N.Y. Schelling called their bicycle rides together "relaxing and enjoyable family experiences where we get to push our limits just a little bit doing things we didn't think we could do."

Richard and Peggy Whittaker of Pottstown have been on all seven sojourn rides. An orthopedic surgeon, Whittaker had a total hip replacement five months ago. His wife, Peggy, is a trail ambassador for the Schuylkill River Trail.

Three physicians from Bethlehem came and rode together - a gastroenterologist, a cardiac surgeon and a cardiologist.

"This is the first time we've tried one of these," said Jim Boylan, the gastroenterologist. "We're just casual bikers. It's a beautiful area. The hills are so much bigger than we have near us.

"It's a very interesting and eclectic group of people on this ride," he added. "My wife doesn't bike. In fact, none of our wives do, so we're having a boys' weekend out, with our wives left at home."

Quite a few teachers were among the 250 pedal pushers.

"The great thing is that you meet lots of people, and you keep running into those that you've cycled with before," said Wayne Cassel of Mechanicsburg, a retired Messiah College mathematics professor who was on his 16th organized bicycle tour.

"The great thing that happened to me up in the canyon above Blackwell was that as I was coming down the trail all by myself, a deer was right directly across the trail," he said. "I stopped and it looked at me and said, 'hi,' and then it meandered off."

Sue Hilton of Franklin teaches mass media and journalism at Clarion University.

"The people on sojourns are always happy and cooperative and they care about trails and riding," she said.

"Riding through such calm, pretty scenery ... it's just relaxing, and everything is so green. And we saw several bald eagles," said Louisa Stone, a retired English professor at Bloomsburg University.

"It's fun talking to the people, hearing what their experiences are," added her husband, David. "This is our first sojourn, but we've done bicycle tours in Ireland and Canada and we're the organizers of the Tour de Bill in Williamsport."

Rev. Judith Simonson of Artemas and Sue Owens of Gambrills, Md., rode together. They had just met the morning of the first day's ride.

According to Simonson, they decided then to ride together because they had come alone and because they admitted to each other that they both were "slow" riders.

Simonson taught high school mathematics until 1980, when she began her second career as a Lutheran minister. Owens has retired from her career as a middle school home economics teacher.

Simonson said that a real highlight of her ride "had to be seeing that wonderful, fully mature bald eagle perched on a tree across the river, er, creek, Pine Creek. He just sat there like he was posing, while we took pictures."

Owens said she was "totally impressed with the mile-after-mile of beautiful mountain scenery. Just to hear the birds and that sound of Pine Creek after coming from living in a residential city area was just wonderful."

Lorraine and Tom Jackson of Gettysburg said their highlight was seeing all the snakes.

"This was the first time I've ever seen a timber rattler, and we got to see our fair share - more than 15 of them between Friday and Saturday," Lorraine said.

Other wildlife sightings included a black bear seen by Marc Gardella of Bronxville, N.Y. He spotted it just south of Blackwell.

Vaughn Nissley of Elizabethtown saw "two little baby raccoons."

Naomi Hess of Leola "almost ran over a salamander."

"We (saw) a skunk, almost ran over it, while going through one of them gates. It smelled," said Stuart Levengood, an 85-year-old retired painter and paper hanger from Boyertown.

"This is a lot of fun, but you gotta like to ride a bike,"?he added. "If you don't like to ride bike, it ain't fun. It rained every day, but that didn't bother me."

Riders were fortunate to see a good number of bald eagles during their trip.

"They were spectacular," said Maria Esparraguera of Sea Girt, N.J. "I'd never seen anything like that, enormous, like out of a picture postcard, just unbelievable!"

Esparraguera's bicycling companion was Tina McCrea of Mountainside, N.J. Friends since their student days in the 1970s at Allegheny College, this was their third Greenway Sojourn together.

Ron Abraham, a forester who manages about 28,000 acres of state forestland in western New York, also is trail manager for the southern portion of the Genesee Valley Greenway.

"Being a trail manager, it's nice riding other people's trails where you have all the pleasure and none of the headaches,"?Abraham said. "This Pine Creek Rail Trail is great."

Others also had high praise for the trail, too.

"It's so doable. All you have to do is get out and do it," said Nancy Wickman of western New York state. "It's got something for everybody. It's a great experience."

"I've done rail trails all over the country, but this one is certainly in one of the best conditions of any," added Sidney Wolfson of Pittsburgh.

The 2009 Greenway Sojourn along the Pine Creek Rail Trail was a resounding success. No major problems or injuries occurred.

And, a lot of folks who had never been on the trail before left with outstanding memories and, no doubt, a determination to return in the future.

The event is organized and sponsored by the national Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. In addition, the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and Mendocino, California's Fetzer Vineyards, were co-sponsors.