Glen Run Trail First Ride

I just got my first ride in on the new trails in the Glen Run Nature Preserve. It's located basically between Delaware Water Gap and Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania across 611 from Glen Park in Stroudsburg. The preserve has existed since 2015, so this is some pretty fresh stuff. The particular path I took was about 3.6 miles with a total elevation gain of 734 feet. The first mile from the trailhead on Route 191 is mostly climbing.





The trail is mostly singletrack, with a smattering of jeep roads. There's nothing too technical here, beside an occasional log rollover, and some sections of the singletrack are swoopy and fun. Note that as of this post, trail signage is not yet in place. Perhaps the map above will help.

On the ridge looking South

Back to the North, you can see East Stroudsburg University over my shoulder 

It's really great to see the trail scene growing around the Poconos. I think we're in for a renaissance of dirt riding perhaps.

April (snow) Showers

Mother nature has really jammed on the breaks regarding Spring this year. There were roughly five snow storms since I last posted on DWR in February. The last one squeezed in on April 2nd.

April 2nd snow... noooo

This was coupled with the rapid approach of the unofficial beginning of the Spring/Summer season: Bike 'n Brew with Edge of the Woods Outfitters. I was set to lead the 16-mile ride and I had barely rode at all during this not-so-young 2018. I mean outdoor riding, not just trainer "riding" (and I haven't been doing much of that either).

Finally, the mercury rose on April 12th, just two days before Bike 'n Brew, and I logged just my 2nd ride of the season. This was definitely my ride to shake the dust off, fitness-wise. I did 13 miles on the McDade: Hialeah to the park HQ and back.

DWGNRA HQ with the big rubber

The taco truck gets a gravel outing

I certainly had some rust to burn off. My legs creaked and burned for the first 20 minutes and my breathing was way off, but all this is akin to the fiddleheads making their crunchy emergence from the dirt and dried leaves of last Fall. Warmup ride accomplished.

Map of the Thursday 13-miler

Saturday for Bike 'n Brew brought the best weather you could ask for. It topped out at 85 degrees and was blazingly sunny. While the 16 miles from Shawnee Resort to the HQ and back kicked my ass, it went better than expected. The post-ride beer from Shawnee Craft was highly refreshing.

I only snapped one photo, too busy being "in the moment", as they say. There were about 150 riders this year, the largest collection yet of dirt rollers for Bike 'n Brew ready to kick off the season. I'll post the map for the ride below.