Philadelphia is close, only about an hour and a half away from New York by car, and about 2 hours away by bus. Before moving to New York a little over 3 years ago, I was in Philadelphia for about 5 years. It was cheap and slow. Cheap to live, cheap to eat, cheap to drink, and the pace of life is a much different speed than New York. I go back frequently to ride some of their amazing mountain bike trails, catch up with good friends, and explore parts of the city that I never paid enough attention to. This time we went far Northeast to check out some trail systems in a strip of a park system called Pennypack park. This strip of park system follows Pennypack creek from Meadowbrook PA, down to the Delaware River. Coming up from deep South Philly to ride here was such a trip as the neighborhoods change so drastically through the 15 mile ride, from poor neighborhoods, to regular neighborhoods, to small business districts, to expensive neighborhoods, to downtown, and then it just keeps changing. For visual learners like myself, it’s such a treat to be able to see how drastically neighborhoods, housing, income levels, and road conditions can change so much in just 15 miles.
Pennypack park is nestled between an interesting section of Northeast philly, with the ability to pop out of the park at multiple points to go to the closest strip-mall, bodega, or methadone clinic, it’s amazing that spaces like this exist within such urban sprawl.
I stayed with my good friend and contributor, Ryan Filson the night prior and caught up. Had some laughs on the way up, a good cup of coffee, and met up with our other good friend Bob Myaing, aka CorkGrips, and headed further north into a great day with some great people. I also learned downside skids that day:
All photos outside of the slider gallery by Ryan Filson.
