press pedals again
printing tracks over rail trails
riding writers roll
--haiku by John Gearan
The BRATS, Ride 2
From the summer's lush greenery of the C&O Trail, the Bike-Touring Adventure Team Supreme turned in autumn to the blazing yellows and oranges of the Northern Central Railroad Trail and the York County Heritage Trail.
A week after the presidential election, this ride offered little slices of America condensed into a 42-mile path from Ashland, Md., to York, Pa., and back again. There were roosters and goats and horses and sheep, several sled dogs, barns and houses with the reddest of roofs, and countryside both stark and verdant.
Oh, and gnomes. And more gnomes. And more gnomes. And Rock Babies.
Suzanne, Darlene and Delores couldn't make it this time, but rookie rider and ringer Lara along with trailer-king Brian filled out the team most admirably.
And once again, we went a bit overboard in our multimedia documenting of this trip. Some of us, especially on the first day, spent as much time taking pictures as we did pushing the pedals.
As Lara notes on our crazyguyonabike journal, one of the best parts of the ride was getting to know people you work with often but rarely talk with beyond the Just The Facts stuff.
We also learn that Washington and New York can, in fact, not only co-exist peacefully but even have fun and great results while doing it.
And we find that photographers can write stirringly (check out the aforementioned crazyguy), writers can photograph beautifully, wine gurus can write poetry on a par with their pictures, word editors can piece together video clips in an editorly sort of way, and source reporters can get the gnews even from gnomes.
Thanks to ride organizer John Dunbar, who spurred us all into action even during post-election exhaustion, and to lodging and dining coordinator Anne Gearan.
The riders: John Dunbar, Paula Froke, Anne Gearan, John Gearan, Brian Hansen, Gerald Herbert, Lara Jakes Jordan, David Pace, Marsha Rhea, Erica Werner, Cal Woodward
Photos by Gerald Herbert, John Gearan, Paula Froke and Erica Werner.
BRATS do Northern Central and York Heritage rail trails from Paula Froke on Vimeo.