July 2009 century #2: Lunch in Towanda, PA

Wildflowers along Rt 34
I'd done a century in the first week of July, but I was hoping to get in 18 centuries this year, so knew I had to do at least a couple more this month. I decided to do one on Wednesday July 22. The weather looked good, and I thought I'd be ready.

For the route, I decided to retrace part of the route that Lucas and I took to Virginia. The first part of Pennsylvania's Bike Route J was really nice, so I traced a route following J down to Towanda, then coming back on a road I knew nothing about but that looked bikeable from the maps, PA Rt 187 through Rome up to Nichols, then Halsey Valley Rd to Spencer and back into Ithaca on 34. It was about 119 miles, longer than a century, but what the heck, the more miles the better! And it doesn't look like I'll get to do a century and a half this month like I did last July.

Map of the Towanda century route:

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I took off on Wednesday morning at about 8am. The winds were pretty mild that early, it was sunny, but not hot. I rode along Rt 34 out to Spencer where I stopped. My time to Spencer was pretty slow, on previous centuries I'd managed averages above 15mph, this time I only made a bit more than 13mph.

Then I saw that the pizza place I usually stop at was closed! Man did they have a good breakfast pizza... I got some chewy granola bars and gatoraid at the gas station, and continued to Van Etten, then down to Waverly along the very flat section of 34 that goes along Carpenter/Cayuta Creek. And as I rode along here, I saw the that Dandy Mart south of Lockwood was closed -- that was the site of my broken seat post on the October STBC century ride last year.


Susquehanna from the Athens bridgeThen it was on through Waverly, past the Sopranos Bakery, across the state line into Sayre, where Bike Route J starts. I followed it through Athens, turning onto the bridge across the Susquehanna. I would cross that river four times during this century ride.

The next section of the route, Sheshequin Rd, goes from Athens all the way to the bridge at Towanda. It's a very pleasant ride, much of it along the Susquehanna. The road has no shoulders, but very little traffic. The terrain is rolling, with one significant climb, maybe 12 percent, followed by a very nice downhill. The first part of Sheshequin is through forests, then it comes out into farmland.

The bridge into Towanda was still under construction, so I had to ride in the lane -- no shoulder -- but again, not a lot of traffic at all. Once in Towanda I looked for a place to have lunch. Lucas and I had stopped at the first pizza place we'd seen, and while the waitress was very nice, the pizza wasn't great. Then I remembered that as we were driving home from Norfolk, through Towanda, I'd seen another pizza place closer to downtown. And there it was, Papa V's. I got a couple of slices and sat outside at a picnic table, they were very good.

I continued on through Towanda, turning left onto Rt 6, where I left Bike Route J, but joined Bike Route Y, which follows 6 on and east-west route across the state. After a few miles on 6 -- not very pleasant, heavy traffic, not much of a shoulder, through a strip area with hotels, shopping plazas, fast food joints -- I turned onto Rt 187 at Wysox.

I'd never ridden or even driven this road, so it was a bit of a gamble, but it went from outside of Towanda 20 miles or so up to Nichols. The terrain view of 187 on Google maps looked good, it followed a river valley. And the road it self turned out to be great. Nice shoulders, not much traffic, very flat the first half of the ride. After Rome it got a bit hillier, and there was one climb, but nothing major. Then there was a big long downhill to just before Nichols (PA 187 turns into NY Rt 282 at the state line)

At Nichols I was ready for a break, I was at the 80 mile mark -- the entire ride was about 119 miles -- and it was in the 80s. So when I saw "Dad's Ice Cream" I pulled over, got a strawberry milkshake and a Pepsi, and sat in the shade while I finished them off. Then it was back onto 282, across the Susquehanna for the last time, and onto Rt 17C. I was back on roads I'd ridden many times before.


Susquehanna RiverAt Tioga Center I turned onto Halsey Valley Rd, which I really love, winding, a bit hilly, through forests mostly, it's a very pleasant, low traffic ride. I did get hit with a bit of rain, but nothing serious. Then back to Spencer where I stopped at the grocery store for water and gatoraid. And I was at mile 100 right in Spencer.

The last 19 miles back home were great. Rt 34 back into Ithaca is overall pretty much downhill, with a few uphill sections, but it was a fast ride, very pleasant, and I got home at about 4:40 or so. Not bad. But my average, 15.48mph, was down from previous centuries with similar amounts of climbing. I think the touring I've done this summer has been a different kind of riding than what I do on my road bike, and my muscles have trained in a different way. Well, I have a month to whip them back into shape before Bike Tioga!

I think this is a route I'll probably do again, maybe riding 187 from north to south to see how big of a climb it is going southward. I'm thinking it might be a good alternative touring route to Sheshequin Rd, which, while beautiful, is a bit more rolling than I'd like on a fully loaded touring bike.

One more century this month, sometime next week. Not yet sure of the route.

Route: Ithaca - Waverly - Towanda - Nichols - Ithaca
Total distance: 119.53 miles
Ride time: 07:43:18
Avg speed: 15.48 mph
Total climb: 4,131 ft
Low point: 394 ft, Ithaca
High point: 1258 ft, on Rt 187 north of Rome
Avg climb: 36.56 ft/mile