Riding in Pennsylvania

[Sarge]

Well, it's that point in my life again where the government is telling me I have to move, and this time it's to PA, just a dozen or so miles north of Phillidelphia.

Any CSC'ers familiar with the area at all? Any decent routes or racetracks out this way? I haven't yet found a house or even picked a neighborhood yet, but I might be pursuaded to pick a town near a decent track should one be available .

From what I understand so far however it's fairly flat out that way, but the closer I get to the big cities (Philly, NYC, etc) the highways and traffic get rediculous, but I imagine there might be decent highways and the like closer to the Great Lakes and north and/or east of the state.

Anybody here familiar with this area at all? Grow up this way, have friends/family etc? I'm actually driving up there this weekend to look at houses and check out the area, and while the bike is back in Colorado (and needs new tires) I wouldn't mind checking out a route or two.

Any info is much appreciated.

[JKOL]

From what I have seen of PA, especially the Pittsburgh area, it is far from flat. Its not the Rockies, but its far from being flat like eastern CO. Housing $ are much better than CO too.

[longrider]

I have never been there but this makes it look interesting. While they dont go as high as the Rockies there are plenty of great roads throughout the Appalachians and Pennsylvania is on the northern end of that range

[Filo]

From what I have seen of PA, especially the Pittsburgh area, it is far from flat. Its not the Rockies, but its far from being flat like eastern CO. Housing $ are much better than CO too.

I grew up out there, in Langhorne - 35 miles NE of Philly. Housing isn't what I would call much better than here price wise. Median property values in my home town are $334K in 2009. Median property taxes are $3991 which is about 2X the rate here in Fort Collins.

On to the roads... Once you get outside of the cities, there will be a lot of very scenic twisty roads (as long as scenic is corn fields/deciduous forests). It is pretty hilly, but not mountainous. There is a seam of mountains that runs from the southwest to the northeast corner of the state. I suppose they are part of the Appalachians, but they are called the Poconos. (Unfortunately, there are many asshat New Yorkers who now live there and commute to NYC, which is one reason I left in 1990.) If you head up into the Pocono mountains, it gets more hilly. You can have plenty of fun riding on those roads. Unfortunately, suburbia has spread like a cancer and you have to ride further and further out to get to places that are less populated.

I assume from your description you are going to Warminster and the NAS Willow Grove. If so, head up 611. Once you get to Lake Nockamixon, jump on 412 and head towards Bethlehem. You can head north from there and explore Nazareth, Bath, Palmerton, Lehighton, etc. Pocono raceway used to be up that way, but I have no idea if it still is. It takes about 1 hour to make it to Bethlehem from Willow Grove. If you want a pretty return drive, head over towards Easton and hop on 611 again. You can take that back to Willow Grove OR jump on River Road (32) and keep going down the Delaware. Beware - the closer you get to New Hope/Lambertville the more and more stupidly congested it will get. If it is the weekend, don't go towards New Hope unless you have a lot of time or patience or both. If you have lots of time, you can also head up to the Delaware Water Gap and explore up there to. There are lots of good roads to ride in the area, but unfortunately you will have to go at least 1 hour north of Philly to get to them. Also, PA is dotted with all these little nothing roads that were cart tracks that got paved. Very twisty, very small, lots of trees close in. My friends and I would do amazingly stupid things in vehicles on those roads as teenagers. They would be fun on a motorcycle too.

Western Maryland/West Virgina is also very hilly and nice, but that is a much longer drive.

[Ghost]

I was in Cherry Hill NJ/Philly when my company relocated me out there.


Tracks:

New jersey Motorsports Park is a very nice newish track that's close to Philly (1hr), Beaver Run Motorsports Complex is out way out west by Pittsburgh (6hrs), Watkins Glen in NY is about 4hrs away, VIR is 8hrs.

If you're in the area of Beaver Run head North to the Kinzua Dam area of the Allegheny National Forest in Warren County, Pennsylvania, basically just south of the WNY border. It has some funnish roads and relatively light traffic.

[sciroccojoe]

i grew up near reading. i know this road is there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYoA6IdXv4c

i however didnt have a bike in PA so i cant tell you how nice it is to ride. but really just go anywhere and you'll find twisty forested roads everywhere.