Today's ride was originally part of a planned two-day out and back.. the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail is a 19 mile trail that connects with the Heritage Rail Trail in New Freedom PA...
I started in New Freedom and made my way south ... the hill is mostly downhill going south so I was able to cover a lot of distance without much effort... I knew that it would be harder on the way back as I'd be traveling uphill on my return trip...
The trail passes over several roads, but most of them are either access roads or country backroads and as such don't have a lot of traffic to worry about ... signage reminds bicyclists to walk their bikes through the intersections... but few do...
The last major stop on the trail is the depot in Monkton MD... there are restrooms and a series of benches at the depot ... the depot is open weekends in the summer and there appears to be several businesses moving in as the season ramps up ...
The trail continues another six miles south from Monkton... I chose to turn around at Phoenix MD ... which is now just really a parking lot and trail access point...
The ride back north was slower because of the uphill grade ... its not bad in this section but ramps up the last 8 miles of the northern end of the trail ...
Just as the ride was getting harder the sky grew dark ... and without much warning it began to rain ... then hail ... by the time I got my rain gear on I was soaked... I pressed on even though it was riding up hill in the rain and on trails that were essentially now river beds ... the last 7 miles took me about an hour ... eventally the rain quit and the sun struggled to come back out ...
I had a good ride despite the sudden turn of weather ... my bike has never been so muddy ...
39.5 miles 3:58 minutes total riding time ... elevation change of about 650 feet (mostly at the northern end)
