Pat's, Piazza's, and not much else (January 22nd - January 29th)

I jumped the gun a bit in the last post, because although January 22nd brought me within the Philadelphia limits, it did not quite bring me to Pat's Steaks. I actually made it to Pat's on the 23rd. Since I now live in Chicago, Pat's was a very special treat indeed. I've become very accustomed to the cheesesteaks from Philly's Best (which are excellent by the way), but those don't compare to the original. I had two whiz withouts with mushrooms, with fries and a diet coke. It took a while before I hopped back on the bike, but eventually I continued riding and made it to Conshohocken, PA for the night. On my way there, I crossed the Wissahickon Creek. Hat tip to my buddy Phil, who used to live in the Philadelphia area and told me about Wissahickon. There is a work by Edgar Allan Poe called "Morning on the Wissahiccon." Poe spent the most prolific years of his writing career in Philadelphia, and apparently loved the natural beauty of the creek. I can't claim to have read the story, but apparently it is all about how most people take the main road and miss the beauty of a place like the Wissahickon. Hopefully, my ride will take me off of the main road quite a bit to discover similar hidden gems.

C - (Not quite Pat's) Philadelphia, PA
D - Pat's Steaks
E - Conshohocken, PA

On the 24th, I rode into Phoenixville, PA. There are a couple of interesting things about Phoenixville. First off, they have something called the Firebird Festival every year where they burn a large wooden phoenix to celebrate the "rebirth" of the town. Apparently, it used to be a big steel town, but the local steel plant closed down in 1987, and the last decade or so have seen the town come back strong.  The second thing that really interested me about Phoenixville is that it is where Mike Piazza grew up. As a Mets fan, that makes it a very special place. Mets fan or not, you gotta love this Piazza moment #murica. Phoenixville was so darn nice that I stayed for an extra night.

D - Phoenixville, PA
E - Spring City, PA

The 26th through the 29th took me through Spring City, Elverson, Narvon, and Leola, PA. Each one was a little more remote than the last. This is something that I considered as I started my trip. Sometimes I might go days, or even weeks without coming across anything too interesting to write about. In those cases, I'll do my best to find some hidden gem, or I'll just keep things brief. This is a case of keeping things brief. There will be more to do and talk about on the 30th.

The road from Philadelphia to (almost) Lancaster, PA

Real Life: January 22nd - 10.7 miles, January 23rd - 17.8 miles (highest mileage of the year!), January 24th - 12.8 miles, January 25th - 0 miles (lazy Sunday...breaking a 20 day riding streak), January 26th - 10.5 miles, January 27th - 10.4 miles, January 28th - 10.6 miles, January 29th - 11.6 miles (Happy Birthday, Mom!). Total annual mileage: 309.6 miles (20.8 miles ahead of target pace).