June 7, 2023 - Jim Thorpe Camping Resort, PA, to Tamaqua, PA, and return

Start and end: Jim Thorpe Camping Resort, PA
Turnaround: Tamaqua, PA
Miles: 24.6
Feet climbing per mile: 45
Record of the day's ride: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/123853296

It was a chilly night, dropping down to 47F, so I was glad to have my sleeping bag which kept me warm. When I got up I saw that the sky was hazy from the Canadian wildfires.

I was disappointed to see that the playground rules prohibited me from playing on any of the equipment.

It had been years since I had been on the device below, which Mike Macewich and I have called the "Puke Machine" since a bike ride we did in the 70s. How could I be kept off that thing!

Puke Machine

I had planned to ride a 43-mile loop this day, but because of the smoke in the air decided to ride just 24 miles, stopping for lunch in Tamaqua. I left shortly before 11:00 and headed west on Lentz Trail, which is a beautifully paved road. Note the hazy sky in the picture below.

Lentz Trail

On the way to lunch I stopped to visit some horses. I love how the white horse called for the brown horse to join us.

I took the Lehigh and New England Trail for half a mile in order to avoid the heavy traffic on Route 309.

Lehigh and New England Trail

I had planned to have lunch at the Tamaqua Station Restaurant but had not created a route in RideWithGPS to direct me there. After arriving in the center of Tamaqua I used Google Maps to find the restaurant but had a hard time making sense of the directions.

The Tamaqua Station Restaurant was once a railroad station. I was startled by the horn of the train that passed by at such a close distance.

I usually don't eat a real meal during a ride, but I knew would ride only 12 more miles so I enjoyed a bowl of soup, a salad, and a piece of pie. My waitress did not ask how anything was so far.

On my return ride I saw a sign with too much space between words...

...so of course I stopped to fix it, compulsive editor that I am.

I always enjoy learning local history on my bike trips. The Switchback Railway was built in 1827 and operated until 1932.

The Switchchback Railroad Trail is good for hiking or mountain biking but not for a road bike.

I asked Linda Maurer, one of the owners of the campground and husband of Bill Maurer, about the situation with regard to bears. She told me there was a bear that raided their dumpster every night but had never bothered any campers, so I didn't need to do anything special about storing my snacks and other items with scent.

After I returned from lunch the temperature was in the mid 60s. The water in the pool was cold and the sun was not out so it took me 20 minutes to be fully submerged. I swam several circles around the pool before getting out.

The condition of the air became worse throughout the day.

The sun at 6:30

Because of the bad air quality I decided I would neither walk nor ride the few miles to and from a restaurant for dinner. I was fortunate that the camp store had two containers of Dinty Moore Beef Stew. I ate both of them, cold, at my campsite. They were delicious!

Some campers seemed to think there was not enough smoke in the air.

After dinner I spoke on the phone with my friend Harold Rosenthal who lives in Manhattan. Because of the terrible air quality he offered to drive out and come pick me up. I told him I was planning to spend an extra day at the campground and ride back to Hackettstown on Friday rather than Thursday but that I would take him up on his generous offer if the air got too bad.

At 3:00 a.m. I woke to use the bathroom. On my way there I rode one slow and quiet revolution on the Puke Machine.

Previous day: June 6th, 2023 - Hackettstown, NJ, to Jim Thorpe Camping Resort, PA
Next day: June 8, 2023 - Rest Day in Jim Thorpe Camping Resort

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