One of the nice things about being away from my family is the opportunity to go on long, solo bike rides. This is one of the items that went by the wayside when I started having children. I would rather spend time with them than alone.
This afternoon I went for a ride down the Delaware and Lehigh National Historical Corridor trail. The trail follows the former towpath and the section I rode down today runs from Allentown to Easton. The Lehigh Canal used to be the superhighway in the mid-1800’s and was used to transport the coal of the Pocono Mountains down to the steel mills of Bethlehem and beyond. The canal lost prominence with the rise of trains and finally ceased to function in the 1940s. You can still see the old locks, that allowed boats to go back up to the Poconos. As with the rails to trails in Michigan, I am glad that the communities here got together and made this initiative. It provided me some exercise and a lovely day watching the turtles and birds, and the flowing Lehigh River.
I am a huge proponent of more bike and hiking trails and preservation of wilderness. This is a wonderful initiative an d I hope more trails are developed in the Lehigh Valley. I might even try to bike to school this week, leaving from Allentown.
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