In the summer of 2023 — thanks to the grant from Adventure Cycling Association — the Coalition for Appropriate Transportation (CAT) stepped up its game from hosting weekly women’s rides to our first van-supported overnight. In the summer of 2024, thanks to another grant, we bumped it up again and planned a two-night trip. Alas, while thunderstorms cut our adventure one day short, there were plenty of ways we built on the experience and knowledge gained from the first year.
This winter, five women from the 2023 overnight took a course to become ride leaders with CAT, a nonprofit organization that empowers people to bike, walk, and bus around Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley safely and efficiently. The women have been planning routes and leading up to 20 riders of all ages and abilities, increasing the number of cyclists in the area. Several women got into Ride with GPS and Google Maps, planning this year’s 25-mile-per-day route, and three cyclists even eschewed the support vehicle and carried their own gear!
The Adventure
We started out with a hearty breakfast, safety checks, and a short orientation meeting before taking off down the South Bethlehem Greenway. Good news / bad news: I fractured my tailbone and couldn’t co-lead the ride, but I still wanted to participate, so I took on the role of food and hydration Support and Gear (SAG) for the cyclists. If you’ve ever been on an Adventure Cycling Association supported trip, this is the van that follows you around with snacks. I’ve never felt so popular!
As per usual with CAT rides, there were also stops for mid-ride treats. Ten miles in, the group swarmed the Inside Scoop, an ice cream shop close to the trail in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania. After plenty of sugar to refuel, they got back on the trail, stopped again for more snacks, then rode about five miles on quiet roads to the campground.
One would think that somewhere within three primitive, woodsy campsites there would be a few sturdy trees 10 feet apart to hang hammocks. But no! The ingenuity that happened next was the stuff that makes these trips so memorable and empowering. One hammock camper used a tarp to cover an otherwise unusable site teeming with poison ivy. Then two campers combined forces and designed a tent bunk bed to share the one other viable space. They also made a pact to forgo the beans for dinner.
The campground made up for its lack of hammock space with a lovely swimming pool, complete with a diving board and a slide. As if we didn’t have enough adventure on the bike, several riders took aquatic plunges, simultaneously confusing and delighting the little kids in the pool!
The next day, one of the riders, Anna, arranged for her favorite yogi to come start the morning off with a group stretch. Anna is also planning her first ride with CAT—a yoga and bike experience for later this fall.
I brought hot coffee (and breakfast, though that didn’t seem as important!) and the group took off for a 20-mile ride around Lake Nockamixon. Near the end of the ride during lunch, it poured rain until they were done and ready to ride back to the campsite. Perfect timing! At camp, we used our phones to check the weather apps.
The Decision
The radar map showed a lot of angry weather coming at us later that night and through Sunday, so the group decided to head home. But despite already having biked 20+ miles, most of the riders passed on the offer to take them home via car, and they rode an additional 25 miles back to the starting point.
Sure enough, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon were wet, wet, wet, so we were happy with our decision to bail early. But again, here’s how an adverse experience during a bike adventure can lead to more inspiration, empowerment, and connection: instead of complaining, we started brainstorming about how we could plan more trips to accommodate even more riders! This includes overnights with hotel stays, overnights outside our local area, and overnights designed for teenagers or seniors.
Wherever we take this energy, Adventure Cycling Association has been a force multiplier for CAT, encouraging us to expose our members to the joy of traveling by bike, and igniting a program that will benefit our organization and our community for years to come!
CAT is Here For You
Wherever you are in your cycling journey, CAT has a program to support you. Bike overnights, road rides, trail rides, safety courses, help with tuning and fixing your bike, youth bike education, advocacy for better streets, advice on commuting by bike or bus, we offer it! Become a member today and you’ll get notified of all the opportunities.
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