This Wednesday, long time rider Daniel P will be leading us along most of the Delaware River Trail. Please bring lights! The southern part of the trail is quite dark.

We’ll have a regrouping stop at Penn Treaty Park. If you prefer to join the ride from there, we’ll arrive at around 7:30pm. The ride ends at Gaul and Co in Port Richmond. NOTE: The route actually touches Gaul and Co twice. We’ll pass by it to go further northeast towards Pickwick St, then circle back on Belgrade St to return to Gaul and Co.

The Delaware River Trail is part of two growing networks of trails, the Circuit Trails and the East Coast Greenway. The Circuit is a regional network of over 800 miles of trails in development across greater Philly, and the East Coast Greenway is a 3,000 mile long trail in development to connect cities and towns down the coast from Calais, Maine at the Canadian border to Key West, Florida.

The East Coast Greenway in Philly aims to link the existing trails of the city, and in the meantime, uses on-road routing between the trails until an entirely off road option is developed. From the SW to the NE, the Greenway links the John Heinz Wildlife Refuge trails, Cobbs Creek Trail, Bartrams Garden and the Schuylkill River Trail, and it will cross the city to the Delaware River Trail following the Spring Garden Street Connector. This project is currently in design to overhaul the whole corridor and include protected bike lanes and improved crossings for pedestrians. For a map of the Greenway go to map.greenway.org.

As usual, we’ll ride according to our How We Ride guide. Please follow these ride norms so everyone’s on the same page, and we keep the ride safe and fun. We’d like to highlight:

Stop at lights. Please, please DO NOT block intersections contrary to the traffic light. Our group can be very large and extended, and holding traffic risks serious conflict. If the light turns red, please stop.

Roll past conflict. Whether it’s angry motorists or unruly pedestrians, please do not engage with conflict and move on in a way that de-escalates the situation.

Finally, a reminder of risks and responsibilities. You don’t need to sign a waiver to join a Wednesday Night Ride, because it’s an entirely voluntary & free group activity. But please keep in mind:

• Everyone rides at their own risk.
• Every rider is responsible for themselves, their behavior, and their bike.
• Keep your bike properly maintained. Here’s a link to a basic bike check.
• Cycling has inherent risks–you could crash, fall down, or get hit by a car, and get hurt or even killed–though we try to minimize these risks.
• If you have a health condition that could affect your ride or put you at additional risk, consider a) checking in with a doctor, b) letting us or a friend know, c) having a backup plan to get home if riding doesn’t work out.
• We always plan to have a sweeper, but can’t rule out that you could get lost, or that your bike could break down and you’ll need to find another way home.

We’re always looking for new ride leaders, volunteers, and organizers. If you’d like to get more involved, drop us a DM!

Thanks for riding! See you Wednesday.