| Amish Back Roads Tour Day by Day Scamp 'n' Rascal Cycling Adventures |
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Day 1
- We look forward to meeting you this evening as we gather at our host hotel,
the Microtel Hotel in Hamburg, Pa. If you think you'll get here a little early, let
us know. We'll send you a cue sheet for a really super ride to work the kinks
out. Dinner is on your own but look for us in the bar when you get back. We’re
planning a little get together in the evening. We hope you’ll join us.
Dinner on your own
Optional milage
Day 2:
- This is a gorgeous day of rolling hills, open farmland and quiet canopied roads.
You’ll want to take your time. Be a busybody. Poke your nose in all the strange
places you won’t find at home. Explore the remarkable miniature world of
Roadside America. Soar back a hundred years or more among the antique
planes at the Golden Age Air Museum. Ask questions. Take pictures. Indulge
your curiosity. Count the new born foals and the one room schoolhouses, then
tell us all about them when we gather for dinner at the Lantern Lodge in
Myerstown, PA.
- Breakfast, Dinner
Mileage options: 31, 41, 50 or 60 mile routes
Day 3:
- Rise and shine. You’ll want to get moving. There’s so much to see and do.
Today we leave the shady woodlands and find ourselves spinning freely through
the lush vistas of the Pennsylvania Amish farm country. Spend some time in one
of America's earliest religious communities, the Ephrata Cloister. Stop and peek
in the windows of a one room schoolhouse where English is taught as a second
language. Drink from a hand-pumped well. Buy fresh fruit and Shoo-fly pie from
a road side stand. Eat lunch in a mom and pop store passed down from
generation to generation. We’ll catch up with you at the Historic Strasburg Inn,
our hotel for the next two nights.
Breakfast, Dinner
63 miles
Day 4:
- Whether you join us on one of our optional Chesapeake Challenge loops or go
your own way, today is a great day to explore. There’s so much to see and do in
the area. Strasburg is famous for trains. Visit the National Toy Train Museum, or
see the real thing at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. Pedal back to
Intercourse for some sight seeing, shopping and museums. Spend half a day
figuring out where you’ll eat lunch and the other half trying to ride it off. This is
your chance to spend a leisurely day on your own if that's what you want.
You may decide to take the Chesapeake Challenge, a hilly 90 mile route to
Charlestown on the Chesapeake Bay where you can have a fantastic lunch at
the Wellwood Yacht Club. On the way, snack at the Bartville Store, where the
local Amish farmers frequently stop. You don't have to ride the full 90 miles ,
there are shorter options, all of which will let you experience a countryside bus
tourists never find. You'll love the spectacular roads where the electric poles
simply stop. Gaze over valleys carved by meandering streams and look down on
a slate roofed covered bridge. The kids are barefoot, the smiles are genuine
and you’ll pass more buggies than cars. Whatever route you choose today, we
bet you have a blast.
Breakfast, Dinner on your own
Mileage options on the Chesepeake Challenge: 25, 46, 57 or 91 miles
Unsagged local touring: 12+ miles
Day 5:
- If you rode to the Chesapeake, you can think of today as your recovery day.
The route is gentle, with only one ridge between you and a restful afternoon. It’
s a day full of charm as we ride past the quaint villages of Bird-in-Hand,
Intercourse, Paradise and of course Blue Ball. (We’re saving Virginville for
another day.)
We’re headed to Morgantown and our hotel, the Holiday Inn. There's a stop at
our favorite Twinbrook Winery along the way. Work up a hearty appetite. You’
ll need it for dinner tonight. We have a treat in store for you!
Breakfast, Dinner
41 miles
Day 6:
- You may not want breakfast after last night, but we have it waiting for you all the
same. Today we leave the bucolic byways of Lancaster County and head north.
Learn about the early American iron industry at the Hopewell Furnace National
Historic Site. Take a tour through the late 1700’s house where Daniel Boone
was born at the Daniel Boone Homestead. Slurp home made ice cream in the
stunning beauty of Oley Valley. Spin your way beside the stream on the only hill
Karen likes to climb as you make your way to the Lehigh Valley. Take a short
side trip to T-Town, home to the Lehigh Valley Velodrome where world class
professional and Olympic cyclists come to compete
This is home territory for us, and we can’t wait to share it with you. We think
these roads are as pretty and the riding as great as anyplace in America. Our
hotel for tonight is the Hilton Garden in Foglesville.
Breakfast, Dinner
58 miles
Day Seven
- As often as I’ve made this journey I’m still unable to tell you which day’s route is
the most beautiful. They are each unique. Each spectacular. Each worth doing
again and again. Today’s route takes us through the rolling hills along the the
Kittatinny Ridge of the Appalachian Mountains. The vistas are stunning! Take
a tour of Crystal Cave where the temperature is always cool. Stop by Pine
Creek Pottery, visit with Willi Singleton, the potter, and see his unique wood
fired Japanese kiln. Enjoy the quiet roads, soaring hawks and stunning
scenery as you make your way back to Hamburg. You can even throw in one
final challenge, a strenuous climb up Hawk Mountain.
It’s hard to believe this week has gone by so quickly. Every day the miles have
spun out like silk as we’ve woven our way along these back roads. The fields,
forest, hills and valleys, vistas and panoramas have created a tapestry forever
stitched in your memory, as you have become stitched in ours. We hope you
come back and join us again.
Breakfast
Mileage options: 46, 49, or 56
Partially unsagged : 36
Things are a bit different around these parts. Life moves slower. It's quieter
and somehow more gentle. You feel the differences as you ride along,
occasionally waving to a farmer behind his team or to a family in a buggy.
The fun part is the shock of seeing the teenagers on roller blades hanging
onto the back of the buggy as the family goes to town. That's what we love
about riding in Amish country. You never know what you're going to see.
You just know it's going to bring a smile to your face.
and somehow more gentle. You feel the differences as you ride along,
occasionally waving to a farmer behind his team or to a family in a buggy.
The fun part is the shock of seeing the teenagers on roller blades hanging
onto the back of the buggy as the family goes to town. That's what we love
about riding in Amish country. You never know what you're going to see.
You just know it's going to bring a smile to your face.
