On Saturday, members of Cadence Youth Cycling will kick off a 3-day, 2-night biking and camping Sojourn weekend along The Circuit.
This event is organized by Cadence Youth Cycling and the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. The purpose of the Sojourn is to explore a portion of the Circuit Regional Trail Network, learn about local environmental organizations, watersheds, and have fun! 16 youth and 8 chaperones will be attending this trip
Riding out from Philadelphia, going to Pottstown, camping in French Creek State Park; eventually go to Marsh Creek State Park, back through Valley Forge and through the Schuylkill River Trail.
Along the way, youth will be getting watershed education lessons from Tom McKeon of Rails-to-Trails and History lessons from one of the youth, Allen Williams, who’s done research and helped plan the route itself. Of the adults on the trip, three are bike mechanics and will be able to help out if any bikes break down, need a tube change, or if anything else comes up.
Click the map for a better view.
“My role has been to organize logistics for this trip, planning the route, making reservations, advising lessons and activities for watershed topics, communicating with youth/parents, making sure all edges are smoothed over for a fun and happy time,” says Tom McKeon, Youth Engagement Coordinator at Rails to Trails.
“The idea for the sojourn trip came about when we brought the youth to Seattle for the Youth Bike Summit,” says Cy Maramangalam, Cadence Youth Cycling Program Manager. “At the bike summit, there were other organizations that had gone on bike tours with the youth and when our students saw that they said they wanted to bring that back. And we were able to make it happen when we made the partnership with Rails to Trails.”
The 23 riders (14 youth, nine adults) will leave on Saturday, September 5 and return on Monday, September 7.
Cadence Youth Cycling is now Bicycle Coalition Youth Cycling. Click here to learn more about the recent changes, and click here to donate.