Getting to the New Digs

I rode my bicycle from the old school to the new school. It's a bit hard finding an appropriate route, because there are two sections of the route that are designed to be impenetrable. You can't get from Remington Rd. to Wynnewood Rd. without going on main roads somewhere, and Haverford College has no entrance on it's eastern front, so you're stuck with going north or south of it.

Before I go into details, let me add the the obvious best way to get to the new school is by the 100 trolley, which has a station that exits directly to the campus.

From the school you go a couple of blocks up Old Lancaster, then left on Sycamore. Why not just take Highland? In a car it probably doesn't matter, but when you're biking, shortening the trip by a couple of hundred yards saves a minute. Follow Sycamore to Merion Rd. I know there are lots of somewhat famous homes on this section of Merion Rd. We actually looked at a house there where Will Smith was living right before he left for California. He and Jada were just hanging out when we were looking at it. He wasn't a huge star yet, Fresh Prince of Bel Air was just about to come on the air. OMG! That was a long time ago! 17 years I think.

Follow Merion Rd to Bowman Av. and turn left. Go past the elementary school. The road is pretty beat up because of water pipe work, but you can manage. Make a right on Wynnewood Rd. This section is a pain in the butt. It's busy and there's lots of driveways, which are always terrifying for a cyclist because you're never sure if the person pulling out is only looking out for cars. Also, since you're going straight at Lancaster you have to end up in the middle lane because the right lane is right turn only. Bicycles in the middle lane are generally frowned upon by motorists.

Once you cross Lancaster there's not as much traffic and even though it's still a 4 lane road, your main concern is what are technically referred to as depressed storm drains. These storm drains are not depressed enough to harm themselves, but they're pretty good at harming you if you ride a bike over them. Follow Wynnewood Rd. for about a mile and then turn right onto County Line Rd. From the vantage point of County line Rd., it is difficult to discern any difference between the two counties. I guess this is one of these places where your neighbor goes to a different school from you. County Line Rd. has not been repaved for a long time, with the overall effect of simulating a gravel road. You can't go 100 feet without hitting some kind of patch or hole in the pavement. But you do get to pass Carlinos and a "multi-color hair salon." Not sure what that means.

Make a left on Ardmore Avenue and head down to Haverford Avenue. Here's where Haverford College is in the way. Fortunately, Haverford Av., though busy, has a center lane for left turns only. Since there are pretty much no places to make left turns on this stretch, this means that cars can pass you easily. Once you're past the college, defy the temptation to make a right on College Av. and go to the next light, which is Buck Rd. I'm sure nobody really wants to see a buck on Buck Rd, but that's okay because you then make a left onto Old Railroad Av. and I don't think anyone wants to see an old train there either.

Follow Old Railroad until you reach the intersection with another incarnation of County Line Rd. If my trip was any indication, during this stretch you will encounter a short but drenching rain shower. At the intersection go soft right onto some little street that takes you over to Byrn Mawr Av. It's more direct to go on Haverford Av, but the intersection of Haverford and Bryn Mawr was cleverly designed such that it is impossible to make a left turn onto Bryn Mawr Avenue, which is where you need to go. So go up the little street and make a left onto Bryn Mawr and go through the light, past Wawa on the left, and then the school is on the right.

Coming back is essentially the same, only backwards. The Haverford Avenue section is 2 lanes in this direction and seems to always be more heavily trafficked than the other direction. This state of affairs seems counterintuitive to me. You'd think that everyone would eventually end up on the eastern side. The best part of this section is that it's downhill.

When you're riding, there's always a time and place where you wish you had a motor. On this trip, it's the ride up Sycamore from Merion Rd. to Old Lancaster. It's not steep, just long and steady.

The trip took me 26 minutes. I don't really know how far it is, but I'm guessing my average speed is around 12-13 mph, including stops, 15 mph when actually riding.