Cycling through the Brandywine River Valley
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- October
- 20
I spent the Columbus Day weekend cycling with my club through Pennsylvania’s Brandywine Valley.
Brandywine 
is in southern Chester County, just north of Delaware, about two hours and change from the NY metro area.
Although the main arteries are cluttered with the usual suburban commercialism, once you turn off onto a side road you’re soon pedaling past horse farms, cow pastures and covered bridges, crisscrossing the Brandywine River and its tributaries and winding through a handful of quaint towns.
We navigated with cue sheets that my club has used for years, but riders can also hook up with the West Chester Cycling Club. The club has regular rides leaving from West Chester, a college town with lots of restaurants and shops.
The valley features plenty of rolling hills – we averaged about 3,000 feet of climbing each day during a pair of 45-mile looping rides through the valley. You’re nearly always
climbing or descending.
And of course, as soon as you clear the NY metro area, the roads get smoother and the drivers are more courteous toward cyclists.
For non-riding days, there’s Longwood Gardens, the Brandywine River Museum (lots of works by N.C. and Andrew Wyeth ), the Hagley Museum, Winterthur, the Nemours Mansion and the historic town of Kennett Square.
Brandywine doesn’t have Vermont’s challenging climbs or its spectacular foliage, but the riding is great for a trip that’s this close to home.
This entry was posted
on Monday, October 20th, 2008 at 1:44 PM by Robert Brum. 
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