A Morning in Manayunk

My day off, but I do have other things to do than bike and blog, so not as long a ride as other Wednesday's. I did want to go into Manayunk and get some photos along the way to share with you. I also wanted to stop on the way back at La Colombe coffee shop. I'm usuaully rushing home but really wanted to feel like I was off, stop, have a cup of coffee and continue on home at a leisurely pace. Today I did that. And La Colombe is noted for being a cyclist's hang-out. Sure enough when I got there there were three other riders in full cycling regalia. But I'll tell you about that later or next time. For now, let's look at the pictures. Manayunk is one of the more famous parts of the Philadelphia Bicycle Race held each June. The famous hill along the Manayunk wall is a killer. The bike path passes by the hill as one enters Main Street in Manayunk, but does not climb it...thank goodness. Here is a shot of the beginning of Main Street and you can see the wall, with its mural, including some cyclists in the painting if you can make it out. From there I continued into Manayunk and turned down to enter the Manayunk Canal Tow path the start of which is shown here













As you can see from this shot a little further along the path it is quite lovely.














About 2 or 2 1/2 miles down the towpath, past the center of Manayunk, the path turns really rustic; you wouldn't think you were in the city at all.













Finally, perhaps 2 or three miles further along the canal re-joins the Schuykill River and the path meanders for another mile and ends in a cobblestone hill that re-joins the street level path on to Valley Forge.