Place: Wissahickon Valley Park, (The Wiss), Philadelphia, PA
Ridden: November 2013
This week we traveled to somewhere new to us, Wissahickon Valley Park, known to locals as the "The Wiss". Despite being only about an hour drive away, we have yet to really ride there. Joël has been there a few times before. Jess was there one time about 10-11 years ago when a friend said "hey, I'll loan you a bike, come mountain biking with me". (her triathlon days, pre-mountain biking.) After coming home bruised and bloody holding ice packs on both knees, Jess waited 7 years to try mountain biking again and 10 years to return to the Wiss. But she still thanks Nicole for those early memories of her first mountain bike ride.
Wissahickon is an urban trail system, it travels through the city of Philadelphia. It's a stone's throw from places like Route 76 and the Art Museum. The trails weave their way along both sides of the Wissahickon Creek. There is a mix of technical rocky sections and fast flowing sections. Not a lot of sustained climbing, but many shorter, punchy climbs and descents. Along the creek is Forbidden Drive, a gravel road now closed to traffic that the trails connect to at many places.
The main purpose of this ride was to work on skills. We rode with Harlan Price (TakeAim Cycling) for part of our time for some on the trail skills training. As the video shows, "do it again" was the phrase of the day, as Harlan had Jess practice the same spots over and over and over. To get better and faster, skills training is an important part of mountain biking, and both of us took away important things to work on.
Vimeo link for best quality video.
Direct video for quick viewing.