48th HBC FALL TOUR - 2023
In Memory of Owen Moore
Fall Tour Wrap up
2023 Fall Tour
Another Awesome Adventure!
Four-days riding 200+ miles on country roads through some of the best scenery to be found in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey. Stops at the historic Donegal Springs Church, Amish Cider mill, Millburn Orchard, Dogfish Head Brewery. Crossing three historic covered bridges. Climbing the challenging Mt. Pleasant and Bailey Crossroads hills. Racing across the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal on the 896 Bridge. Crossing Delaware Bay on the Lewes-Cape May Ferry. Refueling at good lunch and dinner stops along the way. Resting in comfortable hotels each night. Enjoying a pleasant weekend, taking in the sights, at the Lotus Inn on Jersey Shore. Spending time with fun, caring, fellow HBC members. This is what participants on the 48th edition of the HBC Fall Tour experienced.
Day 1 – With our luggage safely stored in the van, riders gathered in the “six-packs” at the east end of the Walnut Street bridge in Harrisburg. After taking group photos, three “six-packs” headed south out of Harrisburg following the river route to Marietta. There we headed east, away from the river, toward Donegal, where a steady light rain dampened us before arriving at historic Donegal Church. We continued onto Gus’ Restaurant in Mt. Joy where all three groups enjoyed a filling lunch. We then weaved our way through the farmlands of Lancaster County, crossing two covered bridges, on our way to our overnight destination, Comfort Suites, in Lancaster. Heidi Brown, our wonderful luggage van driver, was waiting with cold beverages and snacks. She arranged for everyone to enjoy a delicious dinner together in a private room at the Brasserie Restaurant in Lancaster.
Day 2 – Yesterday’s drizzle and light rain moved on to bring a perfect dry day for our ride from Lancaster to Elkton, Maryland. Today’s ride passes the Caboose Motel and Strasburg Railroad before diving deep into Amish Farmland and the infamous Mt. Pleasant hill. Everyone successfully met the challenge celebrating together in the church yard at the top of the climb. For the next 7-miles we cruised along the ridgeline overlooking rich farmlands and beautiful scenery in Lancaster County. Along the way we enjoyed a visit to the A&B Cider Mill, an Amish operated mill in Nickle Mills. We watched workers grind up and press a mixture of apples into fresh cider (which everyone enjoyed tasting). Howard purchased a delicious apple pie that he later shared with all takers. Soon we approached the Octoraro watershed and crossed our second covered bridge. Exiting the covered bridge, we took on the 1.2-mile climb, with a 229-foot elevation gain, before zooming along to Jennersville, our lunch stop. We then enjoyed the rolling country roads of Chester County, with its many horse farms, making our way around the heavily trafficked PA-896 in Kemblesville, to enter Maryland and flat riding for the most part for the remainder of the tour. There we enjoyed each other’s company enjoying cold beverages and snacks (thank you Patty and Heidi!) in a private meeting room at the LaQuinta, before heading over to the Cracker Barrel for dinner.
Day 3 – Welcome to the flatlands! Today we leave Maryland and enter Delaware. We headed out of Elkton on busy roads just outside Newark, Delaware, winding our way out to the farmlands south of the city. It appears urban sprawl keeps spreading as roadways with little traffic in the past are becoming busy commuter travel routes. We made our way to Summit Bridge (the 896 bridge) to cross the C&O Canal. We usually cross the U.S. 13 bridge, with its dedicated bike lanes, but that bridge is currently having its deck replaced and is closed to all traffic. We then zoomed along the bike lanes on DE Bike Route 1 to Middletown, where we took at break at the Wawa. Out of Middletown we made it back out onto familiar country roads, through sometimes light rain, enjoying the freedom of riding with little traffic all the way till outside of Dover, our evening destination. Having ridden just 45-miles today, several of us headed over to the Delaware State Capitol complex to visit the historic old capitol building. There we took a tour and learned about the history of Delaware and the historic building. Many in the group gathered in the lounge area enjoying each other’s company and refreshments before heading over to La Tonalteca for a delicious dinner of Mexican food.
Day 4 – The final day of the tour usually brings urgency to get to the ferry on time and today was no exception. However, as we travelled out of Dover towards Milton and Lewes it soon became clear that the flat terrain and strong tail winds would help propel us on a much faster pace than normal. We zoomed along to Brown’s Branch Park, where Patty Baughman waited with her hatchback open providing lots of great snacks. We continued along, met by some light rain, passing into Milton, and heading off to visit Dogfish Head Brewery. Some enjoyed lunch, while others couldn’t pass up enjoying some freshly brewed beer. Carefully watching the clock, we headed off to the wonderful bike path into Lewes, where two groups enjoyed a great lunch at Irish Eyes Pub, just a mile from the ferry terminal. After securing our bikes on the vehicle deck, we headed up to the passenger level to enjoy our hour plus cruise across Delaware Bay. Upon arriving in Cape May, we quickly scurried along across the causeway and bridges to the Lotus Inn in Wildwood Crest. There the hospitality suite was open for business, providing refreshing beverages and snacks, thanks to Cindy and Tim Hoehn, where everyone was given a cheer and warm welcome for successfully completing their 4-day adventure. Cindy and Tim also provided delicious chicken corn soup and franks to those wishing to partake (Thanks to saving and sharing the leftovers from the 3-Creek Century!). Two riders, Brian and Angelo, were given a special cheer as it was their first Fall Tour and multi-day tour experience. They did great! Congratulations!
Weekend in Wildwood Crest
Saturday morning brought sunny but breezy weather. Following our traditional group photo (see above), Howard Ross led a gang of riders on an adventure to Stone Harbor and Cape May. Jim Buckheit led a smaller group to Sunset Beach, West Cape May, Cape May Lighthouse, and ride along Beach Ave. in Cape May. Others visited local sights and visited the many special events such as the Octoberfest in Cape May, Italian Festival in Wildwood, while others went bird and monarch butterfly watching, visited the zoo, or other sights in the area.
Later that afternoon everyone gathered in the hospitality suite to hear stories about their ride down from the six-pack leaders, once again celebrate Brian’s and Angelo’s first Fall Tour, recognize Shane who planned to ride most of the way back to Harrisburg, Bill Baughman who completed his 41st Fall Tour, and thank those who planned and helped to make the event a success. Those include Tim and Cindy Hoehn, Heidi Brown, Mike McMullen, Lou Searles, Howard Davison, Susan Tussey, Phyllis Zitzer, and Jim Buckheit.
After a restful night at the Lotus Inn, Sunday morning for most brought time to pack up and head home. Several participants took advantage of the discounted special rates and stayed over until Monday, enjoying the best weather day on Sunday of the entire event, before returning home.
2023 Fall Tour Participants
Bill and Patty Baughman
Jim Buckheit and Leta Beam
Marilyn Chastek
Howard and Mary Davison
Shane Fox
Mike and Pam McMullen
Brian Mummau
Marie Roof
Lou Searles
Murray Sperling
Susan Tussey
Phyllis Zitzer
Bonnie Close
Beth Major
David Raup
Glenn Wareham
Heidi Brown
Tim and Cindy Hoehn
Howard and Bev Ross
Fall Tour photo album is available, click the button below
2023 Fall Tour Photo Album