Mother Nature did not seem to share our enthusiasm. We had already gone through the process of Selecting OUR Bikes. The trailer hitch and bike rack were on the car, and Gary and I were anxious to try out our new TREK bikes. We were very excited for some warmer weather, so that we could at least get a practice ride.
But the weather was not cooperating. As we all know, winter of 2020-2021 was harsh in the mid-Atlantic. Lots of snow and very few warm days, if any.
Why a trial?
You may wonder why we would want a trial run.
Well, we are not as young as we used to be even though we have had quite a few biking adventures. We originally learned on bikes that had no gears and no hand brakes. As adults, we had bikes with gears and hand brakes, but that was back in the mid 80’s that we rode bikes. Bike technology has changed a lot over the years. We wanted a chance to familiarize ourselves with our bikes (which we highly recommend for everyone).
Finally, in the beginning of March we saw that the temperature was going to be in the lower 50’s, at least for one day. So Gary and I jumped at the opportunity. We went to a trail that is about 15 minutes from our house, the Tri Valley Trail.
The trail
We parked across the street at Paper Mill Park, which is at one end of the Tri-Valley Trail.
We biked to the intersection of SR72 (Paper Mill Road), Polly Drummond Hill Road and Corner Ketch Road. It’s pretty busy, but the intersection is set up well to enable both pedestrians and cyclists to cross the road safely. You’ll still want to keep an eye out, people travel Paper Mill Road really fast.
From there it was smooth sailing. The trail is paved and is only about 3 or so miles long. We noticed it is used a lot by trail walkers, but there were definitely other bikers as well. It does have a few elevation changes, but they’re minor and not too dramatic.
For a short trail there were still some fun things to note.
While most of the trail highlights local farmland, there is a nice bridge that crosses Middle Run. The trail bridge parallels the Thompson Road bridge, so hikers/bikers don’t have to compete with vehicular traffic.
We also noticed an old barn that looks like it’s been restored.
Ultimately the trail connects to a parking area that has about 35 parking spaces, located where Smith Mill Road intersects Paper Mill Road. Please note that this is a paid parking area, whereas Paper Mill Park has free parking.
To our surprise, there are bathrooms available. There is also a bike station with tools.
This area is restricted such that the gate is closed at the end of each day. There is still a separate paved path for bicyclists and hikers on the other side of the divider.
The trial
During our ride, we practiced shifting, braking, going up and down small hills. Because it wasn’t a long trail, it allowed us to start feeling comfortable on our bikes. With the main path being paved, it made the trial run that much easier.
In the process, Gary discovered that his handle bars weren’t tight and kept shifting down while riding. Here’s where Gary got to try out his new bike tool kit! Unfortunately he wasn’t able to get enough torque on the assembly to tighten it sufficiently. So after our ride, we took it to the Trek store and they were able to fix it rather quickly.