Saturday was my birthday, and I wanted to avoid my normal Saturday routine of cleaning/laundry detail. So, I enlisted the company of my 19-year-old daughter and headed into Pottstown to "Bike Pottstown" with free bikes.
We parked in front of the TriCounty Bicycles shop where the free biking program is headquartered, and since it is next to The Very Best, we stopped in for hot dogs. While seated at the counter, in walked Sue Krause, who I am acquainted with from the Historic Pottstown Neighborhood Association and the World War II swing dance committee and because her husband is Bill Krause, who is involved in just about everything.
Sue sat with us at the counter and chatted while waiting for her grilled cheese sandwich, and then picked up the check as a birthday treat, reminding me why she is one of my favorite people in Pottstown.
We told her our plans for the bikes, and her reaction, like most people's is, "That sounds great - I'll have to try it sometime."
Try it, indeed. And, sooner rather than later.
Bike Pottstown is a delightful, enterprising, user-friendly program designed to bring new life to downtown Pottstown. Yes indeed, give it a try.
Mandy and I were greeted in TriCounty Bicycles with friendliness and efficiency, and we were out on the bright yellow cruisers within minutes. You need a driver's license and a $25 deposit to ride, but they take credit cards and wipe off the deposit charge before you leave if you don't have cash.
We headed down Hanover Street to the AAA office and then to College Drive for the Schuylkill River Trail entrance at the edge of Riverfront Park. Once on the trail, we headed west and rode six miles or so past Douglassville.
We went over the Schuylkill River bridge that is just past Morlatton Village, pausing on the bridge high above the river to watch a canoist navigating the smooth water below.
Flat, shady in some parts and sunny in others, quiet, smooth and uncrowded, the trail offered a relaxing ride. We shared stories of our work weeks past and her college plans future. We got some exercise without feeling exerted and some recreation without the stress of planning the details.
The experience reminded me of those mass transit commercials: Leave the hassle to us. No checking the air in the tires before getting on the bike (the shop checked them for us); no lifting the bike out of the basement or into the car (just pick one and ride); no searching for an uncrowded spot (the river trail is just blocks away from High Street).
I felt like someone had given me a brand new bike in a sunny first-day-of summer c0l0r for my June birthday - and it even had a rearview mirror, cheerful bell, and a basket to carry drinking water.
Every time I tell someone about BikePottstown, they say "I'll have to try that."
So do it. Get a bike on your lunch break. Take a Saturday morning trail ride. Visit downtown Pottstown and take a bike.
It's free, it's fun, and the people are friendly. What's not to love?