Erik Cheever's Bike Ride Cue Sheets
Please email me with any comments.

These routes are just suggestions and may not be completely accurate, and some of the roads have significant traffic.  You should take along a good local road map, in case there are errors, detours, or you are not comfortable with the level of traffic.

Rides with cue sheets (and maps)

Rides around Media, PA

Media to Swarthmore - Direct route
This is a 4.5 mile ride from Media to Swarthmore that avoids main roads.  It is the one I use to commute to work.

Media to Swarthmore - Indirect route
This is a 10 mile ride from Media to Swarthmore, not the most direct route.  Most of the roads are nice for biking and there is a three mile flat stretch along Chester Creek.

Media to Chadd's Ford (at the Wawa at Rte 100 and Rte 1)  (22 miles)
There are several ways to do this route; This page has a 22 mile route that goes through Delaware.  I plan on adding some variations to this route.  

Chadd's Ford to Media  (18 miles)
This connects to the previous route to form a 40 mile loop.  This is a very pleasant ride.

Media to Glenn Mills to Concord loop (20 miles)
A 20 mile loop, relatively hilly.

Media to West Chester  (16 miles)
From Media (Delaware County seat) to West Chester (Chester County seat).

West Chester to Lancaster (41 miles)

Media to Conshohocken  (17 miles)
This route goes up to Conshohocken.  I have family in Montgomery and Bucks Counties, and take this route to Conshohocken.  Other routes (below) connect at Conshohocken -- including one into the city along the Schuylkill valley trail.

Conshohocken to Doylestown  (24 miles)
The title says it all.  Mostly a flat route except for first hill on Joshua road to get out of Schuylkill valley.

Conshohocken to Hatboro  (15 miles) 
(alternate route)

Conshohocken to Valley Forge (9 miles)

Conshohocken to Philly Art Museum (15 miles)

Philadelphia (Art Museum) to Media (15 Miles)

Valley Forge to Media (20 miles)

Media to New Tripoli (west of Allentown - 66 Miles)

New Tripoli to West Chester (76 Miles)

Media, PA to Sea Isle City, NJ (87 Miles)

Philadelphia, PA to Washington, DC
This is a trip I took one summer from my home in Media, PA (just outside Philadelphia) to my parents home in Bethesda, MD (just outside Washington, DC).  I did it in three days with stops in Lancaster, PA and Union Bridge, MD where my sisters live.  Lancaster was right on the way, but going to Union Bridge added some total length to the trip.  I really wanted to stay off of busy roads, so there are lots of turns.

• Media, PA  to Lancaster, PA  in 3 parts (with topographic profiles)
  • Media to West Chester
  • West Chester to the Lancaster County Line
  • Lancaster County Line to Lancaster
  • A more direct route from West Chester To Lancaster  (41 Miles)
• Lancaster, PA to Union Bridge, MD  in 3 parts (with topographic profiles)
  • Lancaster to Wrightsville, Across the Susquehanna
  • Wrightsville to the Maryland State Line
  • Maryland State Line to Union Bridge, MD
• Union Bridge to Kensington, MD in 2 parts (with topographic profiles)
  • Union Bridge to Mount Airy
  • Mount Airy to Kensington

Washington to Philadelphia (Not my own cue sheet)

Media, PA to Washington, DC (via Allentown) (No camping - 245 miles in 4 days)
A 4 day trip to Washington staying overnight with friends/family.  Not a direct route

• Media to New Tripoli  (75 miles)
• New Tripoli to Lancaster (57 miles)
• Lancaster to Westminster (64 miles)
• Westminster to Bethesda (49 miles)

Loop tour from Media, to Media - Through South Jersey, Delaware and Maryland (Camping - 280 miles in 5 days)

Loop tour from Media, to Media - Through Lancaster, Baltimore and Eastern Shore (No camping - 269 miles in 4 days)

• Media to Lancaster (about 60 miles) (Use same route as above - part of Philly to DC route)
• Lancaster to Baltimore (67 Miles)
• Baltimore to Chestertown (On the Eastern Shore of Maryland)  (69 Miles)
• Chestertown (On the Eastern Shore of Maryland) to Media  (73 Miles)

How I made my maps and cue sheets

New Method:

• Go to maps.google.com
  • get directions to destination.
  • specify that you want directions walking (this avoids highways)
  • modify the route as desired using dynamic routing (if you click on part of the route that goes someplace you don't want, you can then drag it where you would like it.
  • it is possible to create a link to the page by clicking on "link" to the upper left of the map.  You can either email this link, or generate an html link that shows the map.
• To save the route on bikely.com (so others can see it, you can print a cue-sheet, you can access it from elsewhere...)
• save in ".gpx" format by using the utility gmaptogpx. (select "Route" and "Full")
• load this into the bikely web site.
• To get elevation: Click on "link" to the upper left of the map. Copy the link in the field labeled "Or provide the URL of data on the Web:"  at http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/profile_input

Old Method: I used to make all my maps with Topo USA (East) software from DeLorme.  It costs about $50 dollars and lets you make maps with topographics profiles (and cue sheets, though I find these need some editing).

Useful Printed References for Biking around Philadelphia

• ADC Maps of the area.  They have separate ones for each county, and one for the larger Philadelphia Region.  I refer to the specific pages on some of  my cue sheets.
• Regional Bike Map:  Available for free from many local Bike Stores.
• Philadelphia Bike Map:  Great for getting around the city.

Useful Resources

• Delaware Valley Bicycle Club
• Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia
• Bicycle Club of Philadelphia
• CQuad: www.cquad.com
  • Great cue sheets and links.
• White Clay Bicycle Club
• Main Line Cycling Club
• Suburban Cyclist Unlimited
• Sussex Cyclists (Sussex County Delaware)
• White Clay Bicycle Club
• Lancaster Bike Club
• Lehigh Valley Wheelmen

• Jeff Bakely's Cue Sheets
• Uncle Barn's Bike Highway
• Bill Cotton's Cue Sheets
• Daniel Convissor's Database
• Myra VanInwegen's Cue Sheets
• Bicyclists Baltimore Pike (an alternative to Baltimore Pike from Swarthmore to Philly) Continue from Longacre to Whitby to Baltimore Ave.
• Various Bicycle Commuter Routes in and around Philadelphia (you can add your own).

• Biking / Bicycle Touring in Pennsylvania
  • Regional Bike Map:  Available for free from most local Bike Stores.
  • Philadelphia Bike Map:  Great for getting around the city.
  • PennDOT's Bicycle Touring Resources / Bicycle Touring in Penssylvania
    • Of particular interest are two of the Bicycle PA routes:
      • Route L: North-South in Eastern part of state:
                I found the format of the files on the PA web site to be awkward to use, so I copied the individual files from the PA web site into a single (large) pdf file that is indexed from the first page.  Click here.
      • Route S: East-West in Southern part of state:
                I found the format of the files on the PA web site to be awkward to use, so I copied the individual files from the PA web site into a single (large) pdf file that is indexed from the first page.  Click here.
  • The Great Allegheny Passage.  Route From Pittsburgh to Cumberland Md (joins with C&O canal)
  • Fairmount Park Comm. Maps
• Biking / Bicycle Touring in Delaware
  • Delaware Bicycling Maps
  • Kent and Sussex County Map Online
  • Order bicycle map for state of Delaware
  • Information about Delaware Bike Route 1
• Biking / Bicycle Touring in Maryland
  • Order bicycle map for state of Maryland
  • Maryland Greenways
  • Bike Washington has several really good cue sheets including
    • Baltimore to Annapolis
    • Baltimore to Washington
    • Washington to Annapolis
    • Annapolis to Shore
    • C&O Canal
  • C&O Canal (official website -- also check out BikeWasghinton.org)
• Biking / Bicycle Touring in New Jersey
  • New Jersey Bike Map:  A Great resource for bike routes all over New Jersey.
  • New Jersey DOT  Several routes in NJ
  • Highpoint to Cape May A North-South Route through NJ  (big file)
• BikeMap.com:  Has links to Bike maps for Philadelphia City and surroundings
• US and Canadian Bike Maps

• Ken Kifer
• Bike Touring Tips

Getting your bike painted

• Cycle Sport, Harry Havnoonian Racing Group- Media, PA
• Bicycle by Kyle - Bryn Mawr, PA
• East Coast Powder Coat - North East, MD
• Santana Bonilla-Medina - just starting out - Philadelphia, PA (I found him on craig's list).
• Do it yourself

Pleae email me with any comments or links I should add.