Seasons Change/Flaming Foliage Rides Updated Again

The routes for the Seasons Change/Flaming Foliage Rides organized by Ed Pane and Serento Gardens have been updated, once again.

I reported that the 50k and 100k routes were altered a few weeks ago due to chip seal being laid down on several areas along those routes. The re-altered routes now avoid those areas completely, in addition to being extended.

From the Seasons Change/Flaming Foliage Ride page:

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania decided that September 2012 would be a wonderful time to tar and chip the route used for the 100K, 50K, and 20K routes!! Well, obviously we're not sending you out on miles of tire shredding, bone jarring cycling, so we have rerouted the event. In the process, the 50 and 100K turned out to be two of the most beautiful and scenic rides we've ever taken. Check out the new maps on the links below.

Both rides briefly route through Hazleton City along well paved residential roads, then onto rolling terrain with a few good hills.

The 50K turned into a 60K but we promise you won't mind it a bit. The 100K turns into a 102K with breathtaking scenery along PA Bicycle V and L routes. Most of it is rolling terrain, but it has four brief, challenging climbs. 

The 20K has turned into a 22K (13.7 miles) bike ride into McAdoo, PA and then through Hazleton neighborhoods near the main event site. The streets are wide, well paved, and the traffic will be light. It's a nice way to meet some of the people your participation helps throughout the year.

So, where the old 50k originally went through Tresckow and McAdoo, the new route now cuts out those towns to go through Hazleton and up past Freeland towards White Haven before heading down through Weatherly and Beaver Meadows. (Hmm. This route looks kind of familiar... Well, except for the part where we'll be turning left on State Route 2051/Buck Mountain Road instead of right, as I typically like to do.)

I'm actually excited to ride this new route. It'll be a fresh perspective on riding through Hazleton, which I normally try to avoid, and a chance to go in a direction I haven't tried before. It's amazing how easily you can get set in your ways, riding the same routes over and over.

Here are links to interactive maps of the new routes, from the Seasons Change/Flaming Foliage Ride page:
Click here to view the 22K

Click here to view the 60K

Click here to view the RIDE version of the 60K

Click here to view the 100K

Click here for the RIDE version of the 100K map