The Swift Science Team meeting took place at Penn State U. on May 1st and 2nd; it was followed by a meeting of the UVOT instrument team the next day. I took advantage of the trip from GSFC on April 30 to bike on the Heritage Rail Trail County Park in York County, Pennsylvania. I started near Mile Post 18 (Marker A on this Google interactive map), and turned around at Hanover Junction (Marker C). The trail goes through the historic Howard Tunnel (Marker B; left photo), one of the oldest railroad tunnels in the country. There were some large bikes along the route (right photo). The warm and sunny day was just about perfect for biking.
I was going to stop at Maple Donuts in York, but decided that it was too far out of the way. Fortuitously there was a branch directly across the street (Marker D) from where I stopped for gas at Exit 34 on I-83. I was the only customer, but the staff was very friendly.
Harrisburg's Capital Area Greenbelt offers almost 20 miles of bike paths that circle the city. I rode along the Susquehanna River in River Front Park from near the Italian Lake Park (Marker F) to the I-83 bridge with a tour of City Island via the pedestrian only Walnut St. Bridge (Marker G; right photo). About two thirds of the width of the bridge is a metal grate, which is shunned by the pedestrians but not cyclists. If you look down while cycling, the grate mostly disappears and you seem to be floating over the river.
I returned to Harrisburg on the trip home, parked in the old Shipoke neighborhood (Marker H), and had a short evening bike ride. At night the Walnut St. Bridge is lit by hundreds of small lights.
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