North of Harrisburg stands an inpenetrable wall. At 1300 feet tall, Blue Mountain halts all northbound bicycle traffic, forcing us to ride the same, boring roads, day after day.

But not for long!

_{I am trapped!}

There are a few roads that go over the mountain, but I do not have the strength to ride a bike over them. Fortunately, in the death-match showdown between Blue Mountain and the Susquehanna river, the river prevailed, reducing the mighty mountain to a minor rapid.

_{Oh, how the mighty have fallen}

Along the sides of the river, the terrain is relatively level, perfect for bicycling. Unfortunately, almost all of that area has been taken over by highways and railroads, where bicycles are forbidden.

Due to my obsession with maps, I discovered a road that runs along the river that bikes are allowed on. I must have driven past it a hundred time or more and never saw it before. It’s imaginatively called River Road. On the other side of the mountain, it becomes Main St, before it goes through an old rail road tunnel(!!) and pops you out in downtown Marysville!

It’s a very scenic ride. You can look at the river, the mountains and cool-looking old-school railroad stuff.

_{This tunnel is cool, but there aren’t any tracks in it anymore.}

With the leaves all down, and no snow, you have to look pretty hard to find any natural beauty.

_{This ice is the best I could find.}

I found a nice, quiet spot to stop to eat my bananas.

_{Lunch break spot}

Astute readers will notice from the first picture, that there is actually a second mountain I have to cross to get past Marysville. I’m not sure how to do that yet, as River road dead-ends just past Marysville. I may have to try riding up the other side of the river.

There are a couple more pics in the gallery if you’re interested.