2009 Greenway Sojourn:
The Pine Creek Gorge

Thank you to the 250 cyclists, sponsors, volunteers and vendors who joined us on the Pine Creek Rail Trail for the 7th Greenway Sojourn. The Pine Greek Gorge is truly a unique area. Have you ever seen such a concentration of wildlife along and on a trail? Bald eagles, black bears, black-phase timber rattlers—I saw them all in a three-hour period on one day! 

I appreciate your completing the questionnaire at the end of the ride. This was the first large-scale bike ride on the entire Pine Creek Rail Trail, and the information you provided will be shared with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources' (DCNR) Bureau of Forestry so they can continue to manage the resource as best as possible. We will make sure to tell DCNR and the local communities that you returned more than $60,000 to the local economy during the four-day event. 

Below, you'll find directions for how to post and share your photos from the ride, links to local press clips about the Sojourn, and some of the results from the post-ride survey. Thank you again to everyone who made this year's ride such a tremendous success, and we look forward to seeing you out with us next year!

Tom Sexton
Director

P.S. Remember the "L" on the railroad mileposts? Well, Bob Abraham did some research after returning home from the Sojourn, and it turns out the "L" stands for Lyons, N.Y. Lyons is halfway between Rochester and Syracuse, and it was the connection point for the New York Central into New York City.


SHARE YOUR PHOTOS!
If you'd like share some of your favorite photos from the ride, you can upload them on Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's Flickr.com page. Remember to tag each photo with Sojourn09, and then enjoy browsing through all the great shots.

Also, Josh Karns put together a short video from the trail extension celebration, including the speech from John Quigley, secretary of the DCNR. You can view Karns' eight-minute clip for free anytime on YouTube. 


PRESS FROM THE RIDE
 Rail trail praised by Greenway Sojourn bicyclists (August 2, 2009)
 Trail Trekkers (July 24, 2009)
 Sojourn highlights Pine Creek area(July 23, 2009)
 Sojourners take 4-day tour of Pine Creek Gorge and Wellsboro (July 13, 2009)


POST-RIDE SURVEY RESULTS
 75 percent of riders had been on a previous Sojourn
 51 percent of this year's visitors came from 23 different states. 
 34 percent were retirees 
 60 percent were older than 55 
 28 local vendors used for food, including 13 farms
 32 percent had 1.8 overnight hotel stays in conjunction with the Sojourn