This ride begins at Wesley, a non-profit complex with four wings of apartments and one of assisted living, which they call catered living. From the serpentine Wesley walkway, I proceed on the trail past Discovery Park and along a rough perimeter of the entire Tehaleh community by several ponds, through an undeveloped future neighborhood, and back to Wesley.
Besides the 20 miles of forest paths, Tehaleh has several paved trails and service roads closed to motor vehicles. Most of these have curves, climbs, and descents better suited to the Vortex than the offroad Catrike Road. Low traffic on the residential streets allow for easy connection between them, while the hybrid sidewalk/trails are better along the three main thoroughfares, which have no curb lanes or bike lanes.
Discovery Park is a seventeen-acre recreation space for all ages and an outdoor learning lab for the adjacent elementary school. It is also the community's stormwater retention system. Two large ponds store runoff water, one permanently, the other for overflow. One trail encircles the park while another traverses an isthmus between the two ponds. A third trail follows the outer bank of the dry pond and separates it from other features of the park. Two more trails go through the low points of the dry pond. In a typical development, stormwater retention means a rectangular eyesore with a chainlink fence, while at Tehaleh, it is an open area for activity and learning about water cycles.
On this ride, I cycled two overlapping circles, beginning with the outer paved loop, moving onto the gravel loop, crossing the isthmus, and picking up the final portion of the paved loop to the point of beginning. I then branched off to the Overlook trail along the ridge and through the woods. A ride around Discovery Park is interesting though short, but it is connected to 20 miles of forest trails.
Discovery Park to Sprouts Holler
Most of the trails in Tehaleh are hard-packed gravel but this one is paved so I brought the Vortex. Doreen's Road has two Big Apples and one Huge Apple, so her trike is suitable for both surfaces. The service roads like this one are closed to motor vehicles, but open to cyclists and pedestrians. It takes you from one side of the development to the other. Even though you pass several neighborhoods, most are hidden from the greenbelt. Besides the service roads, the entire project has many miles of wide sidewalks that double as trails. This was by design, since there are no bike lanes or even shoulders. All roads have curbs.
Today's out-and-back trail begins at Discovery Park, an unusual recreation and water study area built around stormwater retention ponds; continues past Hounds Holler, the Tehaleh dog park; and turns at Sprouts Holler, a park for younger kids.