Sarah's story: French Creek Iron Tour

BaseCamp athlete Sarah Porch shared her experience at the 2025 French Creek iron Tour bike race in Pennsylvania.

We took on the French Creek Iron Tour, which supports the work of French & Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust in eastern PA. They offer various distances for roadies and a "petite" and "grande" gravel option. Our group tackled the Grande with 80 miles and about 8,000 ft for the golden ratio of gravel.

The route has a nice variety of terrain -- punchy gravel climbs, smooth road descents, and grassy trail. Friendly volunteers and well-placed aide stations kept us going. A Wawa hoagie at the finish completed the day.

Are you asking what is Wawa and what is a hoagie? Here's a link to couple of British guys trying to find out. Note: calling a meatball-filled sandwich a "hoagie" could be considered controversial by some purists who consider only cold sandwiches hoagies. For extra confusion, Google "cheesesteak hoagie."