The Ride, Day Two

Today's map

Tuesday dawned with rain falling. I was ready to go, but hesitated to depart in the rain. I waited until 7:00 and  the rain stopped. Accuweather said I had 30 minutes before the next band hit, so I took off. It only rained about thirty minutes, but made the gravel dust on the trail stick to everything it touched.

There was more wildlife on the trail today. Found a herd of deer about an hour into the day. There was another, very unafraid, let me get within 30 ft. However, when I tore open the velcro to get my camera out, it took off. A lot of birds, and a black snake that was too quick for me to get the camera.

Some nice river crossings, particularly the Casselman. Crossed this waterway two or three times during the day.

Some interesting rock formations. It may have been because I was hungry, but this one reminded me of a stack of pancakes.

The high point of the day (literally) was crossing the Eastern Continental Divide. From there, I went through a couple of tunnels (here's a pic of the Big Savage tunnel). The first was lighted. The second wasn't; this was where I found out my headlight batteries were dead (need to find some tomorrow. )

From the Divide, it was all downhill. Two days of pedaling uphill gave me 11 miles of 20mph downhill running. It was a welcome relief! Made it to Frostburg about 4:30, and checked into the Trail Inn. This is a great place, in a great location. Easy access from the trail, bike wash area, and a cafe with great food. I highly recommend it. If they had internet access, it'd be just about perfect!

Lessons learned: rain jackets and pannier covers: good. Fenders would be nice! Downhill is my friend. Uphill, not so much!

 The day's pics

Tomorrow, it's a 49.5 mile ride to Paw Paw WV. All downhill!!

The Ride, Day One

The map.

After talking with some folks on the train Saturday, I changed my starting point from McKeesport to Boston PA. While it should have shortened the ride, MyTracks has it at 62.56 miles where I expected less than 58. Wonder what other “adjustments” will be made along the way. My moving average speed was 9.95 mph.

It was a beautiful ride, though. Much of the scenery looked the same all the way. I had some company with the dragonflies jitterbugging in front of my wheel, the butterflies doing their ballet in front of my face, and the rabbits running alongside for a quick sprint. Even had some deer come out and watch.

Lessons learned: websites are not ALWAYS right. Two water bottles is not enough. I can go over 60 miles in 8.5 hours (6:15 moving, the balance resting or taking a picture or two along the way).

While on the trail, I met a couple of other through riders, Mark (?) and Lou. Mark was a writer for Rails to Trails magazine. He took my picture earlier when I'd passed them taking a break (my NC jersey had caught his eye) and wanted to ask me some questions about my ride and motivation. I gave him my phone number and invited him to call me after Monday when I'd be able to answer any question he might have.

That night at dinner, I met two brothers who'd come to Ohiopyle on vacation. They'd left their bikes at home thinking there wouldn't be time to ride. As we talked, we discovered we had all grown up in the NoVA area in fairly close proximity. After learning where I'd started from and where I was riding to, they started talking like they'd like to give the ride a shot themselves next year. Go for it, guys! It's worth it!

Tomorrow's another climbing day, then it's all downhill from there!

Here's a link for all the day's photos.