Ride to Pittsburgh - the Aftermath

I'm home now, with the very clingy dogs. Max is now at school, and Debra is in San Francisco through Friday. The dogs hate it when anyone is away.

Here are some numbers for the trip:
Total days riding: 5 1/2
Total miles: 340
Total climb: 8300 feet

Nights camping: 3
Nights in motels: 2
Nights in AirBnB: 1

Flat tires: 0
Failed rear wheel: 1

As soon as I got home, I got the bathroom scale out to figure out if maybe the reason the rear wheel failed is because me and the bike are too heavy.

Me, fully clothed: 200 lbs
Loaded panniers: 47 lbs
Bike, with water, tools, spare parts, etc.: 52 lbs.

Total weight of the whole deal: 300 lbs.

That's a lot. It's more than the new wheel is rated for.

Looks like I'm shopping for another wheel.

Ride to Pittsburgh Day 6 - West Newton to Shadyside in Pittsburgh

 The ride to Pittsburgh is over. Here I am by our AirBnB. It's before noon.

I only rode 30 miles today. My plan was to finish in time to watch the Ravens preseason game in a bar somewhere. Such a bar does not exist in Pittsburgh.

Most of the ride was very easy, but Shadyside is way up high and the GAP trail is way down low, so I had to do a big climb in Pittsburgh. Strava routed me on a "road" in Frick park which was fairly direct with a reasonable grade, but the road turned out to be a barely paved or gravel walking path, so that took a long time.

There was also a bit of a climb to get over this ginormous bridge:

I thoroughly researched the nonexistent options for watching the Ravens, replenishing my electrolytes thoroughly along the way with several Bloody Marys. No celery was observed at any point. What is going on here?

Instead of watching football, I walked around the Shadyside Art Expo, which was six blocks of vendors selling extremely ugly art for the arriving college students to hang in their dorm rooms.

Here is the Strava Track for today: https://www.strava.com/activities/15559914808

Ride to Pittsburgh Day 5 - Confluence to West Newton

 I'm in West Newton, only 30 miles from the end, Pittsburgh. I like West Newton because they have restaurants with good food and stuff drinks, and I've discovered a fabulous place to camp.

This is the GAP Campground, right off the trail, right by all the food, and it is fabulous. Under that pavilion are nice places to sit, books to read, a sink, and a coffee machine. There are clean showers and bathrooms next to it, and a spacious area to pitch your tent with fire pits and picnic tables. 

I got in early, around 2, and nobody was here. So I set up, and sat around the pavilion reading the news and writing bike trip updates. And hour later, the owner shows up. He does some tidying and cleaning, writes the registered guests' names on a chalk board, and takes off an hour or so later. "Have a great stay!" 
I ask if we are to go ahead and make our own coffee in the morning. "Yep, here's all the supplies!" 

I love this place. It's the perfect combination of no frills, and elegant decorating.

Today was easy, easy, easy, only 53 miles, all slightly downhill, all on the smooth crushed stone of the GAP trail.

I slept great last night at the campground in Confluence, but I was feeling it today from climbing over the mountain yesterday. But I got going early, before 8.

The first town, after 9 miles, was Ohiopyle. Ohiopyle is a big outdoor recreation tourist place. Nothing was happening in the morning, but it still looks cool.

Connellsville, at the halfway point for the day, was my plan for a lunch stop. But unfortunately, I got going too early in the morning, and went too fast so I got there an hour before any restaurants were open. This was a dilemma. Should I sit around for an hour or should I just ride 27 more miles to West Newton the finish town, and eat lunch there? There are no places to eat between Connellsville and West Newton.

I decided to ride to West Newton, which means I rode 57 miles on a large Frappuchino, a Payday candy bar, and a granola bar. I was not feeling great when West Newton rolled into view.

Connellsville has a really nice park/campground on the west side of town. There are lots of outlets, and picnic tables, and even some covered shelters.

The weird post with the shelter built by Eagle Scouts over it is still there on the east side of town. I still don't understand why they made a sign saying the Eagle Scouts made the shelter, while there is no sign explaining what the thing is under the shelter.

Anyway, I got in to West Newton around 1:00 and grabbed a very tasty burger at the food truck off trail when you come into town.

This gave me lots of time this afternoon to set the tent up, grab a shower, and write yesterday's bike trip update, and enjoy this great campground.

I went out for dinner at The Trailside, which is an old favorite. 

Electrolytes were replenished.

And the wings were really good.

 Except for one thing! What is missing from these pictures???

CELERY! I haven't seen a piece of celery since since I entered Pennsylvania. I asked the bartender if  there was a Celery Supply Chain Collapse which caused no celery to be available. She said you have to ask for celery with the wings, it's an upcharge. And while she though there should be celery in Bloody Marys (one would hope) nobody ever ate they celery in the Bloody Marys and they would just end up throwing it out, and they don't serve many Blooyd Mary's anyway.

Here is the Strava track for today: https://www.strava.com/activities/15549258633

Ride to Pittsburgh Day 4 - Cumberland to Confluence

 I'm writing the this the next day, because the Outflow Campground in Confluence has no cell service or wifi. It's a very nice place to stay. It's run by the Pennsylvania parks department. It's impeccably clean, and so very quiet. Everyone here but me is in RVs for the fishing. I slept great.

Today was a big day of climbing, where you have to climb up to the Big Savage Mountain Tunnel. It's 1700 feet of climb in 21.5 miles, which is an easy, constant 1.7% grade. It took me three hours. My bike and gear weigh about 90 lbs.

This is what it looks like during the climb. The trail surface is super-smooth crushed stone. That railroad track next to the trail is active between Cumberland and Frostburg, they run a steam excursion train and people coast down in on pedal cars.

You cross into Pennsylvania near the top. They make a big deal about the Mason Dixon line.

Here's the scenic view from the top.

Then you go through the Big Savage Tunnel, which is very, very long (3300 feet!) but it is also lit up except where the lights have burned out and not been replaced.

Just after that, you go through this little tunnel to cross the Eastern Continental Divide. It's a little less than 1% grade downhill clear to Pittsburgh at this point.

I had some lunch at Fox's Pizza in Myersdale. I ate here before when riding the GAP with Max ten years ago. It was really busy then, and the pizza was great.

Now it's empty and forlorn, and pretty much take-out only. There are a few booths you can sit at to eat.

I was excited to get Antipasto for lunch, but the "Antipasto" was actually a regular iceberg lettuce chef's salad with pizza toppings!

Right after Myersdale is the astonishing Salisbury Viaduct. The Casselman River is 100 feet below down there.

40 miles after the high point, and 30 miles after lunch, I got to Confluence, my stopping point. Confluence is a really nice quaint small town with good restaurants. 

My fave place to eat in Confluence now is Pamela's Pint's and provisions, which is a tiny spot in an old garage behind the town gas station. But they have pirogis and stiff drinks!

The Painkiller came in a Tiki glass with an umbrella!

The ride today was in two segments, because a landslide buried the trail between Rockwood and Casselman, and engineers think it's not done sliding yet. So they closed it and they are not messing around. There is a shuttle you can take around the closure for $20 so you don't have to ride a detour on the roads, which the powers that be emphatically do not recommend.

I heard lots of horror stories from people I talked to who rode the detour anyway, about how it's a 20% grade and blind curves all over. But I'm going the other way. I don't mind going *down* 20% grades. I scouted it on Google maps, it's all paved, it looks fine. But when I got there the lady working the information booth in Rockwood talked me out of it and the shuttle driver showed up right then so I took the shuttle.

And the shuttle drove the same route I would have ridden. It would have been no big deal. I'm so lame.

Strava segment 1: https://www.strava.com/activities/15539763063

Strava segment 2: https://www.strava.com/activities/15540662642

Ride to Pittsburgh Day 3 - Hancock to Cumberland

 The day got off to a slow and bad start, but I finished in plenty of time and everything is great.

I'm in Cumberland, where the C&O Canal Towpath ends and the Great Allegheny Passage rail trail begins. I guess I could have planned that picture out better.

This morning, once my coffee was kicking in, I set out to figure out why my bike was making funny noises at the end of the ride yesterday.

It did not take long to figure out.

A broken spoke. This is not good.

And a rivet for another has broken off from the rim.

This is even worse. Now I know why the rear wheel has been feeling mushy like the tire is low on air when it has plenty of air.

Turns out there is a bike shop not a half mile away!

They can sell you a chain saw too, and repair your weed whacker. This place has the C&O Tow Path on one side of it, and the Western Maryland Rail Trail on the other. As a bike shop, it's excellent. It has everything a touring cyclist could ever want. All your sports drinks, and energy bars, as well as night crawlers if you want to drop a line in the canal.

But wait there's more! They have a bunk house in back, where you can unroll you sleeping bag and spend the night! $15! Why didn't I know about this last night?

And there are showers back there too!

They had a nice replacement wheel for me in stock. The mechanic was in at 10, and I was back on the road by 11. It would have been quicker, but I walked over to a nearby diner to get breakfast. Now my wheels don't match, but I'm not going to complain.

They are going to hold my old wheel for me, and I'll pick it up when I drive back from Pittsburgh on Sunday.

It was 60 miles today, all completely flat. 15 miles was the silky smooth WMRT, from Hancock to Little Orleans. Then there was 15 miles of double track from Little Orleans to Paw Paw. 

Then there is 30 miles of fine crushed stone which is as smooth as pavement, from Paw Paw to the end at Cumberland.

This was a pretty nice day of riding. I got going at 11 and was done before 5:30, without stopping for a meal because I had breakfast right before I left.

There is about 2 miles where the WMRT has a break and you have to ride some rough towpath. That's because they haven't run the trail through the Indigo tunnel. Bats live in there.

There are lots of places where the canal crossed a river or stream entering the Potomac. They just build a bridge to carry the canal over the stream.

But there is only one spot where they got really crazy and ran the canal through a tunnel. It's by Paw Paw, West Virginia. The Paw Paw Tunnel is amazing. Here's what it looks like in the middle of the tunnel.

At this point, I fished the headlight out of the handlebar bag. The light at the end of the tunnel could be an oncoming mule.

Here's the entrance to the tunnel:

That railing between the towpath and the canal goes all the way through the tunnel thank goodness. Note the cool stairs over the top of the tunnel so you can cross to the other side of the canal.

Here's the exit:

There are many paw paw trees along the towpath. Here is a paw paw patch just above Paw Paw.

There used to be a bench here. I was one of my favorite break spots. There was a sign that said the huge tree behind the bench was the largest Swamp White Oak in the state of Maryland. Now the sign is gone and the bench is gone. Maybe they found a larger Swamp White Oak so they had to take the sign away? Why couldn't they leave the bench. It's still a really great tree to sit under!

It's sad when you get near Cumberland, and you get a rude re-entry to modern times. There's not much modernity on the towpath. After this, it's sewage treatment plants and bad smells the rest of the way.

I'm staying at the Ramada, which is one of only two motels in Cumberland. The other one is a Fairfield inn, which costs $170, while the Ramada costs $75. I'm staying at the Ramada.

I remember when Ramada used to be nice, and I never stayed there because it was expensive. Based on the looks of this one, that was a very long time ago. Everyone here looks like they chose the cheapest motel, and they didn't have much choice about that. The days of a cocktail lounge, and a restaurant and nice amenities are long gone, but they will sell you cold cans of Bud Light at the front desk.

So I was pretty darn irritated when the guy at the front desk says I have to put my bike in the store room and I can't bring it into my room. I have brought my bike into my room at the Fairfield Inn when I have stayed there.

My admiration for Indian immigrants who run affordable motels reached its limit here.

Dinner was awesome. It's so nice to be in an actual city with more dining options than Subway, Sheetz, and Pizza Hut.

Electrolytes are replenished.

And this pasta with shrimp and Tasso ham should get me up the giant climb tomorrow morning.

Everything is great. I did my laundry at the Ramada, which only cost $4, including the detergent.

Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/15529373875

Ride to Pittsburgh Day 2 - The Cross Trails Hostel to Hancock

 Well that plan to camp the whole way didn't last long.

I pushed it pretty hard yesterday with all the climbing, and I'm feeling a bit beat. 

I originally planned to ride 82 miles of the flat flat towpath and the Western Maryland Rail Trail to Little Orleans, where there is a commercial campground with showers and stuff. I called them when I got to Hancock to see if they are still open, and they were, but they weren't very inviting. Office closes at 5, doesn't open until 10 (so no coffee) but they do have a tent site next to the bathrooms. I decided to get a room in Hancock.

I was also pretty worn out after 50 miles of unpaved towpath. About half of that was smooth new crushed stone, but the other have was the old-style rocky and rutted mess. 

I could have kept going to a primitive campsite, and brought a sub from Subway with me for dinner, and a Frappechino and a muffin from Sheetz for breakfast. But I calculated that pushing hard today just makes the next two days really short, and if I stop in Hancock, today and the next two days are all about the same length. So I stopped.

At this very sad and forlorn Super 8. Which I have stayed at before right after the pandemic, and which I swore I would not stay at again. It's the only choice. Big surprise! They've been fixing it up and it's much nicer! The lobby is all new, the staff is engaged and attentive, and the guy who registered me got a big laugh when I told him my pandemic check in horror stories. He says they fired the manager from then.

I also swore I would not stay in Hancock if I can avoid it because the dining options on a Tuesday night are Subway, Sheetz, and Pizza Hut.

This Pizza Hut still has sit-down dining. Sort of. If you order for take-out, they don't mind if you actually sit there and eat it. The girl who was taking take-out orders took my dine-in order, and said she would bring me the pizza when it was ready. She looked like she was about 12 years old. She had a dim conception of how eating in a restaurant works - she brought me a plate and a knife and fork, but I had to go and find napkins and Parmesan myself. It's really weird eating at Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut is barely alive. 

If I had rode on today to Little Orleans, tomorrow I would have stayed at a campground in Frostburg. I was looking forward to that. I've only ridden the GAP trail eastbound, and Frostburg is in the middle of a long, easy descent to Cumberland, so I've never stopped there because why stop in the middle of the easy fun coast to Cumberland. But that descent is a climb going westbound, and stopping halfway for the night would be great.

Instead, my plan is now to stay in Cumberland and have a 60 mile day, instead of a 75 mile day with a long hill at the end. I've already booked a room at the Ramada.

It's awful nice camping. 

I had a great time at the hostel. Most of the other guests were also bike touring. There was a lot of comparing notes about what's coming up, and stories about past tours. The hostel is now called the "Cross Trails Hostel", since it's at the intersection of the C&O Towpath and the Appalachian Trail. They guys running the hostel said it's a slow period for AT hikers since the people heading north have already come through, and the people heading south aren't here yet.

The towpath is a magical other world.

Lunch was 40 miles into the ride in Willamsport, where there is a terrific diner.

With classic diner food. I was dragging pretty bad this morning, and this picked me right up.

The diner is right next to the Third Base Tavern, "Last Stop Before Home."

I visited the Third Base on my very first ever bike tour, which was nearly 30 years ago. It looks much nicer now than I remember it being then.

Here's the Strava Track. https://www.strava.com/activities/15517096961