Birdlady42
Today was much easier technically …. and not nearly as exciting. However, it’s the 3rd day on the trail after barely riding this summer, so our legs were glad it was a relatively short day. We also climbed over 800 ft in elevation. It’s gradual and sometimes you forget you’re climbing, but then realize what gear you’re in and that your heart rate is up.
Today was the first day we didn’t need our rain gear. But that doesn’t mean we were entirely dry. We started with an amazing breakfast at the Connellsville Bed and Breakfast (highly recommend!). One of the owners, Don, is Italian and makes his own pesto, his wife makes the muesli and they are really awesome. We were the only guests last night, which he says is rare this time of year. Anyway, Don told us “sorry to say this, but I don’t think your shoes dried at all last night.” We had left them on the covered side porch, only mildly hopeful for them to dry a bit.
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| Trail crud |
After breakfast, we went about packing up our gear. Once we got the bikes out of the garage, we had to get all the packed-on trail crud out of the gears and chain. Most of these places have a handy hose for just this purpose, as did this one. Unfortunately, we didn’t bring chain lube this time, so my chain spent the rest of the day squeaking – that or I have a chipmunk stuck in my spokes. The last step was to put our wet shoes on. Yuk! We quickly got over it though since everything else was dry.
The trail is very close to the B&B so we were quickly back on it. There’s a bit of a climb to get out of town, but not bad. The trail was covered with branches and general tree debris from the storm the night before last. Then we rounded a corner and there was a tree across the trail. Ugh. We got around or relatively easily over that one and the next 2 trees. We were just starting to really get disheartened when we came upon a DNR truck and crew. They said they had spent the morning clearing the trees from Ohiopyle to this point. We told them about the trees behind us and on to West Newton, but they said they only go to Connellsville. They had just received a report of a new tree down way back by Ohiopyle. We had to get through Ohiopyle to get to our destination tonight. (note the literary foreshadowing here)
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| Example of some of the trail debris (not the worst) and a tree we had to go under |
We spent most of the trip watching out for all the branches and sticks on the trail. We got them caught in our pedals and chains a couple times. It was more like mountain biking than trail riding because you can’t really look around too much. But there were areas where the trail didn’t have much debris on it. We would stop and trade condition updates with people coming the other way. Everyone was taking it in stride.
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| Yay for the DNR! |
As we got close to Ohiopyle, who should we meet, but the nice DNR crew from the beginning of the ride! They had reinforcements because they were working on removing 3 very large trees that had come down together. They were helping people portage their bikes and gear over. The crew head pointed out that there was poison ivy on the trees. Ugh! I realized that I hadn’t even considered that possibility the day before. I was in my rain jacket and pants, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem, but I do need to make sure I clean those well or every time I touch them I could get oil on me. Today I didn’t have my legs covered, so when I got to our B&B I washed them very thoroughly with lots of soap. I’ll know by the weekend how successful I was.
We really like Ohiopyle. Lots of activities and cute little places and it’s close to a couple Frank Lloyd Wright buildings. Last time, we drove back from Pittsburgh at the end of our trip to see Falling Water. It’s really beautiful and amazing – worth the trip if you like nature, architecture or history! Kentuck Knob is also nearby. I would NOT recommend going to Falling Water by bike. The road up to it is narrow, twisty and very steep. There is no shoulder to share the road with cars safely. Anyway, we sought a highly rated sandwich shop, the Ohiopyle Bakery and Sandwich Shoppe, we went to last time and it was just as good as we remembered. All the food is fresh and the bread and pastries are baked by them. We splurged on warm apple dumpling after our sandwiches. Sooooo yummy!
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| Walls of Mountain Laurel |
We are now in the Laurel Highlands area of Pennsylvania. The Laurel is the state flower and is supposed to make the hills look amazing in the late spring around here. They are related to the Rhododendron and you can see the similarities in the leaves. More and more of the trees as we climb are evergreen now, too.
We’re in another lovely B&B tonight, Parker House Inn in Confluence, and once again the only guests. Since the owner doesn’t live here, we have the whole place to ourselves!
We have a longer day tomorrow and it’s climbing another 800 feet or so. Hopefully we are out of the bad weather and bad trail conditions.
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| One of the more permanent falls |
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| A view of the Youghiogheny river |