So last night in Ohiopyle, we couldn’t do much online since there is very little cell coverage and the wifi for the hotel didn’t work well at all in our room. Time to catch up!
We left Van Meter early in the morning (for us) and headed out towards Ohiopyle. That let us put quite a few miles in before the day got warm, plus there was a poker run fundraiser going on, so it was fun to see all the people on the trail on a holiday. After we got out of that traffic, though, it was a quiet day on the trail. We got into Ohiopyle in the early afternoon. It was packed with rafters and other vacationers out for the holiday. Amazingly, even with the grand exodus of people from the hotels/B&Bs that morning, our room was already available in the Trailside Inn. So we got our bikes nicely stored, got cleaned up and went out in search of yummy snacks at the sandwich shop nearby and then went across the street to the Yough River (do NOT ask me how that’s pronounced) and got our feet in the crisp, clean water near the rapids. As an added bonus, we had access to a washer and dryer there, so we got a load done, except Brian forgot part of his, so he’s washing some stuff out tonight. For dinner, it was a short walk across the bridge to get outside the state park where alcohol was available to have beer with a great meal. The place was hopping with rafting guides who were celebrating the end of their season.
Today, we had breakfast in the general store below the Inn and set out a little later. There was new trail surfacing being put down starting around the Pinkerton Tunnel, where we had to weave around construction equipment. The new surface is nice, but a little soft and some rude people had put very intentional skid mark ruts in it already. We also went through a couple areas where it looks like a bad storm/tornado took out a bunch of trees. At one point, there was a smaller one that was lying in the trail, so we thought we could move it. No chance. It was “just” the top on the trail, but the trunk was still very much anchored. Not having any chainsaws in our gear, we left it for someone with the right gear to deal with. For the 3rd day in a row, we ended up with our lunch being our tortillas and peanut butter we always bring. Some of the places are either permanently closed or closed on the days we come through. Or we just get hungry before we get to the next town. Better to eat than put it off if you have 25 more miles to go,
One of the challenges that we sometimes deal with is the bollards or gates they have to put up to protect the trails from cars. Most of the time, they are well designed and easy to navigate. But other times they seem to be designed by park rangers who have never ridden a bike. That, or they hate cyclists and put up trail cams to watch the carnage caused by their sinister creations. Completely unrelated, I have only ever fallen 3 times on my bike (foreshadowing). We were crossing a road that put us at a very awkward angle to the trail entrance on the other side by a small trail head. Brian had to take a sweeping curve to line up with an opening in what was at least one too many bollards on this entrance. I picked the opening on the other side of the trail. I was lined up well, but what I didn’t realize until too late was that the left bollard and developed a tilt inwards towards the right one. I realized my left handlebar was too close, overcorrected and my right grip hit that bollard. I went down. It was slow (as have been my other 3 falls), but the impact of the handle yanked my left arm, so my shoulder is going to hurt tomorrow. My padded gloves saved my hands from getting torn up, and I realized I was catching myself with my hands as they hit and turned it into a roll. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow, but this day shall go down in infamy as the one where I fell on my birthday.
We continued on to our hotel for the night without incident and although the nice restaurant below is no more, we found a place to grab a bite for dinner. This hotel is sort of self-serve. They give you codes to get in to put your bikes in the garage and get into the hotel part. It’s a late 19th century building that was an old tool and die shop. We’re pretty sure it’s haunted! Brian went down to go outside for something (he was taking an inchworm hitchhiker back to its natural habitat) and I was in the room. I was sure I heard him fumbling with the key at the door, opened it for him, but he was just coming into the end of the hall. He never saw anyone else. We’re here alone. So, we’re hoping for a quiet night, on all etheral planes!
We climbed about 1000 feet today and have about 200-300 to go again tomorrow, but over a shorter distance. But first we have to climb out of Meyersdale, which is actually more daunting since the road back up to the old train station and the trail is steep. The climbing today was just enough that you could tell you were working and using a lower gear, but nothing difficult. We’ve done this entire route before, so we know we can get to the top tomorrow, then coast all the way down to Cumberland.