Day 45, Bedford to Gettysburg, 100 hard miles.

Best:  Lunch made by Tony and his son Ryan.

Worst: Second flat tire due to a wire from a steel belted radial.  Curse those car tires!

Most Unexpected:  Riding with my buddy Jim Sheridan from the 2012 Big Ride

Same old morning routine.  Blah Blah Blah.  Ride started in the mist and was cold, 49 degrees in July in Pennsylvania.  My hands were really cold for an hour.  Another Beautiful ride in Pennsylvania only impacted by the stupid hills.  There was lots of climbing today, either 6500 feet, or 9500 feet depending on your computer.  Most of the hills were before lunch and were in the 8-9 percent range and were longer climbs.  We gained elevation all day until lunch at 2500 feet, and then had a great descent just after lunch.

The hills were a little tricky in that you wanted to conserve energy for the overall ride, but you needed to get up to the top of the climb to go down for the next one.  I don't remember it being as hard two years ago, but was the same route so that shows how crappy my memory is.  No bonking, so it was a good ride.

Lunch was at the top of the climbs in a state park, and once again Tony and his son Ryan cooked us a much needed, no peanut butter, lunch.  He barbequed burgers and chicken to order, and had made a variety of salads including pasta salad with 7 heirloom tomatoes from his garden, bbq'd mango and sweet potato salad, blueberries from his bushes that were day old, other fruit, and home made cookies.  This was the ballast we used to go down the descent right after lunch at top speed. 

Unfortunately after the descent there were more hills to climb, but they were not as steep, nor as long. We had a final climb to get over the top to Gettysburg that was long but gradual, and on the way down, FLAT.  5 miles from Gettysburg and I had to change the tire.

Before the final climb to Gettysburg, we saw a rider across the road who asked us if we were Big Riders.  It turned out to be Jim Sheridan from my 2012 Big Ride group who joined us to finish up our trip.  Jim will be sleeping with us (not literally) in Gettysburg, and then riding the last two days to Washington D.C.

After arriving in Gettysburg, we immediately went to the Cannonball ice cream shop for a scoop of ice cream, and then checked in to the Gettysburg College Dorm which used to be a motel.  We unloaded our stuff and I did a laundry run with 6 days of dirty bike clothes.  My dorm room, shared with Terry, looks like a homeless encampment with all of our stuff scattered in the room, and my laundry drying on every piece of furniture in the room.

We walked to dinner at an Irish pub, had a beer which almost wiped me out, and ate dinner which for me was an Irish breakfast. It went down well.  Afterwards we walked back to the Cannonball ice Cream store and I overindulged on a regular sundae with Chocolate whipped cream.

I went to sleep after 9:00 which was really late, and I slept until 7:20 this morning.  We plan on going to the Gettysburg battleground today, shoot a video, clean the bike, and print return labels for our bike boxes.  It is getting close to the end.  We also have a care package from Marich Chocolates, one of our sponsors, and I can't wait to see what we got.  Pictures follow, but no post for Day 46 because I just did it.

Early morning Pennsylvania.

Typical roads we were on today.  This is not the climbing I was talking about, this is considered flat.

This area where two turnpikes came close to one another was crazy to ride through with all of the trucks trying to make us a new hood ornament. 

I can just imagine the Town Hall meeting on this.  'Yeah, we need to burn down your house so we would appreciate you moving first.  Any objections?"  This is the name of the town that was rebuilt.

Tony and his blind son Ryan who cooked lunch for us.  (Ryan is not really blind).

I actually hiked the Appalachian trail after this picture, and added to the watershed.

All kinds of figures to put in your yard, with my favorite below.

Beth, can I have the potato head family for our back yard?

The cannonball old time malt shop.  Can you figure out how it got its name?  Look just below the American Flag and you will see a remnant of the Gettysburg battle. 

Me and my good friend Chuck with some tall guy between us. 

Day 44, Confluence to Bedford, 83 miles of fun

Best: The downhill from Bald Knob, 6 miles of no braking

Worst: The trail for 30 miles of chugging.

Most Unexpected: Steak for tonight's dinner.

After blogging from the Lucky Dog cafe, the only diner open in Confluence on Monday, I went back to the campground where I had no cell service, but plenty of moisture.  It finally stopped raining about the time I walked back at 8:15, but it was misting, and everything was still wet from the ride.  The tent was semidry inside, and I slept well considering I had chili and a burger for dinner.  The people in the tent next to mine probably didn't sleep all that well considering I had chili and a burger for dinner.

This morning I packed up a sopping wet tent, and clothes from yesterday, and got started on a cold morning wearing arm sleeves, leg sleeves, shoe toe covers, and a wind breaker.  We got back on the trail for 30 + miles of riding, and it was frustrating how much effort it took to go only 14 mph.  The gravel really slows you down, and the unrelenting slope (almost flat) added to the slowness.  The crushed limestone was pretty well drained, but was not dry.  As pretty as the trail is, it does become mind numbing after several miles, and you wake up when you come up to a bridge with a view, or drop past a town.  

We got off the trail to begin fighting the hills that kept getting in our way.  There was no hill less than 5%, and several were double digits.  I don't think there was a flat section on the ride, and if there was, I didn't know what to do with it.  We slowly gained elevation as we would climb, then descend, then climb, etc.  We finally crested at Bald Knob and I had a great descent of 6 miles of 9% (sometimes less) and I was able to do it without touching the brakes.  Of course there was a climb after this, and in fact there were probably 12 more climbs in the last 8 miles of more than 6%.  I know, whine whine whine.  We did make it to the camp at Bedford called Friendship Village, which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.  I got my tent up in all of its sopping glory, hung up my clothes in a tree, and by golly everything is dry (until it rains tonight.  If it rains, I don't care because we are staying in Gettysburg tomorrow inside, so I will have plenty of chance to dry it out over the next two days.  Only one more time for setting up my tent after tonight!

Dinner for tonight was brought in from somewhere by Lynn and included steak and baked potatoes with broccoli and a salad to make us feel healthy.  Dessert was pound cake with nectarines, blueberries on top and plenty of whipped cream on top.

Just before dinner I did a cleanup on my drive train to remove the trail I had carried into camp.  The chain looks so pretty that I may have to skip tomorrows ride.

This was another beautiful ride once again, and there was no rain to spoil the view once we got off the trail.  Everything is very green and I am glad my handlebar tape is tangerine color to offset the greeness. Overall the ride was difficult, but not impossible. 

Photo from a bridge on the trail, the lens is not dirty, that is the mist we rode through for several hours this morning.

This is a very cool tunnel on the route, which of course is closed necessitating an extra 1 + mile of trail detour to go around it. 

Something which woke me up as I rode past it on the trail.

This is from another bridge that went across the road and was way up in the air, and went for quite a distance. 

Looking the other way from the same bridge with Cathy ready to rev up her bike.

A caboose at our exit from the trail in the town of Meyersdale.  The background is a historic rail station, at least that is what it says on our cue sheet.

Looking back at some town we rode up into. It might be Berlin, or Shanksville.

Self explanatory, although you can see the summit is still a little bit ahead.  I know, you are thinking that I shouldn't be so pedantic. 

View from about halfway down the descent with one hand on the handlebars and one with the camera.

Getting down towards the bottom.

This is the first climb after the descent looking back what I came up.  Off in the distance you can see some of the descent I came down.  

Day 43, Washington to Confluence, 89 + 4 miles extra

Best: Seeing Falling Water, finally.

Worst: Riding with half of the road coating my bike and my body.

Most Unexpected: The road to Falling Water wasn't as bad as I expected.

Rain again last night, what a surprise.  However, the tornado warning was cancelled, so it was an uneventful night.  We had Taqueria dinner last night including tamales, tacos (make yourself), and pie for dessert.

We rode off and found some more hills in Pennsylvania.  I was getting pretty cocky because the hills weren't too bad, but then the roads must have heard me because they turned up the volume.  We then rode through Mingo park which was beautiful, as was most of the ride after we got out of Washington city.  Mingo park was fairly flat, and gave us a nice rest before we hit some bigger hills and then at mile 35 we got onto the bike trail the YRT, (Youghertiney rail trail).  This is a crushed limestone trail that does give up a lot of dust, and is a very slight uphill.  Because of the roughness, the speeds seemed to be around 15-16 mph while on it.  At mile 78 we got off the YRT to go up to Falling Water.  The climb started pretty steep, then flattened, then got steep again for about a mile.  Then to my surprise the road went down to Failling Water (this meant I got to climb out of Falling Water as well). The drizzle started on the climb, then increased on the descent.  We managed to dodge some rains while we toured Falling Water, then when we got back on the YRT, we got soaked.  The rain poured down on us, filled up the trail with water, and we ended up with dirt all over our bikes, and bods.  Getting to the campground gave us about 7 minutes of no rain to set up our wet tents from this morning, then once again the rain poured.  By my excellent calc, the hard rain on the YRT lasted for 7 miles, and we gained 46 pounds of road material.

Falling Water was awesome.  Our tour guide seemed new, so I asked her how long she had been giving tours.  We were her first tour.  I really enjoyed the tour, but they did not allow us to take pictures from inside the house.  Still, it was well worth the effort that I will feel on tomorrows ride.  REALLY AWESOME.

Early morning roads.

Riding through Mingo park.

Notice how brown the water is from the rains.

Leaving Mingo Park.

"I don't care if you are building a small bridge, I'm not moving"

This guy is made out of railroad spikes,  The guy on the right.

The YRT

more of the YRT

A modest house.

Well worth the extra miles.

Just a little road grime.

Looking down at the waterfall from the cantilevered section of the house.  This is an illegal picture as I was in the house.  I showed this last to show the lengths I will go to serve my bloggees.

Day 42, New Waterford to Washington, PA 63 miles, Welcome to the hills.

Best: Waking up after big rains last night and not having any rain from take down to end of ride

Worst: Humidity is pretty much at 100 percent

Most Unexpected: Getting a tornado warning for later today.

Thunder and lightning again last night, but we were able to pack up without getting wet.  We entered the hills of Ohio, and then crossed the border to Pennsylvania, land of the big hills.

Got a picture of the sign entering Ohio from the other side to make up for the lack of the sign on the other side of the state.

Up and down hills for most of the short ride, some up to 12 percent.  Good training for the future days in Pennsylvania.  I probably will miss tomorrows blog due to going to Falling Water and getting to camp really late, but I will make up for it the next day. This is a short blog due to pending hurricane warnings, so here is your pictures for the day.

A little foggy all morning, a result of the 100 percent humidity.  We were not hot on the ride, but when we stopped we broke into a full out sweat.

The hills of Pennsylvania!

And you wonder why this business went kaput.  American foods serving German meat prouducts?

Day 41, Newbury to New Waterford, 66 miles

Best:  Buying a couple of fried pies at Rhodes fruit stand

Worst: Forgetting my water bottle at the first check stop

Most Unexpected:  Tie between Anita's 15 mile wrong turn, and Jenn's chain wrap on her bike.

It rained again last night, but I was prepared.  The group tent site was mostly dirt, and I figured with any rain the tent would be a messy pack job.  I moved right next to our group site on unclaimed grass, did not get kicked off by a ranger, and after the rain I only had to pack up a wet tent and not a wet muddy tent. 

Last nights dinner was eggplant parmigan, baked ziti (not some teenagers acne issue), salad, and an apple pie for dessert.  Lynn couldn't fit on a bench so sat on a chair at the end of the table and appeared to be a very small person.

The bike ride today was a short 66 mile voyage with about half of it trying to get out of the Punderson campgrounds.  I of course exaggerate.  We started with hills, and had some rollers in the middle which were doable.  It is not crazy steep yet.  The best chain wrap occurred at Mile 14 when Jenn's chain came off her large chainring and did some amazing knotting around the front derailleur.  She was taking a picture of this.

While I was taking a picture of.

The Amish must of got mad and caused the chain wrap,

We did a lot of suburban riding through several towns. I recalled from the last Big Ride that on this segment several Big Riders rode into camp with fresh pies that looked like Hostess fruit pies.  I found them in the Rhodes fruit stand where I had a great conversation with the owner and his cousin.  The owner is the grandson of the founder of the fruit stand, and he said he recalled the Big Riders from 2012.  He was interested in my bike, and I was interested in his business, so we had a fun time conversing.

I ended up buying a peach fry pie, and a blackberry fry pie.  The peach pie is history and the blackberry pie will be going down the gullet tomorrow.

One of the towns we went through was Warren which housed the Packard car muserum, and there were a lot of other things named Packard such as the concert hall, streets, businesses, and bathrooms.

The Packard museum was of course closed because we went by it early morning, but I did look in the window and saw an actual car!

I really liked the City Hall in Warren which was formerly somebodies house.  The somebody was famous enough that there was a plaque acknowledging his famousness.

We got to the campground around noon today, and just before the campground I bought some Utz potato chips to balance out my peach pie.  The potato chips were cooked in lard which gave them a slightly different taste.  Between the pie and chips, I think I had all of the major food groups covered.

Showers were down the hill from where we are camped, and they were saunalike when I walked in.  Easy enough fix as I just opened up all of the windows in the sweatroom.  Dinner tonight will be roasted chicken, and I will probably finish it off with a nice piece of fudge bought when I was in Madison.  I won't be able to eat like this when I get home.

This is a coke plant, not that coke, and not that coke, but the coal stuff.

Just because.

This is just one of the roads we were on today, just past the coke plant, not that coke, and not that coke. 

Lots of graveyards next to the roads.  On a typical day we will pass several.  Yesterday, there were a couple of graveyards right on Lake Erie, very valuable real estate.  I am sure there would be no issue with develpment of the graveyards into housing.