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.