| Another top 10 day, although for part of it I
sure didn't think so. When I awoke there was very little dew, but a lot of
moisture under the rain fly, indicating possible rain showers in the near
future. We headed out after breakfast into the morning mist and almost
immediately joined another trail, the Allegheny River Trail, which took us
the first 31 miles. The ART was not in as good a condition for bikes such as
ours, so the riding was more difficult; as well it was pretty monotonous as
the scenery changed little over that distance. We did cross quite a few
bridges since the railroad right-of-way needed to stay somewhat level; these
bridges provided lots of nice views and pictures. This trail was also
steeper than yesterday's, and although we didn't necessarily feel like we
were climbing, it did take it out of us. I did have fun riding in the group,
which included Bruce, Kacy, Katie, Zach, Scott B., Jessica, and Erin.
At the end of the trail in Meyersdale, PA, we
rejoined regular roads and since we were off the trail we hit the real
hills. I thought my legs were going to give out, they felt like they had no
strength for the first 10 miles of this last 50. But it got slowly better
and better, and by the time we were halfway though this 50 mile stretch I
felt back in business.
Our checkpoint was setup at the site of the
Flight 93 Memorial, which memorializes the victims of the plane that crashed
in Pennsylvania on September 11th, 2001. It was a very moving experience,
brought tears to my eyes, and I'm glad we went the extra distance to see it.
Zach left the American flag that he's been carrying on his bike since
Seattle, a very touching gesture.
After leaving the memorial we stopped at a
sandwich shop/general store on Highway 30, then headed east for the last 20
miles into Bedford, PA. We encountered some really long and steep hills,
crossing the Allegheny Mountains over Bald Knob Summit, which at 2900' is
just shy of our first pass, Snoqualmie Pass, that we hit on Day 1. We had a
couple of great 40+ mph downhills, and arrived in the campground just
outside of town around 3:00 pm. The usual routine of camp setup followed,
then a semi-futile effort to find laundry facilities and an Internet
connection (both were available but not convenient or timely). Dinner was
catered again by another local restaurant, which featured fried chicken,
potato salad, and rolls. More of the usual web site updating and then off to
bed, as I need to rest up for the 102 mile day tomorrow, the day Jeff calls
our "Final Exam"! |
