August 5 Confluence to Bedford, PA 79.8 miles

Ed, Greg, Austin, Dwayne, Letty, and Steven enjoying dinner

Amy and Sam

We were disappointed not to have cell phone or internet access last night but I have now posted for yesterday. Sorry about not too many pictures in yesterday’s posting. For some reason, they won’t upload.

The dam outflow at last night's campsite

How many golden girls does it take to change a tire? Patty, Tracy, and Janet give it a try.

Bob, Rosie, and Liz blast down the trail

A little toad beside the trail

Last night, our weather report said 30% chance of storms during the evening and 50% during the day today so we were a bit concerned about bad weather. We lucked out and no rain last night at all, although it was very damp out due to the humidity. When I got up this morning, I realized that I was assigned breakfast duty so I rushed through my packing and went to help with breakfast. There was a big discussion today about which route to take. For the first time we were offered a choice: either continue riding on the trail or to take the road, which was faster but went to the highest point in PA, 3125feet. Most of us opted for the trail, which is much easier being much flater. And besides, the day was very cloudy and the chance for a view was not too good. Still, the young fast guys and some of the older fast guys took to the road. I started riding with Tracey, Janet, Patty H, and Dianna and almost immediately, Tracey had a flat for us to change. I helped a bit but since there were plenty of hands, I got a quick shot of a little toad along the road.

Greg and Chad display the trail manager's cautionary sign

Once the flat was changed, Janet and I started to ride a bit harder. We were worried about it raining and turning the trail into mush so we kept moving along as fast as we could. And we offered the weather gods a deal: No rain until we are off the trail– just let us finish the trail and then we won’t care if it rains! Last year, the folks who did the trail, which is crushed and hardpacked limestone,  said that it was REALLY hard to ride on after the rain. Of course, they had tons of rain last year. This year, we have been so blessed. We have had those 2 thunder storms but as far as rain is concerned, we have really lucked out.

The deer we saw yesterday

Darrell and Janet check out the hills in this area of PA

Lots of covered bridges in this area!

Letty and Katey cross one of the railroad bridges on the trail

 So Janet and I rode hard to make it to the end of the trail, sometimes with Rosie and Liz and sometimes not, depending upon who stopped to take a picture. We exited the trail at Meyersdale and grabbed some snacks and refilled our water bottles before taking off again. We thought about getting something to eat there but we weren’t that hungry so we decided to try for something to eat in Berlin so we headed out. Immediately, the route turned hilly. Up and down hills we went and along the way, we picked up Darrell as well. When we got to Berlin, the 3 of us started to looking for a place for food. Both Darrell and Janet wanted breakfast food and surprisingly, we were able to find a cafe in that small town that serves breakfast all day. As I was sitting there, I realized my legs were covered with grit from the trail. Darrell referred to this as his 200 grit sandpaper legs. The trail is awesome but it does get you a bit dirty! So we all had  a  second breakfast. I haven’t mentioned this to you yet, but on this trip many of us are like hobbits: we often have a second breakfast after our first. In fact, alot of the fast folks take off from camp and immediately head for the nearest cafe for eggs and coffee. Anyway, the 3 of us really enjoyed our eggs and I was glad I had them instead of a burger as we still had some HUGE hills to do. In fact, Darrell said one of them was 14%! I don’t know about that but I do know it was a tough climb. We saw a sign on Route 31E for the Flight 31 Memorial and thought that we would be going by it but were disappointed that the Big Ride route does go by it. We wished we had been given the option to drive by and pay our respects to the very brave people who died so that others could live.

Rosie and the river from one of the many bridges we crossed on the trail

We climbed one final hill, and then glided down, down, down into camp. By the way, our deal with the weather gods worked! Janet and I got to camp just in time to get our tents set up before the rain. Of course, later on it stopped and now its looking like it might even clear! Friendship Village Campground has laundry facilities and I was SO RELIEVED to get my bath towel washed. In this humidity things just don’t dry so everything seems to be getting damper and damper as time goes on. Fortunately, tomorrow is Gettysburg and I have a little camping cabin reserved for 6 of us “golden girls” to share. We are REALLY looking forward to NOT sleeping in our tents, which are getting a bit disgusting after being damp for so long. Can’t wait to dry everything out! Tomorrow is supposed to be a really hard ride, in fact past riders refer to it as the “final exam”. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Noah, Chad, and Simon reviewing the day's ride

August 4 Washington to Confluence, PA 89.9 miles

Tonite is the first night on our trip that we haven’t  been able to get internet access. We’re camped in kind-of a hole here in Confluence and nobody has cell phone service so I’ll write this tonite and post tomorrow. Sorry about that, folks!!

We got up to a camp breakfast  and hit the road about 7:10am. The campground last night had some very sharp rocks and broken up refractory glass as paving that was really hard on our tires so most  folks walked their bikes to the road.

 The route today took us through some really hilly areas almost from the very beginning as we rode through Washington, PA.  The town made us think (because its so hilly) that we had somehow transmitted ourselves to San Francisco.  We did have a very nice view of a hot air balloon as we rode through.  Once through town, we made our way to Mingo Creek Park which was just lovely. We really enjoyed not having to  deal with many cars and we got to ride beside a lovely creek and admire 2 covered bridges. Unfortunately, my camera memory card got full about then so I had to wait until I got to Rite Aid to get another.  Rite Aid has been a real lifesaver to us on this trip. They carry tons of stuff and it seems that every little town has one and if not, there’s a Walgreens.

 I continued on and caught up with Janet, Samuel, and Diana just as we got to some very serious hills, with one being about 3 miles long and a grade of 12%! Whew, I was glad I didn’t know about that one in advance! We all managed to get over them and rolled into West Newton Station (that’s a town) for our lunch stop and our entry to the Youghiogheny River Trail. For the rest of the afternoon—that’s 50 miles– we rode on this lovely trail, enjoying the low grade and the lack of cars. It really was nice to be off the roads for a change. The trail is crushed, hardpacked limestone and its an old railway that’s been reworked for hiking and biking. Even though this was a Monday, we saw tons of people of all ages out riding bikes and hiking along. And the river was in use too by folks in canoes and rafts. At mile 61, we came to a rest stop that was sponsored by  Big Ride Alum Fred Husak. He did the ride in 2000 and ever since, he has supported the ride with a rest stop each year. Even though we all had lunch just 20 miles ago, we devoured the sub sandwiches and ice cream he had for us as though we hadn’t eaten in days.  He also had birch beer for us, which tastes like root beer but isn’t as sweet.

Leaving Fred’s rest stop, the trail crosses 2 old railway trestles, one of which is very scenic. Then it continues along the river, climbing so slowly you don’t even notice it. At about 15 miles out of camp, I met up with Rosie and we rode together  the rest of the way. It sure made the trip a lot easier having someone to talk to. We even saw a deer beside the road that was so used to people that it didn’t even dash off to the bushes when it saw us.

We’re camped tonite at  a campground  in Confluence right below the dam. There are train tracks nearby but the dam is letting out water due to the recent rains so it mostly drowns out the sound of the trains. Keep your fingers crossed for us that it doesn’t rain tonight because  tomorrow we want to ride the trail and not take the road option, which is quite difficult. We know from what folks said last year about the rain making the trail a huge muddy mess that if it does rain, it’s the road for us. Unfortunately, the road goes to the top of the highest point in PA and since we have a tough day on Wednesday getting into Gettysburg, only the young, the wild, and the crazy are currently planning on doing the road. Stay tuned…..