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