Exploring Pittsburgh. June 4

 I’m exhausted—no bike miles, but we logged about eight miles of walking around Pittsburgh on the final day off of the trip.  The day was lovely, and there was lots going on.  With both the Gay Pride parade and an arts festival, many people were out and about, celebrating the resumption of special events.  

On our way across a bridge, we spotted a lone kayaker in front of the Allegheny County jail.  On our way back in the afternoon, a very large barge was going along there. 

I felt like a hick from the country, awed by the skyscrapers.

Do you recognize this?

We visited the Heinz Museum of History, which of course contained an exhibit of Heinz food, including lots of great old TV commercials.

Our final destination was The Point, where the Ohio, Allegheny, and Monongahela Rivers meet.

French fries on a sandwich?  We had lunch at Primanti’s, which has been serving up these sandwiches for about ninety years.  Served on Italian bread, they include French fries, cole slaw, provolone, and your choice of another protein.  The combination was surprisingly tasty. 

Adventure along the way June 3

 No post yesterday because we loaded a UHaul again to avoid the predicted heavy rains, as well as a lot of hills.  I was quite happy to be riding in the van, took no photos, and sat out a rainy afternoon reading in another Holiday Inn Express.

Today’s ride was great fun.  I rode 40 miles into Pittsburgh, with minimal climbing.  Others logged 50 miles and about twice as much climbing as I did.  Nancy and I opted to have Ken drive us at the entrance to to Montour rail trail, cutting out five miles, mostly up very steep hills.  Rolling along the trail was great, but alas, we came to some construction, requiring a detour back on the hilly roads.  The ebikers and Super Stan took off, as I struggled up another 15 percent grade.  At the top, I was off my bike, wondering where everyone was, when a strange voice called my name.  I looked at an old red truck with Nancy was sitting next to the driver.  He had loaded her bike in the back of the truck, and I very happily agreed to put mine in and climb in the truck, too.  He drove us to a spot where we could get back on the trail, and so we missed a few more hills.  The rest of the ride was pretty much downhill to the Monongahela River and the Great Allegheny Passage, known as the GAP trail,  which we will ride down to Cumberland, Maryland.  

Looking down the trail

 Jew from one of the many bridges on the trail

A jeweled spider web

Sign at a tunnel entrance 

Earl, our rescuer, and Nancy hoisting my bike out of his truck.

Pastry selection at Minerva’s, a 99 year old bakery in McKeesport.  I had a wonderful cinnamon sugar pretzel with my lunch and some equally delicious carrot cake after dinner!

More hills. June 1

 It was another short but exhausting day, 35 miles into Newell, West Virginia, right on the Ohio River.  We had 3200 feet of climbing, lots of 15 percent grades, one that was 19 or 20.  I walked a few, the steepest, and sometimes because I hadn’t recovered enough from one to tackle another.  We did have one 13 mile stretch on a highway with gentler grades and better pavement that was easy rolling with beautiful scenery. Most of the scenery was lovely on the hillier stretches, too, but hard to take in when I’m struggling uphill or flying downhill.  

We meet many interesting people.  Linda, who works at the hotel we stayed in last night, is 77 and proudly informed us that she had run her first 5K event and is planning to do a 10K.  We told her how impressed we were, and she was very interested in our biking and our ages. 

I didn’t count, but Hope claims there were 93 cars loaded with coal in this train.

Dave stopped on the bridge to look out over the Ohio River.  The welcome to West Virginia sign was right at the end of the bridge.

Did I mention there are a few hills around here?

No trails today May 31

 It’s the last day of May and the last full day for us in Ohio.  Tomorrow we ride into West Virginia.  Todays ride was mercifully short, only 37 miles, but mercilessly hilly.  We had about 2600 feet of climbing over about 28 miles, with several 9 or 10 percent grades, and one that I walked up probably even steeper.  Today I was riding with my two friends with electric bikes, and Stan, who is about 115 lbs. of pure muscle.  (He rode 100 miles the day before yesterday “just because…”). They were very nice about waiting for me and taking extra breaks the last 15 miles.  Helicoptering over the Alleghenys would be very nice.

Here I am with Hope and Sharon, still looking chipper.

We must be getting near West Virginia.

In the groove May 30

 Why do we ride?  For days like this one.  We made an early start, knowing the afternoon would be hot.  The ride was only 37 miles, ten easy ones, then a fair amount of climbing, as we made our way to Massillon, an old steel producing town near Canton. Fortunately, the hills weren’t too long, and they came with some great downhills and nice rollers, where you have enough momentum from the downhill to roll right up the next hill.  And as I hope you can tell, the scenery along the way was lovely.  Add in a comfortable lunch in the breakfast room of tonight’s hotel, a peaceful afternoon, and a fine Mexican dinner, trading stories of other biking adventures, and it was one fine day.

About half the day’s ride was still in Amish country.  Hope took this photo of me pacing a horse and buggy.

I saw one, two, three, four and five horse teams in various fields along the way.  Hope also took this photo, after asking permission.  Since the Amish are somewhat reluctant about being photographed, I didn’t want to bring out my camera, too.

The big barrel-like green tank is holding oil pumped from the small oil well behind it.  I saw several of these contraptions but didn’t know what they were until Ken explained at dinner..

We have gone from butterweed to buttercups.

Massillon reportedly has a notable football history, commemorated on this mural.

Another mural in the downtown area, this one recognizing the role of the Ohio and Erie Canal in Massillon’s history.  We rode along a little of the old towpath today.  Massillon was once referred to as a port, even though it is almost 90 miles south of Lake Erie.

Ohio Amish Country May 29

 Yesterday’s blog title was supposed to be Easy Riding.  I guess East Riding is correct, although it sounds like a Canadian parliamentary district.

We rode 42 miles today, again mostly on great trails, in to Millersburg, Ohio.  Millersburg and the surrounding area are the Lancaster, PA, of Ohio, with a large Amish and Mennonite population.  We had great riding weather, and somewhere along the way, the terrain changed from the flat prairie to hills and valleys. One stretch of rail trail had about two miles of gentle uphill, one to two percent grade, and an even longer downhill.  After miles of flat riding, some ups and downs are a nice change.  

Our first trail was the Kokosing Gap Trail.  Note the bike wheels in the heart.

Scenes along a beautiful trip.  Can you find me under the big, old sycamore tree?

Parts of the trail allow horse and buggy as well as bikes.  We saw many more Amish and Mennonites on bikes, trikes, and electric bikes than in buggies.

I thought this courthouse was quite impressive. We are staying in a nearby hotel that was built in 1847.  It is a very nice change from the chain hotels like Comfort Inn that we most frequently frequent.

East Riding May 28

 Yesterday was a rainy day off in Columbus, Ohio.  We figured out city buses to ride to an REI, where Sharon and I bought new rain pants.  The inner lining of my 15 year old pair was flaking off, leaving a trail of goretex dandruff and not doing much to keep me dry.  If we get no more rain on the trip, we plan to take credit and bill the others for keeping them dry.

Today we started in a cool mist, but no rain, and we had nice sunshine by the end of the day.  We rode 46 miles, mostly on trails, to Mount Vernon, Ohio.  We had expected to have longer stretches on roads, but we met a local rider who advised us that more of the trail was open than we had expected.  

After two days of heavy rains, the creeks we riding along were more like rivers. 

We encountered this marvelous playground structure at a park near the trail. The kids are climbing a little wall and ropes inside the tower, then would come sliding down.

 

This stretch of trail wasn’t completed a week ago when our local guide had ridden out to it.  We did have to ride around yellow tape to get on and it felt a little sticky, but it was very rideable.

We had lunch at a park at the geographic center of the state.

Girders from an old Pittsburgh Plate Glass plant now an outdoor sculpture.

Mount Vernon features this whimsical fountain and a great custard stand. Hope wanted to take a picture of us eating our treats, but we pretty much polished them off before she came out.