Monday, June 22, 2009
Day 7: Bedford, PA to Donegal, PA
Originally we'd planned on riding to Washington, PA today, a distance of 108 miles. But after yesterday, we decided that sort of distance would be pretty much impossible. The new goal would be Donegal, PA, just sixty miles away. We also decided this would mean we could sleep in a bit and have a sit down meal downtown.
The owner of the motel we stayed at (I think it was Wild Bill, but I don't remember) recommended a bike shop and a restaurant in town. Our first stop was the bike shop. The handlebars were acting a bit shaky. The mechanic took a look at it, but he had no idea what the problem could be. Everything looked tight. So we rode on, with me in a bad mood. Next stop was the restaurant downtown. I wish I could remember the name, but all I really remember was this genius Velcro screen door which kept all the bugs out but made it easy to walk in and out.
Breakfast, which was quite delicious and very inexpensive, was rather slow. That gave us plenty of time to interact with people. First Wild Bill came in and was glad to see we'd followed his breakfast suggestion. Then we talked with quite a few people that were curious about the bike. Finally we talked with one woman who was so curious she called the paper, who came over and interviewed us (Read the Article). As we were riding away from breakfast we got caught up in another conversation with Wild Bill and his friend.
We weren't able to get going until almost 11, which got even later when we stopped at the Giant Coffee Pot.
Further on, we met a giant herald.
We did a lot of climbing on our way out of Bedford. A lot more than we expected.
We're hoping that Pennsylvania will have the worst hills of the trip and that we can get them over with first. We have talked with a lot of people that have gone cross country, and they all agree that the Rockies are really high and often have up to twenty mile long hills. But on those you just pick a low gear and ride for a few hours steady, then get a pleasant downhill. In PA, you get only 3-5 mile long hills, but they're up to twice as steep in places. The downhills feel short, and the minute you're down the hill you have to climb all over again. The hills aren't as tall, but they're even worse to ride. Sometimes you don't even get a nice view!
Wild Bill had warned us the hills to the West of Bedford were worse than the ones to the East. Foolishly, we didn't believe him. This was what we could see of what would become the worst hill we've done so far. At the top was one of these:
Except then there wasn't a downhill. It was level a minute, and then we were back uphill. We had to stop again soon.
We also passed a combination Bed and Breakfast/Vacuum Cleaner Repair shop. Finally we summited.
This was apparently the site of a ship hotel.
We apparently had not summited. We did another mile of climbing.
Finally we were at the top. Except we found that we were now in the Laural Highlands. There would be no huge downhill, we'd just stay up on top of a plateau for many hours. The road became very straight.
In the midst of a giant wind farm installation we found a Subway. It was very hot, so the Subway, with AC and cold drinks, was very appreciated. We turned off US-30 here, and headed past Indian Lake.
From there we went to the Flight 93 Memorial. It is on a quiet, windswept hill. No one talks, you simply stand on the hill, looking at what was left, and staring at the field where the plane hit.
After we left the memorial we realized that we were running out of time. We started riding really hard through rural Pennsylvania roads. One road we took had loose dogs at every turn. We had to mace our first dog, a chocolate lab. I felt awful, but we can't risk a dog attack again, and if the dog turns toward the bike either he or us can easily get hurt. Looking back on it, I really don't see another option, but I still feel bad.
Just before we got to Somerset, PA we stopped for some more water. We were both exhausted.
Unfortunately, we still had a long way to go. We ended up climbing another huge hill at twilight and barely making it off the Laural Highlands by dark. When we finally saw the Day's Inn Sign in Donegal, I don't think we could have been any happier.
We had dinner at a McDonalds, since it was the only thing open at 10:15. I'm not even sure that we talked during dinner, so much as we just stared at each other and wondered how a rest day turned into a second epic ride.
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| posted at: 22:00 |
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