8/20-Made it to the GAP!

Today was another rainy day, but at least I made it 40 miles before it became continually raining.

To back up a bit, knowing I wanted to make it to Confluence today, I left the hotel at 7:00. It was light enough for being on the trail.

Back on the Caperton Trail which became the Mon River North Trail

Right off the bat I saw the first of 14 deer today. 

I think they were used to people because they didn’t move for a long time.

The trail became crushed gravel after awhile. I went past this place that just said West Virginia to me for some reason.

At a road crossing I came upon this scary creature…or maybe “trail mascot”?

He/she was very friendly.

The trail, of course, was continuing along the river. There was this…not sure…but maybe coal plant?

I only think that because I saw a pile of coal

I knew I only had about 6 miles before I would cross into state number 12, Pennsylvania. Sure enough!

The Mon River North Trail became the Sheepskin Trail at the state line.

I’m not going to be in PA for all that long. Tomorrow, I will cross back into West Virginia (but I am spending the night in PA).

The Sheepskin Trail ended (for the time being), and I was out on the roads and hills of PA. Exactly like WV, it was up and down. I had the final three climbs that initiated the climb profile. The first one was after crossing the Cheat River.

There was a guy sleeping under an umbrella on the sidewalk of the bridge. I told him he was going to need to move so I could get by. 

The climb was .86 of a mile with an average grade of 8%! Haven’t had one like that for awhile! It was a thigh buster for sure! But, I managed to ride the whole thing.

The final climb was just shy of 2 miles long. Haven’t had one that long since…I can’t remember when! 

The first rain came at 27 miles in (I kid you not). At first it was just spitting, but then it picked up to a pretty heavy rain. I put my rain jacket on because I’ve decided wet from sweat is better than soaked from rain. That squall passed, and I was able to take off my jacket. 

The route did a weird gravel sly dog that was a steep, loose, chunky descent that was followed by an equally steep, loose, chunky climb. I had to walk the climb.

This was a halfway good part.

Then there was another route part that briefly had me wondering. 

I figured out the sign was probably for the driveway to the left. The gravel to the right did go through.

I made it to the town of Dunbar. There wasn’t much to it except that there was another 2 mile section of the Sheepskin Trail. What I’m wondering is if the old railway exists from where I was on it before, but they just haven’t made it a whole trail yet?

Most importantly, this two mile section led to the GAP! For those who don’t know, the GAP is the Great Allegheny Passage. It’s a bike path that runs from Cumberland to Pittsburgh. I’m not doing the whole thing as I came on near South Connellsville, about mile 87. 

This is another part of the route I have really been looking forward to. The GAP and the C&O are iconic routes. Unfortunately, the rain returned with a vengeance for the remainder of the day. At one point, I heard a tree fall. It was below the trail on the river side. It did freak me out just a little. I think there’s a little PTSD from the flooding I’ve experienced. 

This was a cool waterfall. You could walk behind it.

The trail and the Allegheny River

I would have taken more photos, but it was just so rainy. I saw a couple on touring bikes. I stopped and said hello. It was nice to see other people out there doing the same thing. In fact, they were also riding to Confluence, and staying at the same place.

I came to the big bridge over the river just before coming into Ohiopyle. There were a bunch of rafters down on the river.

I guess it wouldn’t matter that it was raining!

I rolled into Ohiopyle. I had 11 miles to go to Confluence, but I was hungry. I just wanted a snack to fuel me the next 11 miles. I went to the market/restaurant. Despite the rain, there were tons of people. I got my snack, and sat outside under cover as it was too cold inside. 

Back on the GAP, I caught up to another two riders with gear. I had actually seen them in Ohiopyle loading up their bikes. They were stopped, fixing a derailleur issue. They caught up to me a bit later. They had started their ride on the GAP and C&O in Ohiopyle. Tim, and daughter, Maddie were enjoyable to ride with. Before I knew it, I was at Confluence!

Tim and Maddie

I made my way to the River’s Edge Cafe and B&B. I met the woman I had talked to on the phone. She gave me the low down on the house and where I could put Wanda. They even had a hose that I could rinse the sand and dirt off! She hasn’t been this clean in days! I dried her chain, and lubed it.  She’s safely parked in the garage. 

The B&B is this cool old house. I think there’s just three rooms. Anna-Maria is the owner. Very nice woman, if not a wee bit frazzled. The cafe serves dinner. A continental breakfast is included. The room is only $90!

My room

The common area/kitchen

The river from the balcony

Ravioli portobello! Delish!

The couple I met did arrive. I haven’t asked their names yet. The woman asked where I was going tomorrow. I told her I was going to Cumberland. She was quick to tell me that was a long ride. She doesn’t know what I’ve done! Even if it is all uphill (but railroad grade), it’s going to be easier than many other days, including today! Weather is supposed to be good!

Cool thing…Sarah is camping in Confluence tonight! We are going to ride together again tomorrow!

8/19-Riding With the Guys!

The West Fork Trail out of Shinnston to Fairmont was really nice. The first part was newly paved, and smooth as buttuh!

I suppose this was long before the trail…

Looking very nice!

As you might guess, this trail followed the West Fork River. There were a few people out walking. I came upon two gentlemen. I stopped to chat with them. Their names were, of all things, Tom and Jerry! They both ride, but not long distances.

Water seems to be still high

Good morning little fawn

The rock walls were cool

Pretty long bridge

The trail was less improved at the very end just before Fairmont. 

Not quite so great

Then this super steep bit to get up to the road

The ride through Fairmont was not the best. Lots of traffic for one thing, and the condition of the pavement meant I really had to watch where I was going. Of course, as soon as you are not on a trail, it’s very hilly. I made a quick chocolate milk stop at the grocery store, then continued to work my way to the next trail.

The Marion County Trail wasn’t too long, but it had a cool tunnel.

Inside there were lights!

At a park, there was a short connector trail to the Mon River Trail South. The Mon River Trail follows the Monongahela River all the way to Morgantown. At the beginning, it was so smooth, I thought it was paved, but it wasn't. It was just recently compacted with a roller.

That looks like pavement!

There’s the roller!

The Monongahela River

I was cruising along when I came upon four guys on bikes. Well, they weren’t on their bikes at the moment. Of course I stopped to say hi. They said, “Are you with Sarah?” They had met her about 30 minutes before me. They were Mike, Harvey, Keith, and Darrell (who was videoing our conversation). They came to ride the trails for three days in the Morgantown area. 

Since they were now heading back to Morgantown, we rode together. It was very enjoyable chatting with them as we were riding along. The miles flew by, and soon we were coming into Morgantown. The guys had told me about a restaurant that had good banana pudding. We stopped there, and they said they wanted to buy me lunch! How nice was that!!! I had a margarita flatbread, and of course the banana pudding. It was all delicious! We had a great time chatting. Thanks again, guys, for the ride, the conversation, and the lunch! Also, thanks for the intel on the GAP and the C&O.

Their hotel was close by, so we said our goodbyes. 

Bye!

I had about three more miles to go to the other side of Morgantown (maybe it’s really Star City?) to the Quality Inn. The trail went under the WV Univ Tram. The tram was built to shuttle students back and forth between the two campuses. Unfortunately, it is known to break down quite a bit. It seemed to be working okay as I saw several tram cars go zipping back and forth.

I arrived at the turn for the hotel. Luckily, it was just one block up off the trail. This Quality Inn is pretty generous in the word “quality”, but it’s also pretty cheap, so I’m not complaining.

Today’s weather was great, but I think it’s back to rain tomorrow *sigh*. At least I hope it’s not floody floody!

T-minus one week to DC and Nolan!!!

8/18-A Day With Sarah!

We left our lovely glamping yurt at about 7:45ish. 

Ready to roll!

We went back out the biking entrance to the park. Even though it had rained overnight, there was definitely less standing water. Sarah hadn’t done the sly dog from the trail coming in yesterday, so I lead the way. Coming down the walkway to the pedestrian bridge, she slipped and went down (it was slippery from the water and dirt that had been flowing down), but she was okay. We popped back out onto the North Bend Trail. As we were riding, Sarah spotted this turtle. 

We let him stay on the trail since there weren’t any other people.

We still had a couple of tunnels to do. The first one was pretty good. 

Okay, a little muddy at the entrance.

We came into the town of Salem. We saw a sign that said it was founded in 1742. 

The trailhead depot

Not far out of Salem, we came to a flagger named Tom. They were doing construction on the highway bridge that went over the trail, and the trail was closed. Tom made a phone call and a pickup showed up and escorted us through. 

The final tunnel was not far after the construction. Sarah decided to go through without turning on her headlight. There was a lot of water, and it was a bit nerve wracking, but I just followed her, and we made it through. 

Almost through!

We came to the end of our time on the North Bend Trail. Now it was back to the road, and with the road comes the hills. Up and down, up and down.

we stopped at a 7-11 just a couple of miles from Clarksburg. We got a snack, and took a break. Coming into Clarksburg, the road was pretty busy. The route seemed to have us going in circles, but what it was doing was getting us to the next trail. We had another closed section of road, but we just walked our bikes on the sidewalk. At one point, we could look across and see how Clarksburg is really built on all these hills. 

Dana had told us about this Italian bakery. Of course, because I have bad bakery karma, even though it’s Tuesday, it was closed. 

We tried…

We arrived at the Harrison Trail start. It was a nice trail. They had recently done some grading, so it was a little soft in places. Then there was a giant tree down, and they were working to clear it. Since we had just crossed a road, we went back and took the road to where the trail crossed again. Obstacle avoided!

Deer sighting

We pulled off at a drive-in movie theater. Sarah had never seen a drive-in before! She also discovered her rear tire was low. Since it was a good spot off the busy road, she went ahead and changed the tube. 

It was less than a mile, but one steep climb, to get to where I was staying tonight in Shinnston. Since I hadn’t gone as far as I had planned yesterday, Morgantown was farther than I wanted to go today. The place is called the Bunkhouse Lodge. Really it’s just a motel, but to its credit, it’s the cheapest motel I’ve stayed at so far at just $50! There’s a lot crammed into the room…nearly full sized fridge, full sized coffee maker, microwave, and even a toaster! Plus there’s an overstuffed chair, a small table, and two other chairs. Wanda fits, though, so we’re all good.

Sarah decided to get a few more miles in. First she needed to go to the library to do some stuff on a computer. She texted me when she was done, and I rode over to meet her at a famous hot dog restaurant. 

Late lunch

I may see Sarah again, we’ll keep in touch, but she’ll be ahead now. It was really fun riding with her today. Also, for the first time in a few days, it was sunny the whole day! Tomorrow looks to be good too, but then the rain will be back (uhggg).

T-minus 8 days to DC and Nolan!