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!

8/17-Wildlife on the North Bend Trail!

I noticed the further east I get the earlier I can leave. This morning I was ready to go at 7:30. It was 4 miles through Parkersburg to get to the North Bend Trail where I would spend the rest of the day. 

The surface varied, but was generally pretty good until later when the rain came. 

The North Bend Trail has many bridges and many tunnels. The bridges would cross the same creek multiple times, then another creek multiple times, and so on.

Shhh!

I lost track of how many tunnels I went through. Here’s some photos. 

The first of two Pennsboro tunnels had an extra special water feature. 

As you can see, it was water covering the whole tunnel floor. Now, at this point, my feet were still dry. I wanted to keep it that way. See the sides? I decided to walk along the left side, and push Wanda through the water (it wasn’t that deep). The walk way was kind of narrow. I realized my yellow shirt (my nice clean yellow shirt) was cleaning the side of the tunnel. Hopefully next time I wash it, it will come clean. 

I saw lots of wildlife today. First I saw a fox, then I saw a deer, then two turkeys, more deer, and…a BEAR! Unfortunately I couldn’t get a photo because it was a good bear and turned and ran as soon as it heard me. 

The deer? Not so much.

It was exciting to see a bear. I imagine I might see more as there are a lot of black bears in WV. Maybe I’ll be able to get a photo. 

I stopped in Ellensboro for some lunch at McDonalds. It was right next to the trail. As I continued on, it started getting g darker and darker. Uh oh, we know what that means! I put my rain jacket on, but not the shorts. Pretty soon it was absolutely pouring. It was hard to see. Wanda did a great job maneuvering around the branches and through the water. There had been numerous waterfalls. Now there were even more. 

I had hid out for a bit in this tunnel. When I came out, it was only lightly raining, but the waterfall was really going!

I finally made it to Smithburg. I was going to camp at Doddridge County Park. 

When I got to the park, I noticed they had yurts. I asked if any were available. Yurt 3 was, so I got it. There has been a woman named Sarah who has been slowly catching up to me. Vivian said she had to meet me. We’ve been in contact with each other, and finally ended up at the same place. I told her I got a yurt, and she was welcome to stay in it too. She arrived not too much later. It’s been fun comparing notes. Dana even came by to see us (what took us all day to ride took him an hour to drive)! 

Things are drying out. My shoes are soaked once again. Tomorrow, Sarah and I will ride together. I’m only going to Shinnston. It’s too far to go to Morgantown like I planned. I will eat up that extra day by taking two days to Morgantown. Shinnston is about halfway.

Best thing about today was seeing a bear! Worst thing was more rain! I’m so tired of all the rain and flooding. It just needs to stop!

T-minus 9 days to Nolan and DC!