After a night of listening to pouring rain interrupted by frequent passing trains whistling at grade crossings, we awoke to sprinkles and a radar picture of a series of showers that promised to douse us all morning. In fact, we pedaled along with Bob through sprinkles and drizzle throughout much of the day. Temperatures were in the high 50s. Although I was mostly warm and dry the whole day, Tony and Bob got chilled every time we stopped. The trail started out like soft clay, and we were slogging through it. Fortunately after a few miles the surface hardened up a bit and we ended up doing about 10 mph the rest of the day. Not as fast as yesterday. We had advance purchase tickets to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater house near Ohiopyle at 4:30. By lunchtime (1:30), this was starting to look iffy. Biking through the beautiful and remote Ohiopyle State Park, we found there was no cell phone service to discuss late arrival options. We pushed on, passing some of the 35,000 coke ovens that dot the hillside facing the meandering river. Also the site of a coal washing and sorting factory, numerous waterfalls, train trestles and river overlooks. We crossed paths with my friends Alex Bernhard and Myra Mayman, who were finishing up their biking trip in Pittsburgh. They reported on the upcoming sights, gave us some recommendations for where to eat, and cheered us on.
We arrived in Ohiopyle at 4pm, which might have allowed enough time to bike to Fallingwater (or so we thought), but Tony was saying that he couldn't pedal any further, and it was probably another 4-5 miles. After a few phone calls, we had a roundtrip ride arranged with immediate pickup. We hosed the bikes off, stripped off muddy clothes, and headed out. The Fallingwater in-depth tour was fantastic, and we arrived with a full two minutes to spare. Tony will be posting some pictures of the main and guest houses. It was totally worth all of the stress to get to see this remarkable house.
A great day despite the weather...
And now we prepare ourselves for another night of passing trains...
- Jim
Sent from my iPod (sorry for any typos)
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