Amazingly, our seven day trip from Pittsburgh to Cumberland and back has concluded. We woke up today in Connellsville after a long rainy night. After a hearty breakfast at the Home Town diner (where we ate last night), we got on the trail to begin the final 43 mile push. My rear tire was looking a little flat as we started, so I attempted to inflate it with my portable hand pump. Unfortunately I managed to completely deflate the tire while failing to get the pump attached to the valve! Tony's CO2 inflator saved the day. Tony wore his new knee brace, though it was never clear that it was helping. We were mostly in deep woods today, with nice views of the river on one side and occasional waterfalls and streams descending the steep hills on the other. The same soft clay that we slogged through on our second day was waiting for us again today for a mile or so, after what was apparently a full day of rain yesterday. We stopped at the bike shop in West Newton for a tire top off and to buy a replacement CO2 cartridge. Then on to the Picnic Stand for tacos and a chicken Philly. We chatted with a number of other northbound cyclists on the trail. I also had five minutes of play time with a very friendly and cute white kitten who lived alongside the trail.
We got back to the car after four hours of pedaling. We spent about half an hour getting the bike rack reassembled, washing the mud off the bikes, taking some final pictures, and stripping everything off the bikes. We then retired to a local cafe for cold drinks and free WiFi to search for a room for the night.
We had our first and only really nice dinner tonight at the Monterey Bay Grotto at the top of a tall building on the top of Mt. Washington. Spectacular high view of the city...
Tomorrow we're going to catch the contemporary art installations (room-sized) at The Mattress Factory when it opens. Then Tony hits the road and I head for the airport.
It's been a great trip, Tony's been an excellent travel companion, and I am already starting to think about the next biking adventure.
No comments:
Post a Comment