September 21: Zanesville to Barnesville 50.7 miles, 2848 ft elevation climb 🥵

-

 





Today we had a lovely ride out on country roads, no shoulder, but almost no traffic.  The hills were challenging.  The inclines steep.  In one place there was a 9% grade.  Did I mention that we climbed really steep hills today?  We were, of course, rewarded with lovely and quite fast descents!

So today I was thinking about signs, signals and omens.  The picture above shows a sign that tomorrow
really is the first day of Fall.





People in upstate NY believe that the amount of brown on a wooly bear signals the temperatures of the upcoming winter. 


I guess that maybe the wooly bears are not in agreement this year.


Lisa and I agreed that this sign was an omen about the amount of truck traffic on Salem Road today.  We only needed to jump off the road twice!



This usually means that Lisa is about to be bitten or stung by an insect.  Today it meant that she was about to take a photo.



Churches signal that a village is just around the bend.  Or that a cemetery is nearby.

This photo lets you know that you are no longer in the western states.



This indicates that you are.  In the west.


I'm really not sure what Pete's noodle indicates in it's current state.


This is the signal that it's time to rack the bikes, we've had enough for one day...........

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 11 Halfway, Oregon (population 303) to Cambridge, Idaho (population 328)

-
Image
Well that was an interesting night for sure! I slept in the shack "out back." On my way to the shack to go to bed,  I saw a large feral cat. That sprang my imagination into high speed. Hmm I wonder why it ran under the shack? Will birds and snakes crawl into my shack? Oh bother! When I finally went to sleep, I slept well. No creatures visited in the night.  Monday morning. Up bright and early! Lauran gave me a gentle reminder to wake up. As she had already perked a pot of coffee, I was eager to get up and get going. We all bustled about the place packing and preparing for today's climb; almost identical to yesterday's trajectory. Today we hoped to get started an hour earlier to avoid the predicted high heat. We might make all 58 miles if we planned it right. Donning some very strange looking duck billed visors, we set off into the rising sun. What a fantastic morning. Flying up over hills and down the other side on Hells Canyon Rd. I got a great view of an Elk standin
Read more

September 23: Steubensville OH through West Virginia to Pittsburgh PA; 33 miles

-
Image
View from our hotel in Steubensville Today we started on our 4 trail to finish stretch. And we crossed 2 state borders!  We started on the Panhandle Trail in West Virginia which hooked into the Montour trail that circles around Pittsburgh and eventually connects with the Great Allegheny Passage and lastly the C&O into Washington.  Both the Panhandle and Montour are lovely.   The Panhandle was flat and paved making for excellent riding at top cruising speeds (20 mph)!  The Montour was crushed limestone but smooth.  We traveled across a long trestle bridge and through a 600 ft long tunnel.  Great fun!  Tomorrow we will connect with the GAP for 3 days.  This phase seems like a huge turning point, no more road riding, and.......Pete gave up his noodle! Pete sadly removes his noodle, it seems to be too old to be of use! It was a COLD 🥶morning, temperatures did not get above mid 60s until lunchtime.  The frigid temperature necessitated a stop at the Walden Restaurant in Burgettstown PA.
Read more

Day 66: Old Town to Williamsport, 43 miles. An Epic Day all Around!

-
Image
Pete's Epic Malfunction: he survived to tell the tale! One more day!   Stephanie agreed to SAG today.  Lance, Lisa, Pete and I set off on a crisp sunny morning after a leisurely morning at the school house.  We had heard from cyclist Mitch that there was a paved trail paralleling the C&O that we could pick up in Little Orleans.  Since we needed to SAG around the Paw Paw Tunnel anyways, Stephanie drove us over the mountain on a gravel road to the trailhead.  We were thrilled to see a black bear cross the road in front of us while enroute.  Lisa remarked that she was glad that we were in the car as opposed to on bikes. The Western Maryland rail trail was smooth and easy to navigate.  We enjoyed the fall air and ease of travel.  At Hancock we left the trail to look for lunch.  ONE restaurant was open and they had a 30 minute wait due to not having enough waitstaff and cooks.  We're retired, we have time!  And how could you not want to eat at a restaurant named "Buddylou&#
Read more