Riding Day 62 - August 16th, 2019
Start: Pittsburgh, PA
End: Ohiopyle, PA
Miles: 82.1
Feet climbing per mile: 52
Record of today’s ride: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/38678531
Last night when I was flossing my teeth I used the last of the floss. This was not supposed to happen, because I brought with me a 55-yard container. If I were to use 18 inches of floss each day then the container would last 110 days. I ran out on day 81, and there was one day I didn’t floss (when my campground’s only amenities were outhouses). My average daily floss usage has therefore been 24.75 inches.
The adventure continues!
I had prepared two routes for today, one based on google maps biking directions and another based on driving directions. I used the former which gave me an easy ride out of town, although if I had reviewed the route carefully I could have adjusted it to avoid some awkward sections. The route was mostly on the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP), which was paved for several miles. But twenty miles into the ride the surface was crushed limestone, and two cyclists I met told me it continued that way all the way to Washington, DC. After a while I became annoyed with the excess rolling resistance of the crushed limestone and decided to abandon the GAP trail. Can you guess in my ride profile where that was, and where I returned to the trail?
Eventually I accepted that I would ride on crushed limestone in order to avoid steep climbing, and sometimes the scenery was not just greenery on both sides preventing me from seeing what was beyond.
As I came close to Ohiopyle State Park, where I'm spending the night, I met another camper, David, on one of the bridges. He told me that the easiest way to the campground was to turn around, ride a short distance, and then ride a steep quarter-mile trail to the campground. The alternative was to continue according to my route and ride three or four miles on the road.
I rode back to look at the quarter-mile trail. As I started to walk the trail, awkwardly pushing my bike up the incline, but I almost immediately decided to take the longer path, on the road. What a mistake that was! The steepness of the road led me to walk at least a half mile. If I had followed David’s advice I would have arrived at the campground sooner and less exhausted.
I was unable to drive any stakes into the ground so I drove two stakes into a log and used them to spread the foot of my tent.
So that I would be sure to arrive in Ohiopyle before all the restaurants closed, I forwent taking a shower until after I returned from dinner but I did change into my off-bike clothes for the walk into town taking the quarter-mile trail. I forgot to take my headlamp or front bike light with me so had to use the light on my phone for my return walk in the dark.
My ride on the GAP trail is probably the longest most gradual climb I’ve ever done. The trail is almost flat but I averaged 52 feet per mile of climbing today.
It’s now almost midnight as I write this while sitting at my picnic table. There are no mosquitoes. The full moon is partially visible through the trees. Perhaps I’ll be able to find a place to view it unobstructed.
End: Ohiopyle, PA
Miles: 82.1
Feet climbing per mile: 52
Record of today’s ride: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/38678531
Last night when I was flossing my teeth I used the last of the floss. This was not supposed to happen, because I brought with me a 55-yard container. If I were to use 18 inches of floss each day then the container would last 110 days. I ran out on day 81, and there was one day I didn’t floss (when my campground’s only amenities were outhouses). My average daily floss usage has therefore been 24.75 inches.
The adventure continues!
I had prepared two routes for today, one based on google maps biking directions and another based on driving directions. I used the former which gave me an easy ride out of town, although if I had reviewed the route carefully I could have adjusted it to avoid some awkward sections. The route was mostly on the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP), which was paved for several miles. But twenty miles into the ride the surface was crushed limestone, and two cyclists I met told me it continued that way all the way to Washington, DC. After a while I became annoyed with the excess rolling resistance of the crushed limestone and decided to abandon the GAP trail. Can you guess in my ride profile where that was, and where I returned to the trail?
Eventually I accepted that I would ride on crushed limestone in order to avoid steep climbing, and sometimes the scenery was not just greenery on both sides preventing me from seeing what was beyond.
As I came close to Ohiopyle State Park, where I'm spending the night, I met another camper, David, on one of the bridges. He told me that the easiest way to the campground was to turn around, ride a short distance, and then ride a steep quarter-mile trail to the campground. The alternative was to continue according to my route and ride three or four miles on the road.
I rode back to look at the quarter-mile trail. As I started to walk the trail, awkwardly pushing my bike up the incline, but I almost immediately decided to take the longer path, on the road. What a mistake that was! The steepness of the road led me to walk at least a half mile. If I had followed David’s advice I would have arrived at the campground sooner and less exhausted.
I was unable to drive any stakes into the ground so I drove two stakes into a log and used them to spread the foot of my tent.
So that I would be sure to arrive in Ohiopyle before all the restaurants closed, I forwent taking a shower until after I returned from dinner but I did change into my off-bike clothes for the walk into town taking the quarter-mile trail. I forgot to take my headlamp or front bike light with me so had to use the light on my phone for my return walk in the dark.
My ride on the GAP trail is probably the longest most gradual climb I’ve ever done. The trail is almost flat but I averaged 52 feet per mile of climbing today.
It’s now almost midnight as I write this while sitting at my picnic table. There are no mosquitoes. The full moon is partially visible through the trees. Perhaps I’ll be able to find a place to view it unobstructed.
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