Traveling at Mach 0.012

Sunday May 18, 2014
Start – Perryopolis
Destination – Monaca
Day total miles – 76
Journey total miles – 559

Its pronounced “Mow-naa-ka”

Waking up to a cool Sunday morning, I put on most of my clothes- 2 shirts, bike shorts (contemplated the rain pants), down vest and rain jacket. Only hands were cold and that did not last too long. Onto the GAP trail to finish it off this morning and heading into Pittsburgh. It has become apparent that my duties include map-making, navigation, and finder of all good things breakfast. West Newton looked to be the first decent sized town at about 20 miles or so into the trip. Gary’s Chuckwagon had some good reviews. Stopped short of the turnoff to wait for the group to reassemble and Joe talked to some local residents. Their recommendation was Gary’s and it was great.

Seems like half of what I think about now is food and what to eat next. I am sure this theme will continue.

Back on the bikes and winding into Pittsburgh. So exciting, the big Garmin shows 500 miles approaching. As we get closer to the city, we are greeted with several welcome to Pittsburgh shout outs. This will prove to be a blessing and then not so much. Hit the 500 mile mark just short of the Round house museum point where there is a farmers market and lots of bikers milling around. We stop to stretch and get some photos. Being fully loaded, we are engaged in many conversations about where we are headed (“Oh, you did not just finish here in beautiful Pittsburgh?”). We eat, drink and snap a few pictures. Then it is off to downtown.

Our endpoint and rest stop is Monaca, where we have rooms for 2 nights and some rest. Little did we know that there are hills separating us. We follow the bike trail to its end, or at least some trail. Then the map has us going thru town to the other side…

These are not just hills, these are mountains. Now I don’t have a whole bunch of faith in the grade indication on the bike computer, but 25% pops up and stays. I know, that it probably was not exactly 25%, but it sure felt like strait up to me. Not just a short blip either, a big, long, winding hill with cars and side walks, and interesting neighborhoods, and more hill up there. Made the climbs on the first ones. But it is taking its toll. All of the clothes I put on early were mostly off, down to the bike shorts and shirt, still sweating like mad. Glad it was not 97 degrees or something ridiculous. I look at the map on my phone and see that we are going back down to a river and following the river. It has to be flatter.

At one point in the snaking ride through the city, we are zig-zagging (a thing my maps do a lot of) through the streets and I pass a city police car. The officer rolls her window down and asks what I am doing. My canned response, riding cross country of course. She just shakes her head and mutters “be careful around here”

The route takes us all over and through small towns, past shady establishments and into industrial areas. Glad it is a Sunday and no truck traffic. The ride is actually pretty good for now. Not great scenery, but an easy pedal. Of course, the final push to Monaca, we encounter a final set of mountains to cross. When pedaling up them, it seems that I can get into a rhythm in the lowest of gears and just push it through to the top. Have even mastered getting the heart rate into a respectable range so that at the top I am not gasping for air and wanting to curl up into the fetal position on the side of the road. Finally, there it is, the “Inn at Monaca” And for good measure it is on the downhill.