A little bit of sun, a little hit of rain

The last day and one half have been joyful,  spending time with Arlie and Martha McMahan, my uncle and aunt. However, today is all business. My goal is to get 1/3 of the way to Richmond, Virginia. A town, called Woodbridge, will work nicely.

The first leg of the trip would be a continuation on the same rail trail that I came in on. It is called the Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) trail, and it would take me close to Washington, DC. Then I would join the Mount Vernon trail until I reached George Washington's residence. The rest would be on rather busy roads.

It was around 7"30 AM when I entered the W&OD, and it was full of bicyclers and runners. I do not recall ever seeing such a large number of people running. Today is Saturday, but a lot folks around here take their exercise seriously. The trail lasted for 30 miles, and the Mt. Vernon trail lasted for 12 miles.

Although thunderstorms were forecast, there was not a cloud in the sky. Out came the sunscreen as the temperatures started to clinb.

Nearing Woodbridge, I consulted Google Maps, and saw that I was less than 5 miles to my motel for the night. Getting there was another question. Slowly working my way over, the thunderstorm hit. Compounding the problem was the fact that the traffic began to get intense, which translates into being very dangerous for a bicycler in this weather.

Exiting onto a side road, I sought sanctuary, and found it on the front porch of a business which was crowded with customers who did not want to get soaked getting to their parked cars. Yet in 15 minutes, the hard rain lightened, and within 30 minutes it had stopped.

Eight hours and 45 minutes after departing, I arrived at my lodging. Soaked. Ah, they offer a washer/dryer. At least I will use the dryer.

This seemed to be a good evening to study scripture. I enjoy an author named N.T. Wright, who has written countless books, but my electronic ones are about different books of the Bible. Every morning and most evenings, I use one of his books in devotions. So far, I have completed his writings on I Corinthians, II Corinthians, and most of John. He writes so well and his illustrations helps one understand what he feels the scripture is trying to say. 

Tomorrow I will be in Fredericksburg, another 60+ mile day. I may have difficulty finding a place to worship while riding. I guess I will leave that up to the Lord.

...Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen. 

 

Welcome to Virginia!

This should be a good day. The weather was good, the distance was not too far, I was to cross the Potomac River on a ferry, and I was to meet my uncle and aunt, Arlie and Martha McMahan. 

 The distance on the E&O Canal was only 20 miles before I reached the ferry. Some of the path, at first, was surprisingly muddy, but quickly gave way to dry paths that made for easy riding. Although I was anxious to get to the ferry, I had to stop several times to examine the locks and structures along the way. 

Finally, I reached Whites Ferry, the only cable drawn ferry on the Potomac. It can cross the river in five minutes, so I did not have to wait before it was loading myself and three cars. On the other side were 8-10 bicycles and two cars. Letting the cars go anead, I then set out up the hill up from the river. It was not near so onerous as I had been told.

Pedalling out to the main highway, an approaching car honked and slowed down. It was Arlie and Martha. We agreed to meet at the motel. To get there I had to enter Leesburg, find the Washington and Old Dominion bicycle trail, follow it for 12 miles, then exit close to our lodging.

It took me a while to find the W&OD trail but once on it everything went smoothly. It certainly was not a level trail, but the grade was not that bad. I will be getting back on it Saturday morning.

Now, a day of rest with family. Thank you, Lord.

Praise Him, above you heavenly hosts.... 

SEA.....HAWKS! SEA.....HAWKS! SEA........HAWKS!

Do we have expectations for our children that are too low? Last night, my solitude on the second floor of the B&B was disrupted with the arrival of two bicyclers, a young man and his 14 year old daughter. They finished their first day of riding out of Washington, DC,  by completing 80 miles! That is a lot of miles for anyone, let alone a 14 year old. They were going to do 85 miles today, then ride the 150 mile GAP in two days. Of course, they are sacrificing enjoyment, instead opting for a sense of accomplishment.

They are impressive, but today I decided to focus more on the side of enjoyment. The miles were, again, going to be on the lower side, 45-50 miles or so, and I wanted to examine some of the trail structures today.

Once on the trail a cadence is developed, creating 9-10 mph average speeds. The mud puddles were small to non-existent. The trail is between the Potomac River and the Canal. Most of the canal does not have water in it. Instead, it has trees. It is clear where the sides and bottom of the canal were, but nature is slowing trying to reclaim the land.

Then suddenly I ride past a long stretch where there are no trees, just mowed lawn. Here you can get a clear idea of what it must have looked like in the 1830-1850s, with, of course, water instead of grass. A couple of horses or mules would walk along the tow path, towing 60-90 foot barges that were pointed at the bow. At any given time there were hundreds and hundreds of barges going either east or west. I do not know how they passed each other on the towpath.

At one point, the rock cliffs abutting the river precluded the canal from going further, and, apparently, tunneling was not a viable option. So those clever civil engineers opened the canal into the river. However, in order to make it feasible, they first had to build a small dam that would bring the river water level to that of the canal. Then a towpath was hewed into the rock cliffs  for several miles until the canal could be recommenced. It was fun riding on the reconstructed towpath which now is concrete sheets.

There were many bicyclers and hikers on the trail, including several separate groups of boys, and several groups of girls. I stopped and chatted with two of the groups of boys. They were both Boy Scouts troops, working on their bicycling merit badges. The group today were getting ready to depart, I teased them about not going too fast when they passed me down the road. They would make me look slow, I said.

Before long, here they came. One of the boys saw my Seattle Seahawks banner and said " Yea, Seahawks!" Seeing some potential here, I replied in kind. Then I yelled SEA..." And the boy said "HAWKS!"  I said it again, and this time three or four joined in. On my third time, I had most of the dozen kids cheering on the Seahawks. Take that, you Steeler/Redskins/Ravens bicycler fans! It made me miss home.

A group of hikers stepped to one side when I announced I was approaching. Soon after I stopped to talk to a couple who had questions about the logistics of a trip like this. I opened one of the panniers and shared my itinerary, and gave him a bicycling map that  I no longer needed. I also gave him my card and directed him to Amazon.com to find my book about my cross country trip in 2008. It is called "Crossing America: Bicycling Through the Heartland". It would be super helpful for him as well as a good read.

Right about then the hikers caught up with us. I volunteered to take their picture. They get together several times a month and hike different trails together. They were from a town just two miles down the path, called Shephardstown. They said I should have lunch there. My stomach (and the rest of me) agreed.

 I crossed a bridge over the Potomac into West Virginia, to the wonderful town of Shephardstown. Riding in I saw a sign advertising their Rotary club, which meets at noon, but I was a day late. In town, looking for a restaurant, a woman asked to take a picture of my bike. She has, also, a recumbent, and photographs all the recumbents she sees in town. She invited me to join her and a friend for lunch, which I did.

Late in the afternoon, I reached Brunswick, where I planned to stay the night.

Tomorrow, I am taking a small ferry across the river into Virginia. The only other state remaining is North Carolina.

Praise Him, all creatures here below..... 

The C&O Canal---a walk through history

What yesterday proved was that this towpath is not nearly as arduous as I had been told. Today's ride will likely be the easiest of my three and one half days on it.

The purpose of this canal was to transport commerce from the east coast to the Ohio Valley and back. What I do not understand is how it got built. George Washington got the ball rolling in 1785, when he got a company to build a number of locks around previously unnavigable parts of the Potomac River. In 1828, the Chesapeake and Ohio Company decided to make a canal, connecting the locks, and adding some between Cumberland and Washington, DC.

The result is this absolutely amazing engineering feat, much of which still survives today. The canal is plenty wide, and, in places  wide enough for two or more rows of barges, some going east, some going west. It took 35,000 workers to build the canal. The locks, dams, spillways, and pumphouses are still there, in good shape, after nearly two centuries. Much of the canal still has water in it. It is just stunning to think of all the planning, logistics and labor that took place in the wilderness, all because George Washington had a vision of opening up trade to the frontier.

One spot, which I went through yesterday, was a 3,100 foot long tunnel, still with canal and towpath. It took 14 years and 6 million bricks to build. I stopped and walked the bike through, with my headlight and a head lamp on. 

As one rides the towpath, the canal is on the left (going east), and the Potomac River is on the right side. This is a far more beautiful path than I expected.

This morning, I was to ride the trail for five miles, then there would be a paved rail-trail trail paralleling the C&O for 22 miles. Before I pedaled the five miles, I counted 9 deer. The asphalt trail enabled an extra 4 miles per hour.

At the end of the paved rail trail was Fort Frederick, a relic from the French Indian war. It had thick masonry walls that were 12-14 feet high. The enclosed area was also quite large. Obviously, much of the stonework was re-constructed, but it was pretty cool.

I arrived, today, in Williamsport in mid-afternoon. Words cannot express how smelly my bicycling clothes and footwear are. The nice lady who runs this B&B is laundering them for me. I have also been able to dry out my panniers from yesterday's puddles.   All in all, I am feeling good, but the light daily mileage has helped.

Physical ailments are common, but rarely serious. I developed another chafing on a different part of the upper, inner thigh. A large bandage stopped it from getting worse. My wrenched knee is doing fine. My major concern is the swollen area around the Achilles tendon. It was very swollen two nights ago. I put a large bandage and a heavy mid-ankle wool sock over it yesterday morning. The bandage stayed in place, but it became tender late in the day, and slightly swollen. Today, I stopped in a pharmacy in the first small town I came  to, and purchased some moleskin, which seemed to do a good job. Any ailment that is affected by hours of repetitive motion has potentially bad consequences.

The Lord has been good to me, and more generous than I deserve. It is far easier to keep Him foremost in my thoughts and mind, when I am bicycling alone for hours. I hope I will be able continue when I get home.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow..... 

Day #1 on the C&O Canal towpath.
The beauty of this trip is that I am neither an athlete nor a bicycler. I am just an ordinary guy, blessed to not have any serious infirmities, who got himself into decent shape, and have been able to bicycle most of the way across the country.

The credit for the success starts with my firm faith in God. He had me put a plan together, with daily objectives, then He granted me the perseverance to get it done. Of course, it is not done yet, but my final destination, Raleigh, North Carolina, is not far off. In two weeks I should pulling up to the house of my brother, Jim, in Raleigh.

There have been a number of times during this trip when, upon waking up, I have not wanted to face what the day had to offer. There have been nights when I have woke up, and had difficulty getting back to sleep as I pondered difficult riding ahead.

So it was this morning. I have talked with number of people about the C&O trail, and they almost universally felt it was a difficult, tedious grind. The reason is because the towpath is dirt which becomes mud when it rains, and especially muddy when it rains hard like it did two days ago. It is similar to old country roads with two worn tracks with grass in the middle. It is full of all sorts of unpleasant surprises, from tree roots to rocks, mud puddles to ruts. I was told that it was constant vigilance, far exceeding what is normal. Needless to say, I was not excited about today, and especiaļy when I heard the rolling thunder around 4 AM.

Duty calls, however, so I was able to have devotions and packing, a good breakfast and was off to the trailhead by 7:30 AM.

The majority of people I chatted with, advised not to exceed 40 miles per day, so that is my approach. The trail was very good heading out of Cumberland. Since I was the first east bound rider of the day, there were still lots of deer on the trail (I counted 16 for the day). There were, indeed lots of puddles and stuff, but not nearly as bad as I imagined. There was no rain all day. Vigilance was important, but there were still long periods of time when the trail was pretty good.

I was making good time until I pulled up to a large tree that had fallen across the trail. As I attempted to ease the bike over the trunk, I discovered that one of my pannier's rain covers had fallen off. I had to have it, and knew where I last saw it, so I turned back to find it. It was 3.4 miles back, the stick that had pulled it off the panniers was still attached. Putting it back on, I headed back to the downed tree.

Before long I was at the town of Little Orleans. Calling it a town may be a bit of embellishment, since it was only one building that served food, alcohol and a few sundries. I got there two hours before the posted closing time, and they were already closing it up. They stayed to fix me a sandwich, then locked the doors.

My accommodations for the evening, were 1/2 mile away, and the place defies description. I was the only guest that night. All the other possible guests had better judgment, I reckon. I suppose it could have been worse.

Around 8:30PM, I started doing homiletics of some scripture in the book of John, but could not stay awake. At 9 PM, I turned off the light and drifted off to sleep.

Blessings.

Finally, the end of the GAP.

For some reason, I slept little last night. I was in a hostel, so maybe it was the other men around me. Maybe it was that I was only given a sheet, which was insufficient. For whatever reason, I still rose at 5:20 AM. By 7 AM, I was on the GAP.

I had switched my itinerary again. Instead of staying in Frostburg, a distance of 47 miles, I opted to go all the way into Cumberland, MD, an extra 15 miles, because those last miles would be all downhill. Thus it would make Monday's ride less than originally planned.

My knee was slightly swollen but seemed fully capable of pedalling. There were some scratches on my Achilles tendon, as a result of yesterday's fall, so I put a bandage over it. 

This is a heavily traveled trail, but I did not see anyone for the first hour and fifteen minutes of pedalling. I did see something suprising, a mother turkey with her two baby chicks. 

After 18 miles, I stopped for a snack in Rosewood. I discovered that a church service was just starting, so I decided to attend, once the train finished passing through town.

I have wondered about the wisdom and need of a railroad in this area. Is there enough business to support it. Well, two more trains passed through town in the 45 minutes that the service lasted. 

The sermon was titled "Den of iniquity". One point the pastor made was how when our sins become habitual we no longer see our sinful acts as sinful acts. They become a normal part of our lives.

After the service was over, I began to look for a place to have lunch, and found one in Meyersdale, PA., just 10 miles down the road. The road bed was wet but not slushy, so a 8-9 mph pace was achievable.

There were a few tunnels, which were interesting. As I approached one, I saw above the entrance, the words Eastern Continental Divide. Some other bicyclers were waiting for one of their companions to fix a flat, and one of them said to me "It's all downhill from here to Cumberland." Sure enough, the last 20 miles were little more than light pedalling, to achieve a consistent 15 mph pace.

I had noticed that the bandage on my Achilles tendon was gone, and it was feeling quite tender. Upon taking off my shoe and sock, in the hotel room, it was swollen out 1/2 inch. Not a good sign. I will have to baby it before it becomes a bigger problem.

Tomorrow begins a completely different day than I have experienced so far. It will be on the C&O Canal towpath, a canal designed and installed during George Washington's presidency. It will be level, and is reputed to be very pretty, however, the path is dirt. Which means it will be mud tomorrow, along will lots of trees roots and potholes. The pace will decrease to 5-6 mph. One will have to be alert all the time. I am not looking forward to it. It should be a tiring day, especially if it rains as has been predicted.

I  can hardly keep my eyes open. May God be active in your lives.

It has been 60 days, and no accidents.....splat!

It has been a long time since I have ridden without sunscreen, but with a solid cloud cover, and rain in the forecast, it did not seem necessary. 

The rain started soon after departure, and it rained hard for a while, but after a half hour or so, it started easing up. Within an hour my rain jacket and pants were back behind my seat. Thinking that having rain gear will keep one dry would be a misguided train of thought. It is far better than no rain gear, but one still gets completely soaked eventually. The trail absorbed the rain nicely.

This trail, the GAP, is very picturesque, with lots of wonderful views of the river. There are lots of benches and covered seating areas. The river provides plenty of sporting opportunities, with many groups of canoers, kayakers, rafters and fishermen out today.

There were hundreds of bicyclers heading back towards Pittsburgh. It was surprising to see people walking the trail.

One couple that I chatted with, over breakfast, are walking the whole GAP (150miles) at a clip of about 10 miles per day. They were using this time to reflect on the Lord, and what He has in store for them. It was interesting to ask the blessing on our meal, then have the husband continue the prayer, then the B&B host entering the prayer and finishing it.

Despite the rain, I was making decent time....until I came to a section of new, non-compacted gravel. It was very difficult to pedal through, and several times my bike couldn't continue. I would get off walk it 10-20 feet, then mount the bike again. All of a sudden I went from 10 mph to 5 mph or less. It was sort of like trying to run in a swimming pool. The trouble is that one wonders how long the repair section will go on. After a few miles, the trail finally got back to normal.

By lunch, I was still less than half way to my destination for the evening, a town called Confluence. Yet a pace of 8-10 mph would get me there by mid afternoon, or so I thought.

Then it really started to rain, and rain hard, but this time it did not stop for an hour and a half, dropping at least 2 inches. Now a number of bicyclers were under covered shelter. I just wanted to get done. The brakes started acting funny, and eventually were gone altogether.

The trail is a good width but not set up for three people to ride abreast. So when two oncoming women bicyclers were riding side by side, they pushed me over to the trail edge. Unfortunately, a tree limb, of maybe a 1" diameter was at an angle in front of me. When I got to it, instead of rolling over the limb, the tire slid right up it, tipping the bike over, and threw me into a shallow ditch. As I was tumbling, I felt my right knee wrench, and my first thought was whether I would be able to continue the ride.

In these situations, I feel it best to move slowly, and check all body parts before getting up.  The girls had returned, and several more showed up. They got the bike off me and asked if I was okay. Slowly standing up, I gingerly walked around. The knee seemed fine.  I thanked them for their concern, and started pedalling. One of my panniers was dragging because the bike rack got pushed out of plumb.

Within a few miles I entered the town of Confluence. First thing first, I headed for the bike shop. The owner gently washed off the bike (it was coated with grit from the trail), then he adjusted the brakes, checked the gearing and shifting. He oiled the chain and fixed the rack. Total charge: $17.00

Tonight I am staying in a hostel. A Canadian family just arrived after a long ride.

Tomorrow, I will be at the end of the Great Allegheny Passage, in Cumberland, Maryland. From there, I will be on the C&O Canal, a dirt towpath. It will not be fun.

But I am getting closer to completion, and being with Karen.

Blessings. 

Day #1 on the Great Allegheny Passage trail
This turn of events in Pittsburgh has been most remarkable. It started two days ago when I was heading into town, with no motel reservations for that night. Meeting two couples at lunch, their curiosity turned to helping me by allowing me to stay in an empty apartment below one couple's home.

The other couple invited me to breakfast yesterday morning. We would get there by bike. It was delicious. Then they asked if I would like to see the trailhead, in downtown Pittsburgh,to the Great Allegheny Passage, on which I was to embark today. I assured them that I would.

So they took me to the trailhead, then showed me the route out of town, until it became obvious where the trail was. Jerry and Donna Green were so helpful, that I became hopeful that could make it out of town unscathed. They also shared a bunch of books and pamphlets on the GAP.

One of the more helpful items was a little book written by friends of theirs, which I used to make lodging reservations for the next 5 or 6 days. I felt ready for tomorrow, but in need of another restful night's sleep. And a restful night sleep, I got.

This morning, I left Richard and Adel's house about 8:15 AM. I was fine on the route towards the trailhead for the first 6-7 blocks, then asked someone for help. The next thing you know, I was crossing the bridge on the pedestrian walkway, and pulled into the park in which the trailhead was located.

A Park Ranger was there and I wanted clarification as to the exact way out of the park, and the trail route. He gave some instructions and a little map, then took a photo of me by the trailhead, with a beautiful fountain as a backdrop.

I must not have listened to him or to Donna or Jerry well enough, because quickly, I knew I was off the trail, in downtown traffic. Seeing some familiar streets from the Park Ranger's map, and, voila, I was rolling down the trail.

Because of my fatigue and uncertainty of the speed I could attain on the crushed rock surface, my first night was only 36 miles up the trail. I was doing pretty well, but decided not to push things. Tomorrow will be 52 miles.

This trail is very nice and very beautiful. It follows the river, so for the first 135 miles or so, the trail is on a slight grade upwards. In fact at 135 miles, the trail elevation will be at 2,500 feet above sea level.

Along the trail, in the town where I am staying, is an information center. I wanted to know more about the C&O Canal portion of the route. Three people were talking in a office.I asked their advice. The lady behind the desk said the couple across from her were the real experts. They even wrote a book about it, which she held up for me to see.

The couple were the friends of Donna and Jerry whose book I was using last night to make reservations! I plied them for information for quite a while, and they willingly gave me answers which have proved helpful.

These kinds of happenings are not coincidences. They are Providential. The Lord is placing these wonderful people, with huge hearts, in my path. What an awesome God.

Now that I am nestled in to my room, I am glad that I stopped here in West Newton, PA. My legs are still feeling weak, but certainly up to the modest demands that this trail presents.

Blessings.

Does trusting in the Lord work?

The ride into Pittsburgh was scheduled to be about 40 miles or so. (Which likely means closer to 50) This means that an early start was not critical. What was critical was that I find an affordable place to stay, preferably close to the GAP (Great Alleghany Passage) trailhead. I wanted to take a rest day tomorrow. Working with the front desk staff at my motel, they found a Hyatt close by the trailhead that was expensive, just much less expensive than the others.

I called for reservations. They were fully booked tonight, but had a room available for tomorrow night. I made the reservation for tomorrow night. The new plan was to ride into Pittsburgh, find a reasonably priced motel room on the periphery of the city, then ride to the Hyatt tomorrow morning. I prayed long and hard for the Lord to direct me to the place He wanted me for the night. I trusted that He would work it out.

Leaving the motel around 8:30 AM, the way to get onto my scheduled route was to keep climbing up the hill this motel was located on, then take a side street across, and descend to the other bridge on the other side of town. My itinerary said to walk the bike across on the pedestrian walkway, and I could see why. This bridge was very old and had the open metal grate flooring, the kind where you can see right through it. I pulled up to the start of the walkway, and saw that I had to climb 21 steps to get to it. So I removed the panniers, and carried them up. Then I lugged the bike up, one step at a time. Reattaching the panniers, I rode to the other side. Once there, I had to get everything over a guard rail, using the same process used on the stairs.

Across the bridge was a sign that said "Welcome to West Virginia." What? Where did West Virginia come from? This is one of those areas where a tiny sliver of a state juts out. From now on I will be able to say, I rode my bicycle all the way across West Virginia. 

In six tenths of a mile, I was to turn on Archer Hill Road, and from the look of it, there was a lot of climbing in store. Climbing doesn't do it justice. This was the first time I have been in the bottom gear since I left Everett. Even then, I was not sure I would make it. Once to the top, I discovered it was not the top. There much more climbing, then a few descents, then climbing again. It was excruciatingly awful. There is no turning back, but I hated the grind, and not knowing whether I would be able to make it to the top of the slope.

 Finally I was on the other side of the hill, and found my goal: the Panhandle Trail. It was 24 miles long, and would take me into the outskirts of Pittsburgh. Somewhere between the end of this trail and downtown Pittsburgh, I would find a place to stay tonight.

The trail was more like a country road, two rows of packed gravel, with a strip of grass between them. After a while it became asphalt. It was getting close to noon, and I was hungry, so I stopped at a restaurant beside the trail. When the server found out that I was bicycling cross country, she announced that my lunch was free if I would sign her guest book. 

When finished, a gentleman from another table asked if I was the bicycler going to North Carolina (a sticker on the bike says 'North Carolina or bust!). He , his wife, and another couple had ridden their bikes up the trail just to have lunch at this restaurant. Finding out that they were from Pittsburgh, I asked for some guidance as to where I could find a reasonably priced hotel room, showing them my Google maps route itinerary.  They discussed it for a while involving the server, also, in the conversation.

Finally one of the women said "We were expecting company this weekend, but they just cancelled for health reasons. You could stay at our house if you want. We have a guest apartment and a full refrigerator." I said that I appreciated their get generosity, but I needed to be near the trailhead to the Great Allegheny Passage. She replied "We are less than a mile from the trailhead." I enthusiastically agreed to accept their gracious offer.

I am just amazed how God works. One moment I am blindly trusting Him to help me find the right place for tonight. The next moment He has me meeting these couples, one of whom just had the downstairs apartment become available. Scoffers will say "That was a coincidence." But I know that this was God's hand at work.

I am continually amazed at the Lord's presence in this trip. All because at one point in my life, I opened my heart to Him and have tried to live faithfully in His Spirit. But none of His presence is because I deserve it. It is His gift to me, and to anyone willing to seek His forgiveness through repentance.

Blessings to you all. 

 

What is typical when on the road?

Yesterday took a toll on me. My legs were very weak at the end of the day. Believe or not, at 8 PM, it was still 95 degrees outside. Because of all the events at the end of the day, I went to bed and hour later than normal. 

Yet today's route to Steubenville was shorter than yesterday's 70 miles. Today's mileage was to be in the low 50s. I am expecting more hills, but not necessarily like the ones I came across in the Amish area. We'll see how the body holds up.

With lesser mileage, I took my time getting ready, leaving New Philadelphia a little after 8 AM. Within 10 minutes I had already missed my turn, not noticing until I was a mile past. But soon, I was cruising, feeling good. Two hours later I missed another turn, but went into town for a snack. When I left, I started out of town but things just did not look right. I stopped a fellow in a garbage truck, asking for help. He looked at my instructions, and informed me that I was going the wrong direction out of town. So I turned around and got back onto my route. Within an hour, I entered a bike trail, and stayed on it for 11 miles. 

It ended in a small town, and it was noon, so I had lunch. Two men in the restaurant were very friendly, and came over to talk before they left. When they asked about my route to Steubenville, I gave them my Google maps itinerary. They were talking with each other. "Oh, they are sending him this way." "This is a good route." "Uh oh, don't they know the bridge is out?"

The conversation ended with the idea to ignore the bicycle route, and just follow the main highways. That is exactly what I did. The hills became more frequent, some of them steep and long. They were not as steep as several of yesterday's hills, but were challenging, nonetheless.

Traffic was starting to pick up on my highway as it approached Steubenville, and I realized I needed to exit before I became a problem for vehicles, and for myself. Ironically, the next exit was the one that I wanted! The only problem was that my motel was 3/4 of a mile up a very steep road. I must have been a sight, checking in at the motel. I asked the staff if they had a washer/dryer. No, they replied, but I could use the w/d at the motel next door. I mused about whether I really needed to clean my clothes. They assured me that I did!

Well, off to dinner and clothes cleaning. Tomorrow, I should arrive in Pittsburgh. Then another day of rest.

God bless.