Day 4: Where I ride an unplanned leg

September 18, 2023

Should I say this day had climbs? Or just say it had its "ups and downs?"

The night previous, at dinner, I planned a different route for today. Sunday's ride (while glorious) took a toll on me. Especially the 2 miles of climbing at the end of the day. I took a look at the route, and it was going to be another 78 miles of riding with 4400' of elevation, linking trails together. If I allowed RWGPS to plan a point-to-point route, it would be 55 miles and 3100' of elevation. Since there were no specific highlights on the original route, I decided to put trust in the fates and ride the unplanned route.

A 7:00am departure from the campsite allowed me to show up for breakfast at the Emlenton Truck Stop café (home of the World's Worst Apple Pie). I ordered breakfast a sorry to say, never did find out why it was the world's worst (although I did see many people arriving into the café and leaving with pie boxes).

I arrive at "Six Points" intersection, and my navigation cues tell me to take a "hard right". I do so and find out it's the wrong way and backtrack a bit -turns out my understanding the RWGPS' understanding "hard right" differ.

Rolling through my "hard right" at Six Points intersection

Within 2 miles I had already climbed over 300', so I figure I'm about 10% done for the climbing of the day. I cover over 600' of climbing by the time I hit about 6 miles. My guess is most of the climbing is early in the day, and the ride will be gentler for the remainder of the day. That is, until I hit "Seven Hills Rd" - yikes.

Western PA countryside on a Monday morning.

Proof positive in Western PA they still use the adjective "bodacious"

For the first 30 miles the trail is up-down-up-down-up-down. Many of the roads seem to be paved straight up and over a hill - I see many grades of between 8-12%. They are short, yes, but still manage to force me to hike-a-bike to the top of some of these climbs. The views are very rural, and the route is quite scenic. I just didn't have the strength to attack ALL the hills - some I could manage, others I walked.

Western PA farmland. Clouds had a "looks like rain" vibe but that was only due to the rain that came in overnight. By this morning, streets were dry, and only had to pack my wet rainfly and take it with me.

30 miles in, I climb (another) short, steep section, and connect with the Butler Freeport trail, my route for the next 8 miles. Right at the junction I pass by the Derailleur Bike Shop Cafe. Didn't look open so I checked the door where a hand-made sign informed me the owner was closed this weekend because of falling ill to COVID. Shame, because it was time for some lunch so it would have been a great refueling point. I had a Clif Bar instead.

Would have loved to give this shop my business but it was closed (due to owner having COVID).

Of the 8 miles I spent on the Butler Freeport Community Trail, it was a smooth, well-maintained trail on a gradual 1% downhill. I cruised for the next 40 minutes or so in a quiet environment, seeing 1-2 people the entire time.

Good riding on the Butler Freeport Community Trail.

Once exiting the trail, it was another 10 miles or so of up and down again. I rolled into Russellton about 4 miles before my hotel, and that's where the traffic started picking up and getting heavier. The last mile-and-a-half was a downhill coast until I hit the river valley, and then it was sidewalks on the way into the hotel. Once there, I pull out the wet tent, hang it in the room's closet to dry, and do "laundry" in the shower so my riding kit doesn't start to smell so much that even I can't take it.

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Today's ride: 57 miles (92 km)
Total: 250 miles (402 km)

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Gregory GarceauYou did it again! You found the world's WORST of something. I do not particularly care for pies of any kind, but I'd probably give the world's worst apple pie a try--just to say I did. But I'd be very disappointed if it was no worse than any other apple pie I've sampled.
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7 months ago

Paul MulveyI didn't ask about because I figured it a thinly-veiled attempt at getting me to do just that - order it and eat it. A way to upsell my breakfast order without even trying on their part (other than the multitude of signs indicating it was the worst). I'll have to let you know the next first tour of a particular route - I may just pass by Minneapolis :-)
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7 months ago