The weather forecast was actually correct

May 17, 2015

Watching the weather the previous night (and listening to the rain outside my room) the forecast was for more rain. But, waking up and looking outside no rain - sure, there were clouds but maybe, just maybe, the rain would hold off. I mean, weather forecasters are never 100% correct, right? Sure enough, I clip in to the pedals, and make my way out of the breakfast buffet, and no rain. For about 150'. Then it starts. Rats.

My hotel was not on the GAP trail yet, so I have to navigate surface streets making my way to the start of the trail at Pittsburgh's point park. The streets are wet, and Pittsburgh not being in a flat area, I'm flying down some of these hills into the river valleys, thankfully with disc brakes on the folding bike. The extra weight on the trailer pushes me down the hills, and since I'm fenderless on the bike, spray from the water on the wheels goes everywhere. Welcome to the tour.

The weather only makes it look like I shot this in black & white

I made my way over the Ohio River using the West End bridge which puts me on the north bank of the Ohio. To connect with the bike path I have to descend down a multi-level staircase to get to the trail from the bridge. Have you ever had to disconnect your bike and trailer and carry each of them separately? Neither had I, until this trip.

Where I encountered the stairs and had to disassemble my bike and trailer, and carry them down to street level

From there, I pick up a trail which rolls me past Three-Rivers (er, "Heinz") Stadium. I also roll past lots of bumper-to-bumper traffic on the roads. Apparently, there's a marathon in town and I wouldn't be honest if I didn't admit a sense of satisfaction as I moved past all the traffic as they sat there and idled in their cars. Sure, I was wet from the rain but at least I was getting somewhere. And that somewhere led me to Point Park fountain where I rolled over the marker indicating the start of the Great Allegheny Passage (the "GAP"). I officially started the beginning of my voyage.

Well, I was able to use the waterproof feature on my Lumix for this shot. There were few people milling about the fountain watching me as I rode through - I'm sure they thought I was nuts

From the point park fountain (yeah - it was full of water, but I've seen enough water for today with all the rain) the path rolls a few blocks east on the Boulevard of the Allies, and then it makes its way onto the bike path. Yeah - smooth asphalt, bike path - Washington DC here we come....

Still raining, but traffic is light along Boulevard of the Allies on Sunday morning

The trail parallels the Monongahela river east until it intersects with the Hot Metal bridge. Touching the metal on the bridge did not indicate it was hot. Maybe it was named because in the days of the steel industry, this bridge was used to transport molten steel over the river (called "crucibles") to open hearth furnaces on the opposite bank, where they would be converted into steel. During WW2, 15% of America's steel making capacity crossed over this bridge, about 180 tons per hour. Fascinating, even if you're not a history buff.

View of Pittsburgh from Hot Metal Bridge. Yeah, so far the weather makes this a miserable day

After crossing over the bridge, the trail winds through parts of the town associated with the former steel industry, and through the village of Homestead. Homestead was the site of steel worker operations, and was the site of a famous labor relations "disagreement" between locked-out steelworkers and the plant owners. It was in 1892 and known as the Homestead strike. The Homestead building is open to the public, and you can see where the "strike" took place. Violent times, they were. Read more about it here (or not, I post the link as a link to history).

Gantry crane. Maybe used to lift gantries? Can someone help me out here?

As you wind you way around the GAP along the river, the trail turns from asphalt to limestone. Now of course it's been raining all this time, so the limestone path is wet. No worries, right? Surely not. I can ride in the rain (I have been up until this point). What I don't realize is while the tires spray the water all over the place on the bike and trailer, it also sprays limestone and clay, so when the water evaporates what it leaves behind is a mucky mess of the GAP. I guess I'm taking a piece of the GAP trail home with me :-)

This is what happens when you ride fenderless on a limestone path in the rain - all that gook gets sprayed onto the trailer (and the bike)

The path rolls along rivers, crosses over, crosses over again, then crosses over again into McKeesport.

Dead man's Hollow? How many people have died to create this namesake? Or since "Man" is singular, was it only one? Too many questions keep me on edge

The rain stops by noon, and I take a break in Boston (no, the OTHER Boston - Boston, PA). It's a BIT smaller than its Massachusetts counterpart. So much smaller, it has one bar and one sandwich/gift shop right off the trail. The sandwich was good, however, and it provided a ton of fuel for the rest of the afternoon's ride. The sun was out which made it humid since everything was wet. Coming out of lunch, I noticed my front tire was flat. Replaced it with a new tube, and didn't feel anything that could have led to the punture in the tire, so off I went. This would haunt me later. Further on down the trail, I stopped at Dravo Cemetary to pay my respects to the water pump at the campsite there, and to wash down my bike and the trailer. Once I got the bike fairly clean, I continued the trek to Connellsville.

After passing through Smithton, I passed by the Darr Mine Disaster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darr_Mine_disaster). The accident itself killed 239 men and boys in December 1907. The aftermath was no more open flame lanterns in mines following the incident. The front tire was now getting low on air, so I pumped it up. Figuring I didn't find what caused the puncture to begin with, I didn't want to replace the tube with my last remaining good tube until I could find the source. So I was haunted by not finding the source of the puncture. I just kept pumping it up every 20 minutes or so until I arrived in Connellville.

Site of Darr Mine Disaster - read about it at the link in the narrative

At Connellsville, I arrive prepared to set up camp. The town has put 4 Adirondack lean-tos along the trail to encourage free camping. When I rolled in, all four were taken. Two seemed to be a "permanent" site for some homeless youth, but a question to share the lean-to was met with a "sure thing" so while my gut told me to be wary, I figured it might just be a serendipitous adventure. I rolled off to the grocery store, brought back dinner, repaired my tube (and found the source of the flat but am out of spare tubes), and then asked another tourist in a separate lean-to, John, if I could set up in his lean-to, since he arrived earlier than I did and claimed it. He was happy to oblige, and asked if I would watch his stuff while he rode off to dinner (y'now, the fact there were homeless people in the area). I felt honored John would trust another unknown cycling tourist with his gear while he rode off for dinner. While in the lean-to, I found a large wasp nest on the side I would be staying in, so I decided to move my position to another camping are when he returned (to not deal with tent setup/takedown with wasp activity).

Upon John's return, I told him about the nest and I would find another sleeping spot, so I moved about 50' away under the porch of a recreational building (you can see the lean-tos in the background of the picture below). There was rain in the forecast overnight, so setting up the tent under the porch of the building would keep my tent dry throughout the night. At least that was the plan.

With the rain in the forecast, and the wasps in the lean-to I planned to stay in, I found a great spot under the porch of a nearby recreational building. I later joined by three other campers

Want to know how the night turns out? Whether it rained or stayed dry? Hit that "next" button to read about it in Day 2.

Today's ride: 67 miles (108 km)
Total: 86 miles (138 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	1
Comment on this entry	Comment	0