Yesterday I met two very supportive people. Becky, the evening clerk at the Clarion Inn, Finley Rd, Belle Vernon, PA and Wendi Kraemer. Wendi trains rescue dogs to be support dogs for Vets. She was most enthusiastic about my adventure and will spread the word via her social media contacts.
Today while I was taking a break along the side of the road a local cyclist stopped his car to give me some great advice about the Appalachians and routes to use. He gave me a local map which will be a tremendous help for tomorrow. I need to find more good old paper maps that I can plot my route on.
I’ve been using Google Maps (GM) to plot my route. I need to find a better way. GM has routed me through some beautiful countryside that is not road bicycle friendly at all. Loose gravel, old, chopped up road surface, chipped granite and steep. Good maybe for a very low gear mountain bike. Way too steep for a road bike with 30 pounds of gear in panniers. There was one climb so steep that I almost did an unintentional wheelie that could have flipped me backwards. Climbs on Pennsylvania roads follow the terrain. I’m just spoiled by the switchbacks of Colorado roads that maintain a lower grade. Throw in a lot of rain and some tire issues and it made for a tough day.
I like the way this farm has kept its charm from earlier days as it has expanded. Because of the chimney, I’d bet it was a homesteaded property. If you can zoom in on the outbuilding by the tractor and the foundation of the home to the left, I think you’ll find they both used rock for the foundation/lower level.
Tomorrow I’ll be plotting a route to Breezewood, PA that hopefully avoids steep back country roads.