Day 10: 57 Miles

Altoona, PA to Blairsville, PA

I woke up this morning to a light rain and temperatures in the low 40s. Not the most inviting weather for a bike ride, but I had a big climb to start the day and wanted to get it done before lunch. I got out the door pretty quickly, wearing long tights, a rain jacket and gloves once again. It was about a mile on a major road to get out of Altoona, and then I’d be climbing for the next couple of hours.

Before I got out of town I stopped at a Subway and picked up a sandwich to eat later. My route today would not pass many places for food so I wanted to be prepared. The climbing began and it was immediately harder than expected. I wish mapmyride allowed you to change the scale on the elevation maps. It’s hard to compare one ride to another because the scale is always different. I thought this would be easier than my climb from Lewisburg to State College, but that was not the case. I average somewhere between 8 and 9 mph going up the big climb. There was a short down hill and then 2 more climbs which took all my energy to get through. By the time I was done climbing, I was 20 miles and almost 2.5 hours into my day.

At the top of the climb I had 2 options. I could get on a secondary highway and ride in the shoulder for 30 miles or take a gravel bike trail for 32 miles. The secondary highway was tempting because it would at least be paved, but it looked like there were a lot of trucks on the road. I opted for the bike trail and it was the best route choice I’ve made to date. I rode the Ghost Town Trail which follows the Blacklick Creek from Edensburg to Black Lick. I was hesitant to ride on gravel because it can be really slow, especially if it has not been maintained. This gravel was well packed and very even, which made riding a breeze.

The bike path was extremely flat which was also a nice change. It was great to just put my bike into a gear I was comfortable with and not have to change it. I spent the next few hours listening to the sound of gravel crunching beneath my tires and taking in the scenery. After 15 miles a couple of cyclists struck up a conversation with me as they passed me by. I really haven’t run into many cyclists so far, so it was nice to have a quick chat. The rest of the miles flew by and before I knew it I was at the end of the 32 miles of gravel. My experience on the gravel today has changed up my plans for tomorrow’s route, so I’m hoping the trail I’ll be on tomorrow is just as nice.

I’ve been using a GPS device so that my parents can see my whereabouts live as I ride. There was an issue today because the trail cut through a valley and had lots of tree coverage. My mom of course looked at the map right during this GPS outage to find me “stopped in a creek”. I found a nervous message waiting for me on my phone and had to call back immediately to let her know I was okay. It seems my mom is not the only one worried about me. A few other moms have also expressed concern, especially about my preparedness in the event of another dog attack. My day ended right by a Walmart, so I stopped in and picked up some pepper spray. As long as I don’t accidentally spray myself in a moment of panic, the next dog is not going to have a chance against me.

Tomorrow I head for McMurray, PA where I’ll be staying at a friends house. That will hopefully be my last night in Pennsylvania. I’ll soon be crossing into West Virginia and Ohio.