West Middlesex, PA to Clarion, PA (October 13, 2011)

On Wednesday, October 12, 2011 Zieva and I started a trip to New York for our granddaughter Ellie's 5th birthday. It rained the entire way. The prediction for Thursday was cloudy, but no rain and then rain all day Friday. My plan was to sneak between the rain and do another leg of my bicycle trek from my former home in Shaker Heights, OH to my alma mater Rutgers (in New Brunswick, NJ). Last year I rode three segments, from Cleveland to West Middlesex, PA (Exit 4 on I-80), from White Haven in eastern Pennsylvania to Hope, NJ, and from Hope, NJ to Rutgers.

When I left West Middlesex, PA at about 9:00 AM, it was overcast and misty. Soon the mist turned to light rain. Fortunately it wasn't too cold (about 60 degrees). I took PA-18 for about 8 miles south until it met PA-208 which is PA Bike Route V (the route I plan to take all the way across Pennsylvania). While on PA-18, I saw a horse and buggy and knew I was entering Amish country.

I turned east at PA-208 and rode up and down hills among Amish towns and farms. The shoulder of the road was wide enough for a buggy and had a V-shaped cross section so the water drained down the middle, away from the buggy wheels. As you might expect, there were lots of "road apples", but the rain had turned them into "road applesauce". Riding was sloppy, but the scenery was great - farms, roadside markets, and cute towns.

There were lots of ups and downs, but all in all I was steadily gaining altitude. At the top of one hill I passed an Amish schoolhouse. The children were all dressed in light blue shirts with the boys in dark blue pants and the girls in skirts or dresses. The kids waved and smiled at me and I waved and smiled back. A few of the older boys rolled up their sleeves and showed their muscles - I think they were impressed with the idea of an old man riding up and down the hills (or maybe not). I really wanted to take a picture, but did not since it probably would have been very uncomfortable for them.

Little by little the rain tapered off, but the gray skies remained all day. One of the problems with riding in rain is that dirt sticks to your tires and, if there is glass in the dirt, you get flats. At about mile 20, I got a flat just outside a brand new Microtel motel. I stopped in the parking lot and fixed the tire. Fortunately the Microtel had a nice bathroom so I could wash off the "road applesauce" and other dirt before starting out again.

I decided to get lunch at an Italian restaurant (Nonni's) in Grove City and Zieva met me there. From Grove City the road continued through less picturesque countryside until I descended into the Allegheny River Valley at Emlenton.

I had hoped to get nice piece of homemade pie at a cafe there, but there was no restaurant on my route, so I continued up the other side of the Allegheny Valley.

Route PA 208 was a nice road but with few places to eat after Grove City. I expected that when I met US 322 in Shippenville I would find my homemade pie. Instead I found a distressed village with no restaurants at all. So I sat on a stone wall ate some GU energy gel and rested before turning onto US 322 for my final leg into Clarion. I took a picture of the autumn leaves and my feet which was the prettiest thing I saw in town.

I had thought that crossing the Allegheny Valley was my biggest descent/climb. However, the Clarion was longer, and more beautiful.

When I got down to the river, I was really tired, the road was fairly busy and the pavement on the shoulder was falling apart. So I walked up the hill and rode on for a few miles until I finally reached Clarion where I stopped at a 7-Eleven and got some OJ. I thought I was just about done with hills, but two Clarion College police who were outside the 7-Eleven, told me that I had to go down and up another river valley to get to the hotel. I arrived about 7:15 and it was already pretty dark. I was really tired, but after a good hot shower and a good dinner I recovered. My mileage total for the day was 69.1 miles.

We drove on to New York the next day (in the rain).