The Ride to Allegany

Family and friends were planning a vacation at Allegany State Park, so my brother Willie and I decided we wanted to ride, instead of drive there.  It was a little over 70 miles, and predominantly uphill.  We left shortly after 7:30am.  Getting out of Buffalo was terrible!  We had to traverse rather busy shoulder-less 4 and 6-lane highways.  Thankfully most drivers were nice and gave us room.  Once out of the city and suburbs we were in farming country for a bit.

We witnessed a group of workers harvesting cabbage...

Then we got on route 75, or Sisson Highway...which took us through a variety of areas...from farms to hunting cabins.  It was very low-traffic and we enjoyed riding it.  

There were a lot of tanker trucks hauling manure, but they didn't bother us at all...they didn't even smell very bad!

We paused for a snack at one point and I documented the

A Trip Cut Short...

It was a beautiful morning that we woke up to.  Chilly, but lovely.  Mist quietly rose off the creek water.  Everything on the mountains was completely shrouded in fog.

A pair of Bald Eagles came and perched in a tree near our camping area.  I was able to get a couple pictures, but they were shy of the camera.

Our legs and ankles were still painful, but we could ride.  I came to the conclusion that my saddle had been set too high.  I had adjusted it during our visit, and must have put it just a little too high.  It caused my feet to extend with each pedal stroke, placing unusual stress on the Achilles tendon.  I lowered my seat, hoping that would enable me to ride the rest of the way home.

 Once again, we got going around 8.  There were about 10 miles of the trail left to ride before we came out at Route 6, or Grand Army of the Republic Highway.  We wanted to avoid the steep dirt road we had taken on the way down, so that meant we were on Rte 6 for probably 20 miles.  

20 miles with little variation.  There were a few small towns to ride through, lots of rolling hills, woods, and a few farms.  There was also a significant side wind that felt like a headwind.  After 10 miles, I was ready to be on a different road....

Finally we turned, and my mindset improved dramatically.  The side road was more interesting and fun to ride with decent downhills and lots of curves.  Twisting winding back roads I find quite enjoyable...

And...in only about 20 miles we would be in New York!

Unfortunately my Achilles tendons were becoming more and more painful as the day went by. 

We stopped for lunch at the same place we had on the way down, near a little creek and a side road.  I tried standing in the creek to cool my tendons, but it didn't help.

In the little Pennsylvania town of Genesee, we stopped at a gas station for some water.  There was less than a mile to go till NY!  We were pretty happy to be getting to the state line.  It was a very clear sign that we were nearing home.

Not long after riding into NY, we noticed that the driver here were definitely less courteous than PA drivers.  How annoying!  Why would a thing as small as a state line have such an impact on the behavior of a person?  I found it fascinating....

We made it to the little campground between Wellsville and Scio that we had stayed in on the way down.  There were only 80 miles between us and home, but my tendons were extremely painful.  I called home to find out if they thought, like I did, that it would be a bad idea to ride 80 more miles on an injury like that.  

Mom decided she could come out and get us that night. 

Here is a picture from when we were waiting...

We were very grateful to her, but I was sad to miss the last leg of the trip, and not finish the way I had planned.  I am glad I didn't further injure my tendons, though.  I hoped they would heal quickly, so I could get back on the bike before too long!

Pennsylvania!

Once again there was pouring rain and plenty of thunder during the night.  Our freshly washed clothes were not dry, our freshly dried tents were soaked again...

 All the wet clothing we ended up stuffing into a plastic bag and strapping onto the trailer.  We filled up with water, ate breakfast and soon were on our way. 

Today we were planning on entering PA and reaching the Pine Creek Rail Trail. 
As we neared the border we traversed a very pleasant back road through the woods...

Once, when we passed through a cluster of dingy houses (I think it could be considered a small town) we suprised a young couple making out on a porch.  When they noticed us passing by, the girl suddenly stopped, turned, and hollered " 'Ello!" then watched us ride past, as if acting like nothing had been going on....

We got back on route 19 to cross into Pennsylvania...

 The wide shoulders were great...especially when there was truck traffic...

Thankfully the truckers were usually considerate and respectful and we had no problems with them.

I didn't get a photo of my NY maps...but they were just Google print-outs.  I stuck the maps in a Ziploc bag and clothes-pinned that to the top of my handlebar bag.  I was very pleased with how well such a simple map case worked!  The yellow line was our route across the map...

 For lunch we stopped along a stream in a grassy mowed area.

Tuck is searching for food...

I tried to dry the clothes in the sun...but they didn't have time to completely dry out.

 People continally waved at us!  We kept being surprised by the friendliness of strangers.  Gradually we were learning to expect a wave....and to respond in time.

We found out today that sometimes roads that look like shortcuts on the map, are actually too much trouble.  My route directed us up Parker Hill Road...just out of Loucks Mills.  It was a dirt road...up a mountain...with a very steep grade at the beginning.  The road was labeled at the intersection, but there were no other markers along the length of it, and I was very unsure about whether it was the correct route!  As it turned out, it was the right way, but we will be finding another route home!

This photo wasn't of the steep section....but it was definitely dirt!

There were wild strawberries in places along the shoulder...and those things are some of the tastiest morsels!

It rained a little as we were working our way through the back-country hills of PA.  The road was warm from the earlier sunshine and that caused rising steam...

It makes for poor visibility...but an amazing picture!

Here is a photo of the first main road we pedaled in this state...Grand Army of the Republic Highway, or Route 6.  Just the name made the highway deserve a picture!

This route brought us into Astonia, where we picked up the Pine Creek Trail.

It was such a lovely place!

 We discovered that only 20 years ago Pine Creek was dying from mining pollution.  We never guessed.  Everyone that has worked on it is doing such a good job cleaning it up.....it is beautiful!

There are countless 'runs' where water runs off the mountains and into Pine Creek.  Here is one with a nice bridge...

Tuck convinced me to push onward until we accomplished 60 miles before camping.  We ended up camping in very tall grass and stinging nettle...

 There was an uncalled-for amount of this painful plant!

 We hoisted the bag of food into a tree about 100 feet from our campsite to deter bear visits.

It was a little difficult, but with me hauling on the rope and Tuck throwing the food bag, we got it maybe 7 or 8 feet above the ground.  Our rope wasn't terribly strong, and we didn't want to break it...or we would have both just hauled on the rope until the bag was high enough.

 Here is a final photo of both the food and bikes, and the tents...

 It was lovely and quiet since there wasn't civilization very close by. 

Tuck ate leftover spaghetti for supper, and I ate raisins and peanut butter. 

We expected rain, since it had rained every night so far, so we didn't even bother to try to dry the still-damp and now-smelly clothes.

A Short-ish Day and a Fascinating Lake

Camping in the hidden hollow along the creek was great...except for one thing.  That night there were thunderstorms and rain....ALL NIGHT LONG!   Ok, maybe not all night, but it sure seemed like it to me.  I had a very hard time sleeping with all the lightning and thunder and pouring rain.  At one point there was unceasing lightning....but the thunder seemed to be fading away.  It took me a while to realize there was a firefly caught beneath the fly of my tent....flashing incessantly...imitation lightning! 

A few photos of our campsite:

 Can you find our tents?  They're in there somewhere...

Overnight, the creek just about doubled in size.  I wish I had taken a pic before it rained...

Under the trees along the bank was where I took my swim.  Mostly flat bottomed, about 3 feet deep...before the rain.   I'm not sure how deep it was in this pic...

As we packed up in the morning, there was some wildlife that appeared...

Slugs...all over our tents and shoes....

And this very strange string...climbing on my bicycle tire...

Preparing to leave...my steed beside the stream...

When we finally got started we rode into Houghton.

There we stopped to walk up to Moss Lake...since the dirt road was too steep to ride...

Moss Lake was very beautiful and unique...I've never seen anything like it.  It is a quiet little bog at the top of a long steep dirt road.  There are insane little catfish that mob the edges of the lake at one area wanting bread...

We walked along the boardwalk that goes out on the peat mat and viewed the wierd pitcher plants and occasional trees growing on the surface of the lake.

 Carnivorous plants...

 Crazy trees...

After we left Moss Lake, we stopped at a gas station/general store for some jelly...

We had been riding through a lot of Amish country...and here there was a horse and buggy at the gas station!

 Route 19....pleasantly wide shoulders and no killer hills.  There were some gradual inclines...but nothing terrible.

 We only rode about 30 miles before we decided to stop.  I was tired, and we had lost a lot of travel time visiting Moss Lake.  This time Tuck didn't want to hide by the side of the road...so we stopped at a small, slightly dilapitated campground outside of Scio.  We were very happy to have access to showers, bathrooms, mowed grass, and legal camping...for only $20.

 A lot of our equipment (such as tents) was wet, plus I washed our clothes in the shower, so Tuck set up the clothesline to hang the wet stuff on.  While I was showering and washing the clothes, Tuck was suddenly attacked by a mosquito...

 Finally, I made supper...

I attempted to make spaghetti...but it ended up without enough sauce...

 Tuck gave it rave reviews anyway....

The washed clothes were hanging on the line, the dishes were washed, we were tired....so off we went, into our tents, to sleep off the tiredness of a day's ride...

Beginnings, Discoveries, and the Hills of Insanity

Monday we packed, since Sunday was too busy.  By the time everything was ready, it was 11:00!  I had been hoping to leave then, but we would have hardly gotten anywhere, and we still needed to stop at the store!  Tuck finally convinced me to leave Tuesday morning, like he had wanted to since the beginning... 

We left around 9:00 and it didn't seem to take long to get out of the city.  Shortly after that, we started riding on slow rolling hills.  Route 16 was pleasant riding.  Wide shoulders and gentle hills. 

Around lunchtime we stopped in a little cemetery right along the route.

That is where we discovered that we had forgotten to slice the bread before leaving!  Tuck's Leatherman included a serrated blade, so we managed to slice the bread for sandwiches with that.  As you can see, the bread is MUCH bigger than the blade!

We also partook of mashed muffins...

The frozen baked beans worked well as an ice-pack for my knee.  It was doing well, but was a little warm when we stopped for lunch.

I had been using a brace while riding...and it seemed to help support it quite a bit.

Tuck's rig in the graveyard...

My rig against a gravestone...

I used this little old-fashioned pump to wash our utensils...

First I had to prime it, and then pump like mad.  Soon the cool, clear water came gushing....

Some random scenery we passed...

Farms are so picturesque...

Skipping stones at a small creek along the way...

We took Freedom Road  between Freedom and Centerville....and won't do it again.  I have never experienced hills like that before or since!  They were near the end of the day, and I was wearing out.  I ended up getting nauseous from the exertion...and that had never happened to me before...

I laid down in a random yard for a few minutes so that we could continue on.

At the top of one of the monsters....Tuck had to help me get my bicycle up this hill, since I was feeling so sick.  Oh, well, I guess he is in better condition than I am..

We had to walk our bikes to the top here...it was too steep to pedal.

Quite a lovely view from the top, though!

Here is a view behind us, of the hill we had flown down....and the impossible incline we ended up walking....after we scaled it!

In Centerville (I think) we stopped at "Uncle Tom's Kabinn" for a couple gallons of water.

We no longer were riding on 16, but were navigating random backroads for the time.  It was on one of those back roads that Tuck found a very secluded camping spot.  We followed a creek bed off the road, and climbed up a bank into an opening in the woods.  Tuck stomped down weeds so we could set up the tents, and we ate baked-bean sandwiches for supper.  I took a swim in the creek, and then went to bed, too tired for anything else.