6/30-7/1 jill's Bike Log

6/30-Wed-Destination, Warren, PA. (Biked 48 miles; total 806). Packed up and drove to Meadville to begin biking. At the campsite, Karen worked on uploading all of our photos to update the blog site. I bought a 4G flash drive for back-up, but it’s already full so Karen & I stopped at Staples to buy a 16 G flash drive, while T, B, & M bought fireworks at a road side stand. Since it was already 11:30, we decided to eat a fast food lunch at Burger King so Karen wouldn’t have to meet us with the lunch bin so she could find a Wi-Fi to work on the photos. After eating it, Bryce and Trevor swore off anymore fast food… She went up to the student union at Allegheny but it ended up being a secure network, so in the end she worked on the photos at Burger King. Locating unsecured Wi-fi networks on this trip has been a challenge. Karen has been indispensable in the amount of work she has but into the logistics to make this trip run relatively smoothly. I couldn’t have done it without her. She’s also been a trooper grocery shopping for us while we’re riding and then more often than not cooking the supper. It’s also been wonderful to be able to spend an extended amount of time with her which I haven’t been able to do since early adulthood.

We rode up and down hills all day, with some significant grades to climb. The landscape was a combination of farms and woods. I also noticed over the past few days that the churches seemed be shifting from predominantly Baptist, to Methodist Churches, and billboards with messages about Jesus, being saved, or about Satan have become infrequent occurrences. Mallory rode the whole day today; (48 miles). Riding in the cool weather really helps. Trevor wore knee-high crew socks to stay warm and I borrowed a pair as well…epitome of fashion.

We had two bike repair issues during the course of the day. Mallory lost the bolt to her mirror. I jerry rigged it with an Allen wrench and duct tape until we passed through a small town with a hardware store where I was able to get a replacement bolt and nut.
Apparently Trevor had a blow-out of his tube while going downhill. Thankfully he didn’t have an accident.

We passed through more Amish country. I have a new awareness knowing when we’re near Amish homes because you dodge horse poop on the road. At one point going up a steep hill, Mallory zoomed ahead and passed a horse and buggy on the left. I’m sure Mal saw the challenge and took it on… Going downhill, I worry about cars pulling out in front of me on side streets. Today a father and his son in their horse and buggy pulled up to the end of their driveway as I zoomed by going downhill. In one small town, I went into a grocery store with well worn wooden floors and on a shelf behind a counter sat a stuffed squirrel and a stuffed what looked like a combination of beaver and groundhog. They had a display case of pastry pastries which I couldn’t resist. The custard filling tasted homemade and the case was refrigerated. The store seemed to be a gathering place for the Amish men and boys.

As we drove through Warren to locate the bike shop to buy tubes, it cracked me up that the Main St was already lined with chairs in all varieties and colors to save a spot for the 4th of July parade five days before the 4th! The bike shop was already closed so we’ll have to buy them in the morning. We then headed to the municipal pool to take showers which closed due to the cool weather. The kids were bummed because the pool had a water slide. Down the block was a YMCA where Bryce and I took showers. Stopped to grocery shop and then headed to Buckaloons campground. Warren seems to be a really nice small city in the middle of nowhere. I’m curious what the industry is, because it seems to be surrounded by forests in an isolated area.

Arrived at the campground at 9:00 pm. set up camp and ate spaghetti dinner. While Karen was cooking dinner, T,B & M played street soccer . I don’t know where they got their energy after biking all day. Went to bed after we washed the dishes.

7/1-Thurs-Destination; Galeton, PA. (Biked 39 miles; total 845). By the time we dried everything out, left the campground at 11:00 am. Drove to the bike shop bought tire tubes and had the wow taken out of Trevor’s front rim. We were assured by the bike mechanic that the noise coming from Trevor’s bottom bracket was because it was dry and could wait to be lubed until we got home without damaging it. While we waited for it to be repaired, we ate lunch.

We were on the road at 12:45. For 2/3s of the ride, Rte 59 was designated as a scenic highway. It had the widest shoulders we’ve ridden on so far and was in good repair, and the hills were cut to make a gradual grade. One grade was 3+ miles long, but manageable. Came to Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River. Pretty big, and one of the most impressive aspect of it, was the far side of it was turf. I can’t imagine how long it took to mow it, plus with the incline, it looked almost too steep to mow.

This area is one of the most picturesque on our trip. After the dam, the lake with all of the narrow peninsulas, if they were steeper, reminded me of fjords. At the top of the long grade, it was many miles on a plateau with rolling hills. The woods were open and lush with ferns and rhododendron. It must be breath taking in the spring.

The last 15 miles of the ride was a buggar…it was no longer designated as scenic and the road narrowed and had no shoulders and with more potholes we’ve experienced on the whole trip. Trucks with white trailers passed by, (probably vending units), and trailer beds with demolition cars, so I figured a fair much be somewhere down the road. We passed through some run-down appearing settlements and passed through a boggy stretch which looked like perfect moose country, but I don’t think they live this far south. Too bad because they’re missing some prime moose real estate.

Outside of Smethport, I passed by a car junkyard. The yard was filled was vintage cars and trucks. There also was a bus with a Porsche on top of it, but my camera ran out of battery just as I was about to take a picture of it. I was picked up in Smethport (home of “Wooly Willy), since we had to travel on 20+ miles of gravel road to get to our campground. T,B, & M apparently were playing on the skate board park without skateboards while waiting for me to arrive. Before climbing into the van to head to Lyman State Park, we stopped at a local DQ, and Trevor had chocolate malts which I got him hooked on, and I ate a flurry with York Peppermint Patties at a local DQ. We traveled a long ways up a gravel road. The woods were blanketed with ferns. I never saw so many ferns naturally occurring in woods before. At the top was a scenic pull-out area. Mountains all around with little evidence of civilization.

The campground was small and near a lake. We all decided it was too cold to swim. We were pleasantly surprised to find warm showers as we thought it was a primitive campground. Keith and Kim sent directions for a geocache which the kids went to find after we set up camp and brought back firewood they collected. Karen cooked a delicious meal of Mediterranean Chicken while I took a shower. Mal picked out lemon meringue pie for dessert. Bryce noted on the list of ingredients that the pie contained less than 2% food. Of course both Trevor and Bryce with their dry sense of humor carried on about the non-food aspect of the pie. The two of them together are pretty funny. Trevor performed his ritual of making a fire and then we all headed to bed by 9:30 pm in an attempt to get an earlier start on the road in the morning.