Day 44 Confluence, PA to Bedford , PA

Day 44 Confluence, PA to Bedford, PA

Essence: It feels good to feel good again.

Today is a day to ride. While many people say tomorrow is the "Final Exam" with a hilly century, I consider today to be the Senior Project, with multiple climbs and the alternate route up 3213' Mt. Davis, Pennsylania's highest point.

Today will be the 1st of the final 2 back to back days of hard riding. I am ready, I am prepped. Let's see what I've got left.

The air is thick and the light from the sodium vapor lights still casts cones of solidness through the air. Other than these glowing solids, it is still pitch dark... and time ot get up. It only finally got cold enough for the sleeping bag about 90 minutes ago and my body surely begs to be able to sleep in a little longer.

Breakig cap down is slow. I am still tryingot manage my wet clothes. It's all wet.

Finally I am packed and ready for breakfast. Not much breakfast choice though. Low on milk. No Juice. :(

I get the road route directions for up and over Mt. Davis. I am going to do it. Stephen and Lambert take off alone and tell me I will catch up. SO I am left to start last and alone.

I am pushing and it finally feels good to ride hard. I have chosen to wear teh McGowan jersey today in honor of Dr. Brack and Jeananne, as I a strong climber and going for the tough climbs today. I remind myself to pace for all day and tomorrow's century as well. I here my traing partner Grant's voice telling to pace.

The valley has a chill and the trees are just starting to change colors.


I can imagine how pretty this will be in the full fall colors.
Ah autumn... Football... back to school... fall leaves... those things aren't far off for these people.

At the bottom of the Mt. climb I catch Sean, Liz and Kari. With Stephen, Lambert and I we are the only 6 to be taking the alternate mountain route. It shaves 10 miles, but adds several thousand feet of elevation gain so it should end up about the the same. I am glad to have caught the other three and no longer be bringing up the rear. I pass them and climb up on e of the steepest grades we ever encounter. Lowest gear, standing in the pedals I wear out and go back to my old reliable sit in the saddle and spin it out. Spinning it out I finally break 8 mph, then 9 then 10 and I am up over the first hump.

The climbs are tough! Steep, shorts bursts where you can't develop a rhythm. Just all out exertion. I hear the words from one of my letter in my last mail stop, "Use your granny gear. That's why itis there." I shift into granny gear and smile at the wisdom. I also work on my hill sprints for Grant and push hard up and over every hill.

Near the top of one fo the hills I chat with a guy about an old rock quarry, mine.

The air is stale coming out of the shaft and I think back tot he West Virginia mine disaster last year. He tells me about taking his kids in the mine to collect fossils when they were small, some 40 years ago. He has a ventriloquist dummy's laugh.

The air around us is thick with fog and he tells me this isn't normal weather.

I ride off into the foggy clearings. I know there is a top, but I surely can't make it our or even guess at my progress. More Climbs and even a few descents =, that just have to be reclimbed.

Final Climb and I catch Lambert as the turn off to the actual Mt. Davis Peak. We head up the peak road for the 1 mile to the actual peak.

We are alone when we get there. We see the path to the peak and folow it around but don't see a peak. Finally we see a boulder and some signs.



Not in good rock climbing shoes I shimmy up to get a good picture of the benchmark plaque.

Dave climbs the lookout tower and I get a shot of him.



Summoning all my courage, I overcome my primal fear of manmande heights and climb the 4 stories of the lookout tower to join Dave take in the great view.

Our visibility is about 1/2 a mile into the fog.



Yes I am holding on for dear life...

because it makes me feel better.

Having climbed, and seen we head down and are back on the bikes. Back on the main road we turn right and 200 yards up the hill we find Pollie and Mark huddle in their car waiting for us but avoiding the biting flies in the meantime.



A quick picture, a water fill up and Dave Lambert and I are shooting off down the hill. Mark advised us to try to keep it under 40!

Once again we are pushing the limits of speed and our tires and we crash through the 40mph advice easily. I top out at 46.6mph. We pass a dumptruck on a screaming downhill only for him to catch us back on the uphill. We shoot down another hill 40mph and bend around a corn field to a BLIND CORNER STOP SIGN. Panic is all I can do. There is now stopping for this. All I can manage to shout at Dave behind me is, "WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!" We come to a stop 30' the other side of the stop sign and breathe a collective sigh of relief that is was acountry road with no traffic.

We carry on down the mountain, and looking back can't see the top, where we have just been.

At the bottom we rejoin the route. What with the detours and the extra miles up to the boulder, this route has only saved us 2 miles but it was totally worth it. We see the water stop for the riders who took the trail, however since we are refilled from the mountain, we head on.

All across the country we have been seeing the silhouette of a cowboy leaning up against a post. Since as early as Washington we have seen this image. Occasionally we have see teh cowgirl version. This OLD MAN version makes me turn around and come back for a picture.


From here it is hard climbing and riding for everyone else, but those of us that have conquered Mt. Davis, have alreday done the toughest part of our day.

I start riding hard and really pushing hte pace and pull away from Lambert. I don't see another rider for miles. Eventually I see David Latner climbing rollers into another cute little town. As I cath him and ride along with him, he says that according to Kathy, only Stephen is ahead of us. Holy cow from starting out near dead last, I have moved to 2nd rider. I guess I am riding fast today. I stop at the turn in town for an impromptu lunch and seemingly create the spot. It is an auto repair that is closed, but has a big parking lot and shares with an.. what else... but and Ice Cream trailer. Ice cream isn't open yet, but during hte 30 minutes we sit there and eat lunch, the ice cream trailer opens up a tad early (mostly due to our begging) and milkshakes are the order of the day.

During our stop, Kari and Dimmitts have also rolled up and passed us. Latner has already left and is rolling. I change out my rose lenses for my Dark gray sun lenses and return to my hunt. Inow have "rabbits" out in front of me to catch and I can really push the pace, by focussing on catching them and not on how my body feels.

Latner, the Dimmits and eventually Kari, are all riders that I pass. Stephen is like an apparition out ther ahead of me.

AT a sharp turn we hang a right and start attacking some low hills straight on ans we haed to the United flight 93 memorial site. Coming over the last hill the top 20 feet are a sheer wall that seems virtually straight up. Lowest gear, standing it takes every muscle fiber to keep the bike upright and climb these 20'.

Over the crest we coast downhill a few hundred yards and are at the site of the 9/11 Flight 93 crash site and impromptu memorial. Kathy is there waiting for us with a water break and we take the time to go throughthe memorial.

As we all do, I remember the day of 9/11/2001 and of the events that took place. I remember at the time that flight 93 seemed so forgotten and secondary to the twin towers collapse and even the Pentagon crash. Out here in a corn field, what had they done. Therefore the chainlink fence section that had been erected as impromptu memorial, that is covered in flags, and fireman jackets and buttons and the like. In that impromptu style that has become so popular since the death of Lady Diana, this memorial onthe spot seemd so perfect. The only official monument were a set of benches each with 2 names ofthe passengers and crew who perished on the flight. In all there are about 35 or 40 benches arranged to look att he crash site and it is very solemn and truly peaceful. Everyman heroes that gave up everything for an untold rest of us to be protected.









I don't know how long I stopped at the memorial. For the first time all day, I wasn't in a rush and time passing had no significance at the memorial.

Finally it felt time to roll on.

To be continued.