Day 6: Springdale, PA to Youngstown, PA

Mileage: 72 miles

Total Distance from Baltimore: 328 miles

After spending a day in Pittsburgh and having a full days rest, we were ready to roll out and head towards a new state: Ohio! My riding group for the day was with Peter, Chelsea, and Chris. The day started a bit chilly, so I wore my leg warmers and jacket. 

In the morning, I saw a sign for a bike cafe, so my team decided to go check it out. It ended up being a restaurant in a park by a pretty lake. Since we weren't getting anything, we just stopped by to look around and see if they had any stickers. I want to collect stickers to put on my bike throughout the trip. The manager actually came out with a box of them, and I chose one that said "I <3 Hills" and "Bike Love". Perfect. My first bike stickers :)

The total mileage for today was about 72 miles. We went at a slow pace, so it took quite a while to get to our host in Youngstown, OH. We crossed the state line at around mile 55 and of course had to stop to take photos. 

When I got to the church that was hosting us, the church people shuttled us to the local YMCA to shower. A good shower is always the best thing after a long day of cycling! What's even better is having a home cooked meal. The church held a potluck dinner for us, so there was a great variety of different foods, not just pasta! 

I had a pleasant conversation with the old ladies at the church. They seemed to enjoy our company as much as we enjoyed receiving their generosity. 

Next stop: Canton, OH. I will be driving the food van, so I'll be begging for food instead of cycling. Wish me luck!

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Day 4- Ligonier, PA to Pittsburgh, PA

I am getting a bit behind on blogging because of the lack of cell service and wifi (I am currently blogging in a TGIF while waiting for dinner). I am trying whenever I can, writing during water stops, in the van ride into the city, etc. Before I recap day 4, I'm going to continue with day 3. We were cycling from Bedford to Ligonier, 64 miles and over 5,000 feet of climbing. 

The morning started out great, even with a rain shower. The scenery was gorgeous and the rolling hills were rewarding because we had as many fun descents as climbs. At the top of one climb, we rested for a bit and a bunch of puppies came running out of a house to greet us. 

My team was having a great time, making animal noises whenever we saw farm animals (a rule that I've been trying to enforce) and really enjoying the day. The sun came out and it was starting to get hot, though. We ran into another team and decided to all ride together since we were on low country backcountry roads. Unfortunately, that was when the bad luck started. We had multiple flats and had to stop quite a few times. At one of the stops, we were at a sharp curve in the road and had to change three flats. As we were changing them, one of our bikes was on the other side of the road in the grass. A bus came and tried to avoid us by taking the turn sharply, and ran over the bike in the grass. I saw it happen and could not believe what I just saw. We stood there looking at each other, trying to comprehend what happened. Fortunately, the bus came back and we were able to flag it down and exchange insurance information. I called the support van so they could come get us. We decided to split up and half of us continued on. 

I led the group the rest of the 16ish miles to Ligonier. There were a lot of rolling hills, and then a very long climb as we neared. When we thought the climbs would never end, I finally saw a summit sign. We made it to the top and all there was to do was descend all the way into Ligonier. The descent was SO MUCH FUN and rewarding after all that climbing. Three miles of flying down the mountain with averaging about 9% grades. It was a one lane highway, so I had to take the lane. I tried to control my speed by feathering the brakes, so my max speed was about 40 mph. 

At Ligonier, we stayed at the YMCA. Our hosts made us dinner with salad and lasagna, and provided us with snacks and breakfast food. I showered, ate, blogged, and finally slept at 11:30.

On day 4, we rolled out of Ligonier. My riding group for the day was with Patricia, Chelsea, and Danielle.  It was a foggy and cool morning, and the first few miles were down hill through forests shrouded in the fog. The sun soon broke through and the day became clear and sunny. We had a short day, only 46 miles, so we took it easy and stopped frequently to take photos.

The ride when by really quickly and smoothly, and thankfully no mechanicals, which my riding groups have been plagued by for the past few days. Some highlights include stopping to play on a playground and watching a local kid show us tricks on his bike. His bike was so much cooler than ours; it looked like a dirt bike and he was riding circles around us with his skills. He loved showing off, too, especially when we took out the cameras.

We got to the host, Springdale United Presbyterian Church, around 2 pm. We had pizza in the parking lot before being let into the basement where we were staying. I put away my bike, took out my sleeping bag to lie down, and was knocked out for a bit. That nap was so nice. 

After showering and having dinner, we decided to go out for drinks. A bunch of us piled into the vans and we headed to The Church Brew Works, a really cool brewery that used to be a church. 

The brewery was huge and easily accommodated our large group. It's also a restaurant, so the atmosphere was pretty chill. I got the IPA and the Schwarzbier, and both were pretty good. 

And as if I didn't eat enough pizza in the past few days, I split a five cheese wood-fired pizza. It was topped with almonds and basil, and was seriously good.

Great ending to an easy day. I fell asleep in the van ride back to the host, and promptly went to bed for a full night's rest. Rest day on day 5!

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Day 5: Rest Day at Pittsburgh, PA

Today is our first rest day after cycling four days in a row, traveling over 300 miles and climbing over 15,000 feet. We are all happy to have a break for our butts, sleep in, and explore the city. 

This morning, I crawled out of my sleeping bag around 8 am. It felt great to get a solid 8 hours of sleep. My lower back and legs felt stiff, so I did some yoga and foam rolling. Felt much better after that. 

I had a lazy morning and we didn't get ready to go out into the city until 11. 

Once we got into the city, we looked for places to get lunch. All I wanted was a huge salad after eating so much bread, pasta, pizza, etc for the past few days. I found a salad place called Toss't, which looked like a knockoff of Chop't in DC. The was exactly what I wanted and I was happy. A lot of other people went to Primanti's for their famous sandwiches, which have meat, cheese, fries, and coleslaw. I was just not feeling it. 

After lunch, we went to Point State Park where the rivers converge. It was beautiful with hills in the background with houses perched on top, and a view of the baseball stadium. After taking a few pictures, I headed to the Warhol Museum with a small group. 

The Warhol Museum was a lot of fun. I didn't know much about Warhol before, but I knew that we was famous for his pop art. There were interesting exhibits on seven floors of the building. My favorite was a small room filled with silver rectangular balloons. They were floating around and it was fun batting them around. If you are ever in Pittsburgh, I would highly recommend visiting the museum. Even of you're not a huge Warhol fan, it's still pretty interesting to see. 

One of my teammates had connections in the city, and they generously set up a catered dinner for us at TGI Fridays. On the way there, we saw a small park with fountains and sculptures. There was also a large chalk board that said "Before I Die..." I just so happened to have a small nubbin of chalk in my bag, so of course I had to write something. Just some shameless self-promotion. 

The dinner at TGIF was great and it was nice to have a restaurant meal. I ate my fill of veggies, salad, pasta (again) and cheesecake for dessert. 

Even though I didn't bike all day, I can still put away a lot of food. Not too surprising. 

After dinner, we headed back to the host in Springdale, did some housekeeping, had our team meeting, and got ready for bed. Tomorrow, we are headed to Youngstown, OH, approximately 80 miles. It's going to be exciting to cross another state line. We will also be dipping into West Virginia for a little bit, so hopefully we will collect that state welcome sign as well!

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Portland Mail Drops

Here's an updated list of our mail drops. Getting mail is awesome. Getting care packages with random cool stuff is even more awesome. 

Team Portland 2014 Mail Drops

 

Day 9/10 - Columbus, OH – 6.9-10.14

Capital City Church

Attn: Rider’s Name Here

1290 Old Henderson Road

Columbus, OH 43220

 

Day 14/15 - Louisville, KY – 6.14-15.14

Chris Ewing

Attn: Rider’s Name Here

3318 Hampton Creek Drive

Louisville, KY 40241

 

Day 21/22 - Chicago, IL – 6.21-22.14

University of Illinois, Chicago

Susan Teggatz

Attn: Rider’s Name Here

700 S Halsted St.

Chicago, IL 60607

 

Day 28 - Omaha, NE - 6.28-29.14

Saint Mary Margaret Church

Attn: Rider’s Name Here

6116 Dodge St

Omaha, NE 68132

 

Day 33 - Arapahoe, NE – 7.3-4.14

First United Methodist Church

Attn: Rider’s Name Here

701 5th St

Arapahoe, NE 68922

 

Day 39 - Boulder, CO – 7.9.14

St. John’s Episcopal Church

Attn: Rider’s Name Here

1419 Pine St.

Boulder, CO 80302

 

Day 45 - Rawlins, WY – 7.15.14

First United Methodist Church

Attn: Rider’s Name Here

800 N 23rd St.

Rawlins WY, 82301

 

Day 56 - Mountain Home, ID – 7.26.14

River of Life Family Worship Center

Attn: Rider’s Name Here

350 N 11th E St.

Mountain Home, ID 83647

 

Day 67/68 - Tillamook, OR – 8.6-7.14

St Alban's Episcopal Church

Attn: Rider’s Name Here

2102 6th Street

Tillamook, OR 97141

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Day 3: Bedford, PA to Ligonier, PA

Mileage: 64 miles

It's funny how great my day was despite small annoyances and major mishaps. I think it says a lot about our team how we go through some tough shit, but help each other to keep a positive outlook.

Let me back up with how my morning started. Today, I was riding with Tori, Ashley, and Mitch, and we were the first group to roll out of our host in Bedford, PA. We were going at a nice pace, and started to hit some rolling hills. At the top of one, we saw a huge statue of a boy playing a trumpet. Of course we had to stop to take a picture. That's when I realized that we missed a turn. No worries. We just rerouted through a beautiful state park, and we were quickly back on track. The scenery made the detour so worth it!

At the first water stop at a farm, we were treated to homemade cookies made by a family. They were actually going to sell the cookies, but donated them to us. They were really amazing!

After the water stop, we started to hit some hills. My team was so positive and energetic, despite the seriously steep grades. For the past three days, we've gone through some really tough terrain. It's been very hard on some riders, but we all made it through with each other's support. It's amazing to see how strong we are getting. It's a steep learning curve (ha, pun...), but I think we are doing fabulously.

For the entire morning, I think I had a smile plastered to my face. We had some big climbs, but we took it slow, so it wasn't bad at all. It was so gorgeous riding through the rolling hills of Pennsylvania and I was soaking it all in. There were wildflowers, horses, sheep, a lot of cows, and beautiful forests. It even showered for a bit and I was close to getting soaked, but it wasn't too bad and the sun came out as we rolled into lunch.

Lunch stop was about 45 minutes across from a pen full of baby cows. The sun broke through the clouds and it was perfect. I ate leftovers from our wonderful hosts who made us pancakes in the morning. I also had a pasta sandwich because we ran out of utensils. 

After lunch, my team and I got into a good rhythm and was making good pace. The terrain got hillier and we had some pretty steep climbs. However, the views were so great that it made all the climbs worth it. At the top of a particularly steep climb, there was a house that had a lot of puppies, and they ran out to bark/greet us.

Since day one, we have been riding through some really beautiful parts of the country that I wouldn't otherwise be able to see. And I know that it will just keep getting better. Of course I am excited to get to the western states, like Colorado, Wyoming, and Idaho, but there are some beautiful landscapes only a few miles from the Interstate.

Yea, WHOA.

Although I started with an intro foreshadowing a turn for the worse, I am going to sign off with this photo at the top of a climb. At this point, I am getting less than 6 hours of sleep, and I need to pass out ASAP. I'll finish my recap tomorrow when I'm in Pittsburgh and have a rest day on Day 5.

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Day 2- Waynsboro, PA to Bedford, PA

Mileage: 70 miles

Today was a long day. And a bit rough, but we all made it to Bedford,PA!

This morning, our rooster woke us up with "The Circle of Life" at 5 am. I woke up a few minutes early, but it was still a bit painful to get out of my warm sleeping bag. We try to get up early for an earlier start. I hear that on particularly hot days, we wake up even earlier. 

Everyone had chores, including cleaning up the place, loading vans, filling water jugs, and helping with breakfast. We got our bikes ready, tidied up, and were ready to roll out at about 7:15. 

Not 5 miles in, we had a flat in the group. This will be the theme of the day. 

Day 2 of the Portland route is supposed to be one of the hardest. We had 70 miles to ride and over 5000 feet to climb. The scenery through the valleys and mountains were gorgeous. At around mile 20, we started our first big climb of the day. Getting to the top took quite a while, since we had to stop a few times. Took a selfie in the middle :)

After going up the mountain at a crawl, we finally reached the summit and was treated to this view (as well as a very rotten deer carcass). The descent was fast and fun, and the lunch stop was waiting for us at the bottom. Perfect. Except a teammate got another flat on the descent. 

After our lunch break, we had another climb, though it wasn't as tough as the first one. It was just hard to get started after sitting for so long and eating a bunch of fried chicken for lunch. 

This is where the day took a turn for the worse. We were directed onto gravel roads, which is NOT fun on a road bike. Some parts of the road were steep downhills, which is actually terrifying on gravel. There's no traction with our skinny 23mm tires. 

The purpose of traveling miles on gravel road was to get to an abandoned tunnel. It's technically a closed trail and it sounds kind of creepy, but it's also pretty cool. The road through the tunnel was very rough and not maintained, so we could only ride at a very slow speed. It kind of took forever to get through. 

The tunnels were pitch black, so we had to pair up with people who had headlights. I had a small one that lit up a small circle in front of me. It was a bit scary at first, but once my eyes adjusted to the darkness, it wasn't that bad. The tunnels were also pretty cold. Oh yea, someone also broke a spoke on the rough roads, and had to walk through one of the shorter tunnels. 

Although going through the tunnels wasn't an entirely pleasant experience, it was interesting. Not sure it was worth the miles of gravel roads though. I think I would've preferred to climb another mountain. After the tunnels, we had about 18 miles to go. 

We made it to the host, Bedford Presbyterian Church. I took a glorious hot shower at the middle school, and then had a delicous home cooked meal of pasta with meatballs, bread, tabouli, and salad. There was also an impressive dessert spread. 

I am so grateful for the generosity I have been shown so far by our hosts! They were so kind to open their doors to us and feed us so much good food, give us hot showers, and even let us use their laundry machines. 

I hope that I will be able to write more detailed posts when we finish the days ride earlier and on rest days. It's past 11 and I am so exhausted. Waking up at 5am, so I really need to sleep. 

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Day 1- Baltimore, MD to Waynesboro, PA

Distance- 71.5 miles

Total distance- 71.5 miles

Hello! I am awake bright and early at 5 am, blogging from my phone when I have a moment to spare. We are staying at a church's gym in Waynesboro, PA, so the cell reception isn't very great. 

Yesterday, June 1, all of the 4K riding teams embarked from the Baltimore Inner Harbor to Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, and of course, my destination: Portland. Our teams met up at 6am (getting up early will be a theme this summer) to pack vans and make final preparations. Then we all headed into the inner harbor to meet our loved ones for a farewell and the famous tire dipping ceremony. Since we are riding coast to coast, the idea is that we dip our back tire into the Atlantic, and the front in the Pacific. 

My parents, brother, aunt, and cousins were all there to see me off. I felt very grateful to have so many family members there. After a few speeches, photos, hugs and kisses, we dipped our tires and were off! 

Each team was split into smaller riding groups led by alumni. For the first day, the alumni guided us through the route to our first host. They also drove our vans to bring is water and found donations for our lunch. They were freaking awesome and it was great to ride with them!

The roads out of Baltimore was a bit rough. We went slowly through the city because of all the traffic lights. Once we entered the suburbs, and then the country, it was a lot better. We had some nice rolling hills and a longer climb near the end of our 71+ miles. 

We got to the host in Waynesboro at about 5 pm and were fed an amazing meal of fried chicken, Mac n cheese, pasta, and a ton of salad. Also, a table full of fruit and desserts.  

I'm actually blogging out on the road right now, as I'm waiting for a teammate to change a flat. I'll post more details later!

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