Day 07: Meadville, PA to Cleveland Heights, OH

A few hills and lots of flat. Easy right? A bit of frost and no rain was a great way to start the day.

In the morning hours I arrived at a few warm lakes inhabited by some lone boats and dead downtowns.

A few miles later the anticipated arrival into Ohio via a mile long causeway over lake Pymatuning.

As the roadway changes pavement I cross into my destination state, Ohio!  Finally leaving the 480 miles of Pennsylvania mountains behind to enter the plains of Ohio.

Flat for miles in every direction, the biggest climb yet was this highway overpass.

After 25 miles of calm skies and flat terrain... Those cat tails were leaning for a reason.

15-20mph headwinds put a damper on my easy 77 mile day to the East side of Cleveland. A pre-lunch orchard stop was necessary.

The eastern half of Ohio is filled with lovely town squares and town halls. I stopped in Chardon for lunch and was on my way to the suburbs of Cleveland.

A long morning put me a short and windy 20 miles from Matthew's house. He cooked me a wonderful dinner of salmon and gnocchi and we polished off a nice bottle of wine. Was it from Gallucci's? I miss that place.

Thanks for the hospitality Matt and Amy!

Day 06: Warren, PA to Meadville, PA

Day 06

Well what can I say about day 06? It rained from the moment I left the Budget Inn until my lunch stop in Spartansburg. So much not fun, everything was a mess - there was road spray all over me, the bike, my bags, my chain was/is a mess and Rt 6 was a four lane divided highway.  Until I decided to exit and find an alternate route:

Thanks google, if you didn't notice that is what you call a 'dead end.'  Back to 6... and on my way to 77.  Oh but wait!  Road closed 11 miles ahead, awesome.

Detour starts with an awful, wet, curvy climb into farmland.  I should have known as the road was called 'Mickle Hill Road.'

At the top some cows and a few nice farms.

Finally found my way to a decent lunch after a round about way to Spartansburg.  I warmed up with some tea and I was on my way to a direct route to Meadville via SR 77.

Never trust a road that cuts straight across the countryside.
Instead of following rivers and ridges SR 77 ignored the hilly terrain of Western PA and provided the me with the hilliest day yet.  I should have kept to Rt 6.
I thought the state just had an excess of these signs:

Nope...

Climbed that one, 8%

Turns out they varied from 6-8% until Meadville

Reached a new top speed of 42mph on this one:

These are warnings for downhills but of course every single downhill was paired with equally painful uphill. I don't believe I gained or lost any elevation today, just rolled up and down for 65 miles.

Next time I'll remember, "fast decisions may have lifetime impacts"

Day 05: Ulysses, PA to Warren, PA

First things first, climb the Eastern Continental Divide - which happens to be a triple divide - from this point water sheds North to the Saint Lawrence Seaway, East to the Atlantic and West to the Mississippi River. The nearest pass to the triple divide is US Rt 6 at Denton Hill which I accidentally did not climb yesterday :) In the morning we were only a few degrees away from a frost when I left the Pine Log Motel and it probably got a bit cooler once I got to the top.

With only a peanut butter sandwich, 600ft of elevation and two miles of climbing later I arrived 100ft below the actual triple divide to the North. Most of Rt 6 had a double lane for trucks to creep up the hills and of course that extra lane was a nice warning to what was ahead.

After a much deserved downhill and about 50 miles of rollers I was finally about to enter the Allegheny National Forest.

But not without some local input; the guys sitting next to me at lunch in Smethport kindly suggested route 59 to save me about 20 miles. I happily continued West through the sputtering rain.

Until (it had to happen sometime) the dreaded 20 miles of fresh tar and chip. The roadway was nicely packed, however tempting I was confined to the shoulder by hastily passing logging trucks.

And finally what I'd been waiting for all day - the descent to the Allegheny Reservoir and 8 miles later my stop for the night in Warren, PA.

Downhill and arrival, Yay!

And the lake.

And of course the dam, sorry salmon!

Nice lawn by the way.

The Budget Inn was shady and every restaurant in Warren was closed on Monday nights, why?

But it was a cute town.

Not bad for an 80 mile day and 5 hours and 45 minutes in the saddle. On to the next!

At

Location:Warren, PA

Day 04: Towanda, PA to Ulysses, PA

Ulyesses was the last stop before Denton Hill and there was no way I was climbing the highest point on Rt 6 after 81 miles of hills. Even the old guy at the 'Pine Log Motel' (it's literally made of pine logs) told me I wasn't the only one to stop for the night. That's for tomorrow...

Its slightly downhill from here (thats what you think...):

I covered varied terrain today; long climbs leading to plateaus of farmland which eventually descended to river valleys.

Route 6 maintained a pretty decent elevation for most of the day, but with elevation comes steep descents. I took another 'short cut' around Rt 6 which ended at lunch at the bottom and my quickest descent yet. Somehow I hit 37mph on a shoulder-less tar and chip road, yikes.

Except the rivers were getting smaller and the valleys more narrow.

Eventually the valleys will dead end into the continental divide and the rivers will start flowing west.

That's for tomorrow...
Right now I'm tired and there's no phone service, or internet, or cable - pretty sure they're still on dial up in this neck of the woods. Although satellite, yes they have that - I watched about four episodes of Law and Order and went to bed.

Oh I almost forgot, I saw Mike again today, he stopped in the same coffee place for lunch.

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Day 03: Carbondale, PA to Towanda, PA

Saturday started off cold, dry and windy with my panniers near empty as I was wearing just about everything I packed. To get an idea that included - merino base layer, short sleeve jersey, long sleeve jersey, soft shell, 3/4 bibs, leg warmers, wool socks, full finger gloves and a neck warmer. Yikes, I could barely move.

However bundled I was I managed a brisk 15mph average for the first 50 miles. I have the gentlemen at the roadside diner to thank for that - he directed me off Route 6 which lead to an immediate downhill into a river valley. The road wasn't completely flat but it followed a decent sized river that was. I crossed the river multiple times as well as an orange extension cord. Seriously it ran for MILES crossing and re-crossing the road - a household extension cord! What gives? Halloween decoration? I did not compute.

Anyway very scenic, you get the idea.

And traversing a valley means the Pennsylvania RR gets to traverse you and the surrounding fields.

After a quick stop in a small town I saw about a dozen racer types cruise by as I was finishing my tea - I immediately gave chase due to lack of cycling company ;) I caught up and had a nice chat only to realize we had a tailwind. What, a tailwind?! I guess I was so excited to see some other bikers I took a wrong turn in their direction, which happened to be south...

Back on Route 6 WEST gave me an idea what I was in for the rest of the day. Four mile climbs at 7mph and four mile descents at 27mph - and nothing in between.

And to the top - only to coast back down to river level four miles later - then repeat about 6 times.

Kind of exhausting so I took a long lunch in Wyalusing at a cute little hotel/restaurant that the white haired couple suggested last night. Not a bad place except for the "what the hell are you wearing/doing in this bar" stares.

Back to Route 6 I was kind of sick of the up down up down so I tried a bit of a short cut on 'River Road' which conveniently ran adjacent to the river and railroad...

For a few miles it was flat and paved, then it was just hard packed dirt. However picturesque there was work to be done at the end of this 'short cut.'

After a relaxing 8 miles my view in reverse connecting back up to Rt 6.

Luckily I was only 8 miles away from my goal of 75 for the day...

Towanda!
I stayed in a great Bed and Breakfast run by a guy named Jack (sorry I forgot to return the room key).  It was beautiful inside and out.  The stairs leading to my room:

Goodnight!


p.s.

this tree is wider than my bike; your argument is invalid :)

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Location:York Ave,Towanda,United States