Day 2: Team Portland takes on the APPALACHIANS!

Destination: Bedford, PA

Mileage: 75

Destination fun facts: 

• Was an important frontier military post for many years
• George Washington marched his army to Bedford in 1794 to subdue the Whiskey Rebellion
• Bedford was once famous for their medicinal springs... the springs apparently cured rheumatic pains and ulcers 

Day 2 is known to Portland riders to be the hardest day of the entire ride. The Appalachians are no joke. It’s one thing to cross mountains….it’s another thing to cross them on a bike.

We took a slightly different route than last year, at the recommendation of 4K friend and local cyclist extraordinaire Barry.  This route avoided a second mountain and cut out 17 miles from what the team did last year. What it added was a post-apocalyptic abandoned highway experience.

The first 15 miles rolled by easily. We had some rolling hills on back roads in Pennsylvania, nothing major. Apparently in Pennsylvania people will stop their tractors on the wrong side of the road to talk to you. We talked to a dairy farmer in this manner, while we were stopped changing a flat. His opinion once he found out what we were doing: “You guys are nuts.” Yep.

After the warm-up came the real deal… the giant mountain that had been creeping closer to us the entire morning. A 1,000 foot, 3.5-mile climb. There was nothing to it but to do it. Each rider got into their own rhythm, and pushed themselves to chug up the mountain. I was happy that I was able to make it up without stopping for any breaks. The skies opened up into a light drizzle for our ascent, which was actually very welcome and kept us from overheating. Once we reached the top, it was a beautiful lookout!

Shortly thereafter, we went on the abandoned section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which is now a “trail,” though there are warning signs at the entrance that say “Proceed at your own risk,” and “Helmets and lights required”. It is called the “Pike 2 Bike” trail. I wish I had Wikipedia to look up facts about how long this has been abandoned… but unfortunately I don’t have wifi and cell service is also very bad. (This is being done in Microsoft Word.) It must be abandoned for at least 30 years, as it’s overgrown with vegetation at many parts, and very run-down. It was slightly treacherous to bike at some point due to gravel and holes, but miraculously, no one fell and no one got a flat.

A few miles into the trail we encountered the highlight of the day: a 1.5-mile stretch in a tunnel that was literally pitch black. So pitch black that we could not see the light at the end of the tunnel. We paused and regrouped a bit before entering the tunnel, ordering ourselves in such a way that those of us without a front light/headlamp were right behind someone that did have a light. Going through the tunnel was terrifying but also thrilling. We could only see a few feet in front of us. We rode slowly but steadily, calling out every obstacle clearly, and again, miraculously, no one fell. We weren’t sure what kind of creatures were inhabiting that tunnel… but luckily we didn’t see any of them. The inside of the tunnel was moist and damp. When we finally got to the end we celebrated by exploring a part of the tunnel wall that you could go inside. We have NO idea what this part used to be, but it was incredible. Slightly scary, possibly dangerous…. but ridiculously fun to explore. Just to get in through the door, you had to walk across a floor covered with watery muck and trash over some carefully spaced cinder blocks and rocks.

After spending close to an hour playing around in the tunnel, we continued on and steadily finished the ride. The rest of it was rolling, steep hills that were really tough, especially after our mountain from the beginning of the day. Our amazing hosts, members of Bedford Presbyterian Church, were out on the street cheering for us as we finally rolled in around 7:30 pm. They had an amazing dinner waiting for us. The church actually had a shower put into their church just for us. Well, not just for us, but they decided to put it in earlier this year because we were coming!

Bedford Presbyterian Church welcoming us!!

Even though it was extremely physically challenging, Day 2 was fantastic. In the course of the day we climbed a total of 5800 vertical feet. Although I hate believe-in-yourself statements such as the following, I feel like since I actually did climb a mountain I can say this…. Climbing that mountain made me feel like I can do anything I set my mind to. And I had so much fun randomly exploring. It hit me that I get to spend my whole summer doing this... all while spreading hope and hopefully inspiration. If I want to stop and take pictures I can stop and take pictures. If I want to stop and explore I can stop and explore. It’s going to be awesome!