Distance: 34.2 mi, Climbed: 1,883 ft
Completed: 543.5 mi, 34,677 ft
Yesterday, Joanna and I had a well-deserved rest day and got to spend wonderful time with my nephew Matt and his family. Today, it was back on the bike. We had planned a 55-mile ride to Wellsburg, West Virginia. With a little rest and having completed a 51-mile ride a few days ago, we felt confident. Alas, the day did not go as planned…
We began with a short 10-mile ride into downtown Pittsburgh. There were a few tough hills, and Matt offered to take our bags to his office in the morning so we could ride to the city bag free. It was delightful to tackle those climbs without the added weight of our saddle bags.
We are currently following the Chicago-to-New York route created by the Adventure Cycling Association. I am guessing the route was developed west to east, and they simply reversed it. I suspect that is the case as today we were forced to do our own re-routing when the official route started to send us down a wrong-way street with big DO NOT ENTER signs. The re-routing added a few extra miles to an already long day.
After meeting Matt at his office, we headed down to Point State Park for a great view of the three rivers and the Pittsburgh skyline. While the park paths were quiet, the park’s interior was a hub-bub of activity as the NFL draft is being held in the park in just two days. Many sections of the park were closed off, but all seemed fine as we were able to access the point and enjoy the scenery.
The trouble began when we went to leave the park and travel over the Fort Pitt Bridge to Station Square and head towards West Virginia. When we tried to access the bridge from the south, we found fences blocking what we thought might be the path to the bridge. So we tried to go around from the north side of the park to find everything was closed except the path to the north-bound bridge, which goes exactly in the opposite direction that we needed to go. Eventually, we found the entrance to the Fort Pitt Bridge behind a security fence with guards there to ensure only authorized persons could enter. We pleaded with the guards to let us on the bridge but to no avail. The Fort Pitt Bridge was closed to bicyclists due to the upcoming draft. There were no signs. There were no detours. We were on our own. With the help of a jogger, we figured out an alternative route going over the two-fishes bridge. In the end, we added another five miles to our day and wasted lots of time trying to figure out how to get back on the route.
With our two detours, we were running very late on what was going to be a long day even if everything went perfectly. We realized that there was no chance of us making it to West Virginia without having to ride hours in the dark. We decided to cut the day short to just 35 miles and found an Airbnb in Midway, Pennsylvania.
With the pressure off, we could enjoy the rest of the day. After leaving downtown, we made our way to the Panhandle Trail – a much appreciated break from the traffic and hills of Pittsburgh. West Virginia will have to wait to tomorrow.
You stayed at our B&B on Day 11. I intended to login to your blog more often but I’m catching up with your trip today. I just read about all the trouble finding your way out of Pittsburgh. I always tell my guests that the city of Pittsburgh only exists because people found their way in and couldn’t find their way out. With all the tunnels, bridges and 3 rivers – you can literally see where you want to go but can’t get there from where you are. I’m glad you made it out!