A Great Deal of Rich Meadow (February 27th - March 10th)

I spent the night of the 27th in Black, PA. When I first googled the name of the town, nothing came up. This struck me as odd since Google's own Google Maps was the thing that was telling me I was in Black. In any case, I eventually found some information on the town. Did you know that Black, PA is 0.02% water? You do now.

E- Black, PA
F - Fort Hill, PA

The next two nights were spent just 1.3 miles away in Fort Hill, PA. Fort Hill is home to the Deer Valley YMCA Family Camp at base of Mount Davis. Mount Davis is actually the highest point in the entire state of Pennsylvania at 3,213 feet.

I then spent the next six nights in Confluence, PA. I haven't mentioned it up to this point, but since I passed through Cumberland, MD (63.4 miles ago), I've been riding on the Great Allegheny Passage bike trail. This trail is part of a 335-mile continuous non-motorized corridor from near Washington, DC to near Pittsburgh. It's not always the most direct route, but it is a godsend for someone attempting to (imaginarily) ride a bike across the country. Aside from being a stop on the trail, Confluence is also home to some of the best whitewater in the country. I have a cousin who is a avid whitewater kayaker, so he should definitely check it out. Most of the nights that I spent in Confluence included a stop at Sherman's Ice Cream Parlor & Kitchen. I didn't just eat ice cream. They also have delicious burgers as well.

My arteries were happy that I moved on to Connellsville, PA. When I arrived, I was intrigued to find that Connellsville was once known as the "Coke Capital of the World". I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I had no idea what this meant. I knew that Coca-Cola was headquartered in Atlanta, and I figured that Connellsville was not some sort of drug capital, but I couldn't for the life of me think of any other sort of coke. Apparently, coke is a type of fuel that is made from coal. You knew that? I did not. I also had the chance to check out a Keystone Ice Miners during their historic final season in the NAHL, so that was exciting.

I spent the next night in a place that George Washington once called "as fine a land as I have ever seen, a great deal of rich meadow; it is well watered and has a valuable mill seat." He then drew up plans for the streets of that town to be laid out in the shape of a wagon-wheel. That town was Perryopolis, PA. In 2011, it was even named one of the top 50 cleanest towns in Pennsylvania!

Perryopolis, PA (see Washington's wagon-wheel?)

Finally, on March 10th I spent the night in West Newton, PA. West Newton is the hometown of Ray Luzier, who has been the drummer for Korn and David Lee Roth (possibly the strangest combination of artists to be the drummer for, ever).

E - Confluence, PA
F - Connellsville, PA
G - Perryopolis, PA
H - West Newton, PA

Real life: Admittedly, this post was a bit of a mail-in, but I had a lot of days to cover, and didn't have very much to work with in the boonies of Pennsylvania. I've also been pretty busy, which has caused me to fall behind in my riding as well as my writing. The main culprit was a work trip to Kansas City, MO. If your travels take you there, be sure to check out Novel for dinner and The Ship for drinks. You will not be disappointed. Other factors included a colonoscopy (TMI?) and coming in third place in the Chiditarod. However, I've made up some miles over the last few days as Chicago's weather has started to turn, allowing me to leisurely pile on some extra miles. Mileage: February 27th - 13.2 miles, February 28th - 1.3 miles, March 1st - 0 miles, March 2nd - 13.2 miles, March 3rd - 1.8 miles, March 4th-7th - 0 miles, March 8th - 24.1 miles (best of the year), March 9th - 14.2 miles, March 10th - 14.6 miles. Total annual mileage: 623.8 miles (63.4 miles behind target pace).