Through Pittsburgh (March 11th - March 21st)

March 11th - Rode 12.4 miles to Liberty, PA.

March 12th - Rode 10.4 miles to Homestead, PA (location of the Homestead Strike of 1892).

Homestead Strike

March 13th - Rode 12 miles to McKees Rocks, PA (former home of Mann's Hotel, where George Washington possibly stayed a night and former home of Billy Mays). I passed through the south side of Pittsburgh, PA, so I checked out East Carson St.

Mann's Hotel before demolition

March 14th - Rode 17.8 miles to Aliquippa, PA (where Mike Ditka went to high school).

March 15th - Rode 9.3 miles to Beaver Falls, PA (setting of TV show 'Mr. Belvedere').

Mr. Belvedere

March 16th - Rode 12.9 miles to East Palestine, OH (making Ohio the 5th state of my trip).

March 17th - Rode 7.5 miles to Columbiana, OH (home of the Shaker Woods Crafter Festival).

Shaker Woods Festival

March 18th - Rode 10.4 miles to Canfield, OH (82nd best place to live in the US, according to Money Magazine).

Canfield Green in Canfield, OH

March 19th - Rode 11.1 miles to Berlin Center, OH.

March 20th - Rode 6.4 miles to Diamond, OH.

March 21st - Rode 33 miles to Peninsula, OH.

E - Liberty, PA
F - Diamond, OH
G - Peninsula, OH

Real Life: The highlight of this last week and a half was the 33 miles of riding on March 21st. It was a nice little Saturday in Chicago, so Mo and I rode up to Evanston with some friends for lunch and then rode around the city a bit as well.  Total annual mileage: 767 miles (29.8 miles behind target pace).

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).

Running into Rosie (February 25th - February 26th)

On February 25th, I reached the town limits of Meyersdale, PA and then on February 26th I continued through town toward Garrett, PA. On my way, I ran into a friend. Here is her account of our meeting:

I was driving down Deal Road early Thursday morning when all of a sudden, an opossum jumped out in front of my car! Instead of doing what my dad taught me and just running the damn thing over, I swerved my car to avoid killing the sweet animal. Right as I swerved, I caught a glimpse of a biker in my rearview mirror and just missed slamming into that poor man! Luckily, he fell into the grass beside the road, but I felt terrible! I instantly pulled over and stopped my car so I could go help this scruffy looking stranger. He lay moaning on the grass, still attached to his bike because he had those shoes that locked into the pedals of the bike. I rushed over and said “Are you ok??” He quietly inspected himself to see if anything was broken and slowly peeled off his helmet. Once he slipped his feet out of the pedals and swung his leg over the bike, he laid flat on his back and stared up at the Meyersdale sky. “Should I call an ambulance?” I begged.

“No,” he replied. “Ill be fine. I just need a minute.” It was at that moment, I realized I knew this person! This was my old KanJam partner, Stephen Garvey! I hadn’t seen this fellow in years!

“Garvey?! Is that you?!” I yelled.

“Huh? Holy Moly….Rosie? I didn’t know you lived here!” He replied.

“Yea! I moved here after getting my dream job at the Second National Bank of Meyersdale. It’s a really sweet town. What are you doing here?”

Rosie, standing in front of Second National Bank

“I am biking across America.” He said, still laying flat on his back.

“That’s crazy man. I’m really sorry I made you crash. Can I help you up?”

“Sure.” He said, wincing a little as he got up.

“Should we take you to a hospital?”

“No, I’m ok, just needed a minute,” He responded. I couldn’t believe I was seeing my old buddy, and that I almost killed him! It was just like old times. Reminded me of all the shenanigans we used to get into while we were playing the professional KanJam circuit. He was a beast with a Frisbee and a can. No one ever beat us and we had the trophies to prove it.

“Well hey, if you’re feeling alright, how about I show you around a little? We could go to the Meyersdale Wind Farm. It’s really something.”

He told me that as fun as that sounded, he had a schedule to stick to and had to keep on biking. I said ok, and we hugged goodbye. I watched as my old friend rode off into the distance. I couldn’t wait to get home and tell my cats all about it.

It truly was a pleasure to run into an old friend, but I had some riding left to do if I was to make it to Garrett that day.  

Real life: February 25th - 10.4 miles, February 26th - 10.4 miles. Total Annual Mileage: 541.4 miles (26.3 miles behind target pace).

Notes: Thank you to Rosie Moan for being the first guest writer on the blog. If you are interested in writing a guest entry, please feel free to email me at stephen.c.garvey.82@gmail.com. Also, if you're interested in getting an email whenever a new blog is posted, you can enter your address in the Follow By Email bar on the right side of the page.

Falling Behind in February (February 13th - February 24th)

I knew that at some point during this imaginary ride, the winter would be a factor. To be honest, I was pleasantly surprised to still be ahead of pace at this point. However, February started to take a toll after a couple of weeks.

I rode on February 13th, but not again until the 16th, and spent all four of those nights in Hancock, MD. Hancock represents most of the narrowest point of Maryland:

Hancock is the yellow dot in the orange area

You may remember a few posts ago, when I mentioned that I visited a place that Washington slept. In Hancock, I got to visit a home where Washington dined with a gentleman named Mr. Flint. You can read more about that and see a photo of the home as it looks today here. During the Civil War, Stonewall Jackson's troops laid siege to Hancock and the Confederacy held the town for ransom. The Union never paid the ransom. The Hancock website refers to the town as "a welcome stop for the traveler," and I must say that I agree with that assessment.

On the 17th, I rode into Little Orleans, MD. The most interesting thing I could find out about Little Orleans was that it hosts an annual motorcycle rally which is called the Sturgis of the East. The festival boasts a website that magically captures the aesthetic of 1998, while also being completely up to date.

The next two nights were spent in Oldtown, MD. How old is Oldtown you ask? Well, it boasts the Michael Cresap House which dates back to 1764. Cresap was the first European male born in Allegany County.

On February 20th, I rode into Cumberland, MD and it was so nice to get into an actual city (even a small one), that I decided to stay there for four nights (AKA the weather made me do it). The city's motto is "Come for a Visit, Stay for Life!" It kind of sounds like a threat to me, or like Cumberland might be home to a state penitentiary. When researching Cumberland, I found out that the city tends to vote for Blue Dog Democrats. That may be a familiar term to some, but it was completely new to me. Read more about these conservative Democrats here.

Four nights in Cumberland meant that I was starting to fall behind the pace, so I rode 15 miles today and ended up in Frostburg, MD. I'd like to think that I was the second most important visitor to this small city. In 1953, Harry Truman and his wife went for a road trip in a Chrysler that they had received as a gift upon leaving the White House. During their visit, they ate at the Princess Restaurant. I decided to eat there as well, and I sat in the Truman Booth.

E is Hancock, F is Frostburg. Little Orleans, Oldtown, and Cumberland are along the way.

Real life: Cold weather, snow, and visitors on weekends meant that I did not ride on four separate days during this twelve day stretch. I fell as much as 32.7 miles behind my target pace before starting to claw back at the miles. February 13th - 10.6 miles, February 14th-15th - 0 miles, February 16th - 10.4 miles, February 17th - 10.6 miles, February 18th - 11.7 miles, February 19th - 11.6 miles, February 20th - 10.4 miles, February 21st-22nd - 0 miles, February 23rd - 10.4 miles, February 24th - 15 miles. Total annual mileage: 520.6 miles (27.2 miles behind target pace).

Gettysburg (February 5th - February 12th)

This stretch of the trip was the first time that I looked at the upcoming map and made an adjustment. When I planned out my original route, I wasn't zoomed in too far on Google maps, so I tried to make the trip go through some interesting cities, but there will probably be a few times where I'll see an interesting place that I'm going to miss by just a bit, so I'll make adjustments when necessary.

In this case, on February 5th I noticed that the next day of my ride would take me just a few miles north of Gettysburg, PA. I spent the night of the 5th in New Oxford, PA, but on the morning of the 6th, I adjusted my route and headed toward Gettysburg.

As I'm sure everyone knows, Gettysburg has enormous historical importance in the United States. For three days in July of 1863, the Union and Confederate armies fought a battle that most people consider one of the most significant turning points of the Civil War. If the Confederates had won the battle, there is certainly a possibility that they could have won the entire war. Gettysburg is perhaps equally known as the site of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery, just four months after the battle. My favorite fact about the Gettysburg Address is that most people were there to see the speech of Edward Everett, who spoke for two hours. Lincoln spoke for just a few minutes. For those with an interest in American history and language, I highly suggest reading Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America.

Lincoln at Gettysburg

While Gettysburg's historical importance is reason enough to visit, I changed my route mostly because of the personal significance that the place has for me. For those that don't know, I used to teach 8th grade social studies in Queens, NY. The subject matter of 8th grade social studies in New York is United States history from just after the Civil War to the present. Gettysburg probably played as much of a part in inspiring me to become a history teacher as anything else. My interest in the Battle of Gettysburg was first piqued by the movie Gettysburg. I then proceeded to visit the town twice with my dad (one of those with our friends the Daleys as well). To me, Gettysburg is a place that just overwhelms you with the significance and soberness of what happened there. I imagine that one would have a similar feeling in Normandy. While the two previous Gettysburg trips blend together a bit at this point, I think my favorite activity was taking a horseback tour of the the battlefields, which allowed us to see a lot in a fairly short amount of time, but in a way that made it feel like it could actually be 1863. Since I spent February 6th and 7th in town, I made sure to relive the horseback experience thanks to Hickory Hollow Farm.

The next two days found me in Rouzerville and Waynesboro, PA (following the route of Robert E. Lee's retreat from Gettysburg), before crossing the Mason-Dixon line into Maryland. My first three nights in Maryland were spent in Hagerstown, Williamsport, and Clear Spring.

D - Gettysburg, PA
E - Williamsport, MD
F - Clear Spring, MD

Real Life: A layer of ice kept me from riding to work on the 9th, but otherwise it was typical work commutes and some solid weekend rides. February 5th - 12.7 miles, February 6th - 5.2 miles, February 7th - 11.6 miles, February 8th - 19.1 miles, February 9th - 0.2 miles, February 10th - 10.4 miles, February 11th - 10.5 miles, February 12th - 10.4 miles. Total annual mileage: 429.9 miles (1.6 miles ahead of target pace).

The Factory Tour Capital of the World! (February 1st - February 4th)

February got off to a very slow start. I rode a couple of miles on the 1st, but that only brought me to a different part of Columbia, PA. On February 2nd, I didn't ride at all, which made it three straight nights in this small town on the Susquehanna. I was 193 miles southeast of Punxsutawney, but things we're starting to feel a bit like my own personal Groundhog Day. Here is a photo from my time in Columbia:

After learning to play the piano, sculpt ice, speak French, and finally getting Andie MacDowell to fall in love with me, I decided it was time to hit the road again. As an aside, for an interesting analysis of how many days Phil Connors spends in Punxsutawney click here. On February 3rd, I was back to my old trick of riding 10.4 miles per day, this time ending up in the greater York, PA area (East York, PA).

York is a nice little college town with a ton of history. One of the most interesting facts about York is that it was once the capital of the United States. In fact, Yorkians like to claim that they were the first capital of the United States. This is erroneous, since Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Lancaster preceded it. York was also the origin of a political faction that tried to replace George Washington during the Revolutionary War, and the largest Northern town to be occupied by the Confederate army during the Civil War. After that, not much happened in York until local band, Live, released the album Throwing Copper in 1994. Oh, and for some reason there is also a house shaped like a shoe, so I checked that out while I was in town.

Another 10.4 miles on the 4th took me to Thomasville, PA. Please take my word for it when I tell you that there is not much to do in Thomasville. BUT! Thomasville is home to the Martin's Potato Chip factory, so I had to go check out a tour. Sure, I had never heard of this specific brand of potato chip, but it was definitely the most exciting thing to do in town. And, while I was now a bit outside of York, it was on the Martin's tour where I learned that York is also known as the "Factory Tour Capital of the World". So, if you love factory tours, this area of Pennsylvania is where you should go on your next vacation!

D - East York, PA
E - Thomasville, PA

Real life: As I teased in my last blog post, February started off a bit differently than January in Chicago. It snowed from the evening of January 31st until the morning of February 2nd without stopping much at all. I got a couple of miles in through the snow on the morning of the 1st, but I worked from home on the 2nd and did not ride at all. By the 3rd, the streets were fairly well plowed and I had my normal commute the next two days. My pace was now just barely staying in the black. February 1st - 2.2 miles, February 2nd - 0 miles, February 3rd - 10.4 miles, February 4th - 10.4 miles. Total annual mileage - 349.8 miles (1.2 miles ahead of target pace).

One Month Down (January 30th - January 31st)

I finally made it out of the Pennsylvania wilderness and into civilization on January 30th. After riding just over 10 miles, I stopped in Lancaster, PA. Apparently, Lancaster has dealt with some crime issues in the downtown area over the years, but I felt safe because the city now has a network of 165 closed-circuit security cameras throughout the city. In fact, Lancaster has been in the news quite a bit because of this. Many have weighed in on whether this represents a violation of privacy, or whether it is a necessary safety measure. I find it interesting because Chicago has over 1,200 police cameras in areas of high crime, and I never really hear anyone mention it. Another interesting fact about Lancaster is that it was home to the Hamilton Watch Company, which created the first battery-powered watch. I ducked into Annie Bailey's pub to get away from the cameras for a bit.

D - Lancaster, PA
E - Columbia, PA

On the 31st, I only rode 6.4 miles, taking me as far as Columbia, PA, which sits on the Susquehanna River. I headed into Susquehanna Fishing Tackle to pick up some gear and then did a bit of ice fishing for muskies. I didn't catch any. I spent the night at The Inn at Bully's, which has been around in some form since 1903 and has a great beer list. My imaginary January had come to an end, and my ride had taken me 326.8 miles and through three states.

January took me from A to D. Still a long way to go.

Real Life: It was a good month. I had serious doubts when I started this blog about whether I would be able to keep up the pace during January and February. I knew that I'd have the opportunity to play catch-up once the weather turned, but I figured that a polar vortex, or some lake effect snow would keep me off the bike for a few days. When all was said and done, there were only three days in January when I did not ride a bike at all. Two of those were because I was out of town, and one was because I felt lazy on a Sunday after getting my weekend's worth of miles on Friday and Saturday. Chicago might have different plans for me in February. January 30th - 10.8 miles, January 31st - 6.4 miles. Total annual mileage: 326.8 miles (18 miles ahead of target pace).