Fight Club (warning: a buttload of pics)

[twisteroo]

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I don't know how to explain it but it's kinda like fight club. The next day things look a bit different, your bed feels nicer, your coffee tastes better, you feel kind of smug knowing what you have done. You kind of look down at the mere mortals around you.

OK, I rode my mountain bike from McKeesport, Pa to Leesburg, Va.
I bailed out at Leesburg for logistical reasons, the ease of the pick-up along the side of the road, those last 30 miles didn't mean that much to me. Next year I will ride right to the Washington Monument or something just for the hell of it.
Riding a mountain bike is like work, riding a mountain bike on dirt is like more work, riding a mountain bike on dirt pulling a trailer with 50 pounds of crap in it up hill for 2 days is like a career.
OK, on to the pics.

Just a trail side sign.


Crossing into MD.


One of the many bridges.


A downed tree, I had to unhook the wagon and carry the bike and trailer through seperately.


One of the many old locks along the way.


A free biker/hiker campsite along the way.


A pump for drinking water.


The drinking water in my bottles. I just couldn't do it, I just could not drink it. So I ended up buying water, I'd find a dollar store and buy and carry two gallons at a time. I was drinking a gallon during a 7-8 ride anyway, I just could not drink the brown/yellow/black water.

[twisteroo]

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This is the Paw Paw tunnel, I went through the Big Savage tunnel also, each are over 3,000 feet long and dark and midnight inside. I went through Big Savage with a flashlight in hand, the Paw Paw caught me off guard and I about had to feel my way through it.


My home for one night.


My junk wagon loaded with clean water.


Jefferson rock, Harpers Ferry, Wv.


Hobo markings??


Yoders motel in Myersdale, Pa, I got rained out one afternoon and spent the night indoors at Yoders. A room with a bed and bath, $50.


A bridge in the morning haze.


After 2 days of uphill riding I was glad to pass though this. Then it was about 2 hours of fast downhill. I was running anywhere from 16-18, even 20 mph from the divide down to Cumberland. I was making up some time for those 2 days of chugging along going up at 10-12 mph.

[twisteroo]

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Here is a link to about 400 photobucket pics of my trip.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/twisteroo/GAP/
If you want to graze through them please ask for the password, I will PM it to you.
I will change the password in a few days.

Next I will have to take a few minutes and run though all that happened during the trip.
I am already planning for next year.

[Twitchin Kitten]

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I like the name of the thread!

[twisteroo]

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Meh.....here http://s837.photobucket.com/albums/zz295/twisteroo2/ it's public, go nuts.

[Twitchin Kitten]

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Yoder's looks more like a closet than a room!

Yoder is everywhere in Pa! When I used to go out to New Holland to the auctions Yoder had restaurants, hotels, markets, everything. Yoder is an Amish capitalist! Isn't that against the 'rules' there?

[twisteroo]

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The Yoder empire makes me laugh, it's kind of an inside Amish joke thing.
The lady was really nice, made me put my bike in the basement and gave me a key.
She got me water to rinse everything down after I was caught in the rain too. When I left I saw her out back doing something, I rode back, thanked her and said goodbye. Very nice lady.

[Twitchin Kitten]

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I think we ate in every Yoder establishment on Monday's when we went to auction.
Every time we drove through Pa. we stopped at a Yoder's. Never visited the hotels though. Blue Ball does not like bikers much I found. No Yoder's there that I noticed but we sure did get dirty looks when we stopped for hot coffee on a cold ride home from Harrisburg! It was one of those all in one general stores / coffee shops. We were hoping to find something to buy to wear under the leather and sweats to block some more wind. We settled for the Sunday newspaper to shove in the jacket to block the wind. Worked a treat too!

[twisteroo]

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2 amish women are digging potatos in the feild. One of them pulls up 2
large potatos and says, "These potatos remind me of my husband Jebediah's balls", the other one says, "You mean they're that big?" and the other one says,"No, they're that dirty!"

[twisteroo]

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Lemme see if I can condense 6 days into a paragraph or two.
Actually, I'm gonna break this into days so I'm not typing forever.

We left after work on Friday, spent the night in West Mifflin, Pa. Saturday morning we headed out looking for the trail head. We never did find it. I see the trail so we pull over, I unload all my shit out of the car, hook up the bike say goodbye and we both go our seperate ways. I head up the trail, about an hour or so later I'm trying to cross a bridge heading onto the interstate going into Pittsburgh. Then it dawns on me...I'm going in the wrong fucking direction. I go back 7 miles, run right into the trailhead a block from where I started...son of a bitch! I wasted about 14 miles and probably 2 hours.
I'm off, it turns out to be one hot mofo of a day, I'm having a hard time drinking enough water, I'm refilling bottles every time I come across a faucet. I didn't even feel all that well, but just kept forcing myself to drink. I talked to a few people along the way, nothing special, just bullshitting.
Sometime that afternoon I come up to a group of kids on the trail, they are biking and I work my way through them passing them all. About half an hour later a girl about 14 flies past me on her pink bicycle, then about 3 boys. I'm like all, Oh, hell no!! So I kick it into gear, I come up to the girl first as the boys passed her. As I went by her I told her that it was a matter of pride, I can't let a girl on a pink bike pass me, then I asked if that was a hello kitty bike, just to add insult to injury as I showed her what the old fat guy was made of. Then it was the boys turn, I flew by them, I told them that I was gonna put a hurting on them. It was all pretty funny actually. Even the girl took the teasing about her bike well.

Then after about 75 miles of bullshit I come into Ohiopyle Pa, the guy at the visitor center called the state park campground and found out they had a couple of sites left. I hightailed it back down the trail a little ways to the park. I pushed my bike and trailer up this steep ass rocky trail to the campground. Half way up I meet two girls pushing their bikes up, I told them that I could ride mine, but the sign said to walk. We stopped and talked for awhile, mostly because it was so much work we were all in rough shape and I wasn't even sure I could make it.
I finally got to the campground and got a site, I ended up right across from the two chicks, we set up our tents and shit and they avoided me like I was Charlie Manson or something. Whatever, it was hot as hell all night, I had nachos and a waffle cake for supper from a vendor guy in the park. The campground showers rocked, best campground showers ever, lots and lots of pressure and the water actually got hot.

Usual campground bullshit, smokey fires, people talking and banging around and making noise till midnight or so. I had earplugs in and still didn't sleep much, also it was pretty warm all night.
I was up with the sun, packed my gear, hit the showers again and was off. I was able to ride down that damn hill with Bob in tow and made it all the way without crashing and burning, back on the trail looking for breakfast Sunday morning.