Time to go home! Thank you Billie for everything. I had a great time!
Author Archives: arletelouise
Roanoke bike ride 3
I rode the Roanoke Greenway early this morning with Greenway Ambassador JD.
A few days ago, this part of the trail was impassable due to flooding of the Roanoke River.
Fun! Miles = 13
Roanoke bike ride 2
This morning, JD, Billie, and I started before the sun was up.
We extended the Airport Ride to include part of the Greenway bike paths. After coffee at Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea in downtown, we walked up the very steep Martin Luther King Bridge
over the tracks which run through the middle of town. The Norfolk & Western Railway has been headquartered in Roanoke for about 150 years and is famous for producing its own locomotives and hopper cars – in Roanoke.
Miles = 28
Roanoke bike ride 1
We rested a couple of days after getting back from our trip, but the roads around Roanoke soon began calling.
We rode very early to avoid the heat, humidity, and possible thunderstorms. We did the “Airport Ride” – about halfway around the perimeter
before heading toward the Grandin Road neighborhood for a stop at a favorite coffee shop.
A sliding scale for buying a small coffee:
L-R: Jore, Donna, Billie, me. Kenny, on his hand-cranked cycle, is quite active in the local MS society, rides in many of their bicycling events, and raises a lot of money.
Kenny and 4 yellow chicks
Pine Creek Trail – day 4
Because this would be a long day, we were ready to ride at 6:30 am. Lots of fish jumping out of the water for their insect breakfast.
Although we saw no bears, we did see hawks, bald eagles, and herons.
Every feeder creek was marked on the trail. Most of them were dry but all were worth a sideways look.
There were quite a few informational signs along the trail, but they were all the same: how to deal with timber rattlesnakes.
Just one slithered across my path – I felt lucky.
Billie and I decided the Pine Creek Trail is the most consistently beautiful trail we’ve ever ridden.
At milepost 12, a sign for the Turkey Path. The path was wide and clear (please, no snakes ahead).
Stairs?
They continued steeply up the hillside!
The trail is extra wide so the horse-drawn covered wagon tours of the Grand Canyon section have their own path and don’t tear up the bike trail.
Nearing the end of the trail.
The final mile … sigh.
Miles = 41. Total = 140. We were back in Wellsboro by noon and got everything loaded. There are several decorated pianos on the Main Street available for anyone to play – as long as it’s not raining.
There was plenty of time left in the day for the drive back to Roanoke. My reward for lots of miles ridden:
Pine Creek Trail – day 3
Today we began our return trip going north on the trail using the connector trail to/from Jersey Shore.
The fallen tree from yesterday had been cleared.
There are a lot of gates along the trail – at every road crossing and driveway – but it was relatively easy weave through the openings.
Across the river, Hotel Manor in Slate Run
with its continuously wood-burning hot-water-making building at the back of the property. 
Miles = 29
Pine Creek Trail – day 2
Crossing the bridge from Slate Run back to the trail:
There were lots of benches along the trail, spaced well for our every-5-mile butt breaks. Some days are like that.
The south end of the Pine Creek Trail – Jersey Shore PA.
Sometimes we bring our bikes into our rooms, other times the hotel/inn/b&b provides a secure space. At the Gamble Farm Inn, we got to park our bikes in a garage where the owner keeps his vehicles. I wish you were here, Dave, you’d love this garage: 5 classic Camaros, a Hummer, Harley, a Dodge Viper … and tonight our two little bicycles.
Miles = 30
Pine Creek Trail – day 1
We were at Subway when they opened at 7 am to get some breakfast and a sandwich for the road.
We had to ride about 3 miles to get to the trailhead.
Fly fisherman in Pine Creek:
Entering the 1.5 mile long Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania:
There were no villages along the trail for the first 25 miles or so. In Blackwell, there were vacation homes and one little store.
In Cedar Run, vacation homes, a small general store,
and the smallest library.
Our ending point for the day, Hotel Manor in Slate Run PA:
Views from the patio:
Miles = 39
Wellsboro PA
Billie and I drove north to Wellsboro and took two rest days. Today, dodging thunderstorms, we took the walking tour of the town.
The Wellsboro Diner opened in 1939:
Built in 1921 for silent films, the Arcadia Theater was one of the first in the state to show talking pictures. Today it has 4 state-of-the-art screens and movies change weekly.
Inside the lobby of the Penn Wells Hotel is a 7 X 11-foot flag created in 1946 to honor returning WWII veterans at the Corning Glassworks annual banquet. At the time, the Wellsboro plant was the largest manufacturer of Christmas tree ornaments in the world – there are 1438 ornaments in the design, each ornament sitting on a cork peg. The field of blue was made from smaller camera flash bulbs.
Main Street:
One of the largest elm trees in the world, growing since the 1700s, and older than the town itself:
The town square known as The Green:
At the center, a statue of Wynken, Blynken, and Nod:
GAP – day 5
Leaving Meyersdale:
The final 8 miles of climbing brought us to the Eastern Continental Divide. It was all downhill from this point – yay!
The Big Savage Tunnel, built in 1911, 3300 feet (2/3 mile) long. 
About halfway through, it got foggy, the rider ahead disappeared at about 30 feet. Clear weather on the west side of the tunnel, fog on the east side.
We felt a few sprinkles as we left Frostburg. With just 9 miles to go, we had to stop and put on rain covers.
All our stuff stayed dry, but we were soaked and filthy from head to toe. But none of that mattered, we had arrived in Cumberland MD!
As we ate lunch at the Crabby Pig, we realized how lucky we were to arrive when we did. There was a torrential downpour with thunder and lightning for about an hour. The bike shop let us use a hose to get most of the mud off the bikes and our legs. 
Then it was time to say goodbye to Donna, who had to drive home to Roanoke. This was Donna’s first multi-day bike tour and she had a great time. There will definitely be more bike tours in her future.
Miles = 33. Total miles = 161.
arletelouise 