The Pennsylvania Wilds

I have really loved biking through PA.  Despite all the rough terrain, the people have been hospitable and friendly, and the drivers have been kind.  We have gotten many warm wishes and seen so many beautiful and historic places.  For me, the downhills always make up for the uphills, no matter how steep or long.  I love the feeling of reaching the top, out of breath but with a huge sense of accomplishment.  I love the downhills even more, especially when I feel safe enough to pedal hard and go as fast as possible.  On two different downhills so far i have reached 40 mph.  But my absolute favorite downhills are the ones that are long and not two steep, so you can just go for miles coasting while your head is up enjoying the scenery.  Those days are almost over for a while- tomorrow we will cross into Ohio, one of the many flat states we will bike through.  It will be very different biking there- more headwinds, longer days, more farms, less people, and a lot of corn.

These last few days have been memorable. Sunday night we biked around 55 miles through rolling hills from Renovo, PA to Weedville, PA where we stayed with Linda S, a retired schoolteacher we met through warmshowers.org.  She was one of the most wonderful people I have ever met, hospitable and welcoming beyond words.  When we hadn't arrived by 5:30 she went out looking for us- it turns out we had just missed each other.  She left granola bars for us on our pillows to take with us, and sent us leftovers from dinner to eat for lunch.  Best of all, she rode out with us on her bike the next day and we had the challenge of keeping up with her on her 15 lb carbon bike!  She lives in Elk County, and when we expressed that we would like to see an elk before we left she took us for a ride to an elk viewing spot so we could see some elk!  It had been very hot that day, almost 100 degrees, so at around 8 pm just as it was cooling down, the elk were beginning to come out to feed.  We saw many female elk (called cows)- they are majestic, strong creatures with robust frames and stalky legs.  But Linda insisted that we see the male elk- they are the ones with antlers that are velvet this time of year.  Just as we were leaving and driving home, we see two make elk (bulls) standing in the middle of the road.  They were indeed very beautiful.  They actually aren't native to the area, they were brought from the west when they were threatened with extinction. The heard is now up to about 1500 elk in the area.

That ride from Renovo to Weedville was our first taste of really rural PA. We rode for 20 miles without seeing a single house.  There were some towns on the map that we passed through that were hardly noticeable as towns- they were only a few houses clustered together.  We were exhausted when we finally made it, but we were really proud that we had worked up to doing such long, hilly days.

The next day was even longer. We biked from Weedville to Cook Forest State Park, up 4 memorable large hills.  We spent a lot of the day on very seldom traveled roads through state game lands (basically state hunting land) and rolling farmland.  On those roads we would see a car every hour or so.  For lunch we bought delicious fresh strawberries from an Amish family.  The second part of the day we rode along a flat road called River Rd. that hugged the Clarion River.  I really enjoyed reading the history of the area and the river on the plaques posted.  We stopped at a canoe launch site to read them and wade in the river, which was extremely shallow almost all the way across.  The area along the Clarion River was a huge logging area when it was first settled by "Americans" in the 1800, and they would clear whole areas before moving on.  As would be expected, they soon exhausted the resources and the local economy collapsed.  Now it is a very touristy area with a lot of outdoor recreation opportunities.

The next morning we awoke in our tent to pouring rain at 6:30 am and decided to take a rest day.  We did laundry and spent the day writing letters and talking.

Today we biked over 60 miles from Cook Forest to Cochranton, PA.  The ride today was very flat in comparison to what we've seen.  Only a few times did I have to get into my lowest gear, my chug gear, and pedal up long hills. We got up very earlier and managed to do 30 miles before lunch.  We ate in historic Oil City PA, which was the site of the first oil drilling in the USA.  The town itself is pretty run down, it seems to have fallen as the oil industry moved south to bigger rigs and refineries.  We did bike along a sweet bike path from Oil City to Franklin, which was dotted with remnants of the past.

We are staying with a lovely couple, Mike and Sandy S.  We talked for hours tonight about bike touring and our love of REI and their fabulous garage sales.  It is their computer that I am using to type this post.

Tomorrow will be even flatter as we go into Ohio!

Zoey and Linda

ELK!!!!

Linda riding with us

Zoey at the top of a hill

The Sunset at the Elk Viewing Point

Zoey looking for elk through binoculars!

If you look closely you can see one of the oil rigs along the bike path from Oil City to Franklin