Greg & Camille Go Bike

It was a chilly morning at Rose Point. We awoke to a wet tent and a pair of chickens exploring the cabins nearby. After a couple of protein bars, we packed up and set out to a local diner. The bridge to Route 19, the most direct and safest route, was closed, so we unfortunately had to detour on a busy highway with less than ideal conditions. Just a few miles later, Brown’s Country Kitchen in Portersville was our refuge for coffee, veggie omelettes, french toast, and the most wonderful coconut cream pie. We parked our bikes near the staff break tables, and every time someone came out for a smoke break, they were enthusiastic to learn more about our trip. One staff member was a biker himself in a past life; he only stopped after his third neck injury! 

More hills were in store to Ellwood City where we considered waiting around for a candy shop to open at 1 PM but controlled ourselves and moved on. A few miles down the road, we took a snack break overlooking Beaver River and continued crossing bridges upon bridges throughout the day. As we passed through New Brighton, we kept finding more places to stop at: the library, Rosalind’s Candy Castle (so much for restraining ourselves), and the post office. The rest of PA Bike Route A was quite the embarrassment; Route 51 presented its travellers with four lanes of high speed traffic, most unideal for some weary cyclists. We detoured and took an off-road route suggested by OSMAnd that included a small stretch of good old fashioned trespassing through an abandoned industrial zone, but at least we were safe.

We grew more tired and hungry as we neared Pittsburgh. Just 10 miles away from our destination, we had to muscle through some climbing: first some stairs where we carried our bikes and gear, immediately followed by a steeeeeeep road. We were rewarded by a nice paved bike path as we approached the city as well as a beautiful view of the moon over a few of the many bridges crossing the three rivers (the Ohio, Allegheny, and Monongahela) that surrounded PGH. After 85 miles on the road, we relaxed with some delicious Middle Eastern bowls from Rosewater for dinner and ice cream sandwiches for dessert.