Overnight Bike Trip: Frostburg to Confluence

Sun 10/09/11 49 miles

Day 2 of an overnight bike trip. The Trail Inn was a great overnight stop, clean and quiet, wifi and breakfast, good all around. We putzed around with our bicycles and eventually got on the trail, climbing for ~6 miles to the Continental Divide.

We stopped at the eastern portal of the Savage Tunnel and saw two large groups of boy scouts coming through, and then a gentleman named Harry Beal arrived and regaled those assembled with his local knowledge. Harry carried a sidearm, looked like a .45, and he explained that he was armed because he wore a valuable diver's Rolex, and he was one of the original Navy Seals. Googling his name produces quite a few references to him, it was a pleasant encounter.

Rode through the Savage Tunnel and crossed the Continental Divide, there's an interesting optical illusion where the tunnel at the Divide frames one of the Garrett windmills, I may have a photo of that eventually.

Skipped descending into town at Meyersdale, the GI Dayroom is closed on Sundays and there wasn't any attraction that justified climbing back up to the trail. Instead we pressed on to Rockwood.


At Rockwood we were joined by two other riders, making us a party of eight, and we enjoyed lunch at the Rockwood Opera House, pizzas and hoagies. There was a remarkable assembly of bicycles there.

My faves included a driveshaft bike pulling a Burley trailer, and another bike sporting a Goal Zero Nomad 7 solar panel recharging a smart phone. I can stare at other people's bicycles the way a cad stares at other people's women.

Departed Rockwood for the descent into Confluence. In a way we were enjoying a ride that we'd paid for the day before (when we climbed). Confluence was bustling, jam-packed for the Pumpkin Festival and the associated parade. It was remarkable.

We found our cars, had a libation at the Salty Dog, and then got out of town.

This was a very pleasant Pittsburgh overnight bike trip, 49 miles each day. The bikes did well, no mechanical problems, no injuries, and no flat tires.