Bright Blue Water and the Tea Potty

08/19/12 236# 53m

Took my bike in another direction today, and rode out to Ohio and West Virginia. I've been hearing a lot about the Tea Potty lately and wanted to see what was new.

The first leg of my ride took me from Aliquippa, through Monaca and Rochester to Beaver (the Sewickley of Beaver County, don'tcha know) and then west on Route 68, as shown:


Right at the WV-OH-PA border is a spot (red dot) called the Point of Beginning, which is a historically significant position in terms of land surveying and territorial policy. But today's post is (partially) about what you can see across the river when you're standing on that red dot. See that lake on the south side of the Ohio River?

Here's a National Geographic story about that lake and what's in it: Largest U.S. Coal Ash Pond to Close, and they helpfully include a satellite photo:


What's kind of interesting is FirstEnergy (a corporation, surprise!) has used that lake to store a lot of very bad chemicals for decades, and in fact they've turned the lake's water into a beautiful tropical blue. Even in the winter time, with snow on the ground, the lake looks like the Caribbean. Pilots flying over are often puzzled by it. Better Living With Chemicals, I suppose.

As the National Geographic article explains, the Pennsylvania state government is reluctantly shutting down the use of the Little Blue Run coal ash pond because it's leaking and poisoning the water and people in the local area. The pond itself is half in Pennsylvania, half in West Virginia, and nobody really wants to be responsible for this leaking pond of poisons.

On today's ride I thought I'd take a picture of what the "Little Blue Run coal ash pond" looks like from the north side of the Ohio River, just for gee-whiz, and it looks like this:


Standing on the north side of the Ohio River, the photo shows the hills on the south shore, and the huge earthen dam which contains the Little Blue Run coal ash pond — which, may I restate, is full of poisons and leaking.

If that dam leaks, WOW that pretty blue stuff is just going to pour into the Ohio River and run downstream (away from the Pennsylvania regulators, btw) and it'll be a huge environmental disaster. It seems like a stupid place to store fatal toxins, especially since it's happened before with disastrous results - Kentucky in 2008, Kentucky in 2000, North Carolina in 1978. I'm sure somebody's taking care of it, now. < / enviro rant off>

Continued into East Liverpool Ohio, once the Pottery Capital of the World.


This mural is still being painted on the Masonic Temple by Gina Hampson.

The mural includes the Jennings Randolph Bridge, Carnegie Public Library, the Alumni Clock Tower, Kent State University's logo, two bottleneck kilns, the world's largest teapot, two river boats, the Boy with the Boot statue, a locomotive, the YMCA, emblems from both East Liverpool and Wellsville high schools and logos representing the Mason organization.



This legacy mural, at Fourth and Market Streets, shows barrels marked with the names of local businesses (Hall China, Pioneer Pottery) on the dock for steamship movement.


Departed East Liverpool via the Newell Bridge to Newell, WV. The Newell Bridge, built in 1905, is the only privately-owned toll bridge on the Ohio River; it is owned and operated by the Homer Laughlin China Company, based in Newell. My completely unscientific sampling suggests that most of the bridge's traffic is going to the nearby casino and racetrack. It's a great bridge (bicyclists cross free) with a steel-deck for the autos and wooden planks on the walkway.


Rode through a bit of Newell and across Chester, WV, stopping to take a photo of my trusty steed with the World's Biggest Teapot, an anachronistic coffee shop from the days when Route 30 was a big deal.


For all I've been hearing about the Tea Potty, I expected to see some activity but all was quiet. I took a slightly different route back, it's been a while since I climbed up from Shippingport to Route 18.



I was very pleasantly surprised to find a mural on Green Garden Road, at Vic's Van Daddy Shop, 4264 Green Garden Road:


I'm still really pleased with the new wheels, and especially the braking effectiveness of the new (true) rims as opposed to the old (warped) rims.

53 miles, finished at sunset, a very nice ride.

Point of Beginning in the Middle

05/06/12 245# 60m

Rode 59.92 miles from Monaca PA to the Mountaineer Racetrack in Newell, WV (and returned). This was an unusual ride in that (1) I got to the Point of Beginning halfway through the ride, and (2) I broke out my road bike, an aluminum Trek1100, rather than my Surly LHT.



Started in Monaca with an annual ritual in which I try to use this year's New and Improved version of BreatheRight nose strips, which do a great job of opening your nose and improving your airflow. Unfortunately, I have never been able to keep one on my face for more than about ten miles - but hope springs eternal, perhaps the Advanced version contains much better adhesives; we must try, try again.

Rode through Rochester PA where I got to cycle around Pennsylvania's newest roundabout, which is a curious thing to use with a bicycle and I think I stumped those waiting to enter.

Rode through Beaver PA and reflected on the essential puzzle: Is Beaver the Sewickley of Beaver County, or is Sewickley the Beaver of Allegheny County? I like to think that Beaver is what Sewickley might become in the future, when Sewickley gets a bike shop.

The Breathe-Right strip lasted for 12 miles, at which time it popped off one nostril while doggedly remaining affixed on the other side. It's too bad; there's a tremendous improvement in airflow while the gizmo is attached. I would actually have these tension bars implanted in my nose, except then somebody would give me a nose-noogie and I'd be forever impaired, and probably make a whistling sound that only dogs could hear.

Continued west to the three-way border of Pennsylvania, West Virgina, and Ohio and came upon the historical marker and obelisk for The Point of Beginning, which is just an awesome official name for anything.


From Wikipedia: The Point of Beginning is significant as being the point from which the Public Land Survey System was performed, starting in 1785, which would open what was then the Northwest Territory for settlement. The survey was "the first mathematically designed system and nationally conducted cadastral survey in any modern country" and is "an object of study by public officials of foreign countries as a basis for land reform." It was conducted in the late 18th century by Geographer of the U.S. Thomas Hutchins surveying the Seven Ranges.

First, it's funny to think of East Liverpool, Ohio as the Northwest Territory. But what this brings to mind is the fantastically ambitious landgrab and struggle between Pennsylvania, New York, and Virginia, and their respective investment companies - which we really don't see in today's map because of the Virginia-West Virginia schism.

This map shows state land claims and cessions (releases) from 1782 to 1802:

At its peak, the Virginia colony included present-day West Virginia and Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. The West Virginia panhandle, which we today consider a specious bit of cartography, is an artifact of Virginia's push to the Great Lakes. It's just curious to me to consider Virginia holding land due west of Pittsburgh.

It gives me pause that NY, VA, and PA made such tremendous land-grabs with so little ocean shoreline. NY and PA have no ocean coast; VA has very little, and that was never developed. They do have tremendous harbors, and it seems that they jumped off their ships and ran inland while others focused on coastal economies. They did not lack for ambition.

It seems wasteful that such a significant geopoint would be unexploited; you'd think some ashram, a 12-step program, or a magic underwear outfit would be happy to establish a presence at the official US government "point of beginning". People have done more with less. Why has no politician seeking to kickoff a campaign taken a stand at the Point of Beginning, and - begun?

These days the West Virginia Panhandle seems too removed from the promise and the wealth of the Old Dominion, but Chester WV still is home to the World's Biggest Teapot, a throwback to Route 30 coffee shops that used attention-getting buildings to encourage motorists to stop.


Again, a tremendous historic artifact reduced to drive-by kitsch. Does the Tea Party need a rallying point? This is the place! (Does the Tea Party still exist?) These are the things I wonder about on bike rides.

I will note that the road drains on Route 30 and in Chester are incompatible with bicycle tires. Chester seems like a nice town; certainly all the drivers were very courteous.



I am quite fond of the nearby Newell Toll Bridge, which has been in use since 1905. A privately owned structure, there is a five-cent toll for pedestrians but they allow bicyclists to pass gratis as a courtesy. Old school.

The town of Newell, much like Chester, seems very nice. South of town the road becomes a bit narrower and faster, and for the last two miles before the Mountaineer Racetrack there is no shoulder at all, and the edge of the road is often decroted.

This was a very nice ride, mostly flat, paved, and with adequate sources for snacks and drinks enroute. It was a beautiful day for a bike ride.

As I closed to within a mile of the finish I saw a young father in a parking lot teaching his daughter how to ride without training wheels, and it reminded me what a great thing it is to ride a bike.