Connellsville to Meyersdale

8.02.2015 58m

Started out of Connellsville in excellent weather. Greg-K had told me the previous morning that you can buy packaged fresh fruit at the Martin's Grocery in town, so we ate some fruit cups at the 12-mile pipeline overlook.

Ohiopyle was crowded as would be expected on a Sunday morning, but we didn't see as many cyclists and I thought we'd see. Departing Ohiopyle eastbound, at MP71.08 I saw the "sky chair", a type of boatswain's chair used to cross the river. Sometimes I see this rig, other times I completely miss it. I was glad to get a photo of it.

Rode to Confluence, ate lunch at River's Edge. Saw the riders from the Mount Hood race in the town square, but didn't see anybody I knew. Stopped at Confluence Cyclery for some supplies.

For folks who are non-cyclists, the stretch from Confluence to Meyersdale can be very difficult. It's a continual climb, there's not a lot of distraction, and they really don't have any sense of the overall picture - it can be a bit of a Bataan Death March.

In this group, some of the riders departed Rockwood rather quickly, and the others hung out and got a solid rest before the last leg. They each did the right thing.

We stayed at Morguen Toole, and even though the second group got to the hotel as the restaurant was closing, the staff stayed and dinner was served and I thought so highly of the Morguen Toole for making that happen.

I stayed in the men's hostel room and won the "hostel lottery" - I had the room to myself.