
I had a pretty steady climb for the first half of the ride today. When I reached the top of this climb, I looked over and thought, wow!, I’m at the top of Pennsylvania! I’m sure it’s wishful thinking, but at least for today, this was the highest altitude I would reach.

Long before the summit, I woke up this morning feeling great! That was the first time in a while. I was starting to wonder if I would be able to finish this journey. I don’t think I was eating enough. I certainly wasn’t sleeping enough. It’s not like I wasn’t trying to do both. The calories burned that I shared in a prior post indicates how many are expended due to the ride alone — so basically, I’ve been burning an extra 2000 calories per day and not coming near that amount in food consumption.
My new strategy was to eat more. Yesterday, I stopped several times during the ride and ate a protein bar, an apple, and a couple of Cliff bars. After the ride, I grabbed a couple of loaded coney dogs from The Chuck Wagon food truck in the park across from the Barclay B&B. Then later, Mike and I ate at Taco Inc, Mexican Bar and Grille for dinner. I had a huge chicken, rice, and bean burrito. Yes, I was still hungry 🙂
I think the extra food allowed my body to settle down and sleep. It’s hard to describe, but if you’ve ever had an experience where you’ve pushed yourself too hard and your heart just doesn’t get back to normal resting rate, it was like that. This wasn’t restless legs, but rather an elevated heart rate during sleep where I just couldn’t completely relax. I slept well last night and woke up with my usual heart rate in the low 50s. Ah! I was totally stoked and breathed a sigh of relief.
The picture above was Mike and I at breakfast in the formal dining room. Shannon cooked us scrambled eggs with peppers, mushrooms, and hash browns. We also had a bowl of watermelon and some toast. Shannon and her mom make a jelly from wild dandelions off the farm. I’m always hesitant to try new food, but I gave it a shot. It was light and had a honey type after taste. It was delicious.

Mike decided he would accompany me for a portion of the ride today. That was awesome! I’ve said it before; it’s a lot more fun riding with someone. We took off from the Barclay and rode to this spot about 13 miles from Punxsutawney. Mike rode back on his own to get the truck and I kept going.
For the first time, Google Maps let me down. I was following the route perfectly when the Garmin directed me into a locked gate in front of what looked like a very overgrown driveway. NO TRESPASSING — Violators may be shot! was the sign I saw. (ok, I made up that threat, but it was POSTED). I brought out my phone as a back up, but there was no service. I was a little worried. I was truly in the middle of nowhere. I backtracked a quarter mile to the dirt road I was on and hoped that would take me to where I had to go. The Garmin recalculated shortly after and I was back in business.
Near the summit, I got a phone call from my son Eric. I was relieved that the phone worked and glad I could have some company when I rode. I checked the map and it looked like I was headed in the right direction so off I went.

I love these graphs. After I reached that summit, I had a fantastic ride. I think it was about 4 miles of coasting at 30+ mph, followed by a miserable climb, and then another long descent before I reached the bottom and picked up another rail-trail.

Another rail-trail! The David S. Ammerman Trail was great. This is the section in the graph above that shows a steady descent in the 2nd half of the ride. I was on this trail for at least 8 miles from the city of Grampian to the city of Hyde. The old rail corridor went along the Kratzer Run, Anderson Creek, and the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. The trail itself was a crushed stone of some sort and pretty smooth. The best part was the canopy of trees over the trail for a majority of the ride. I could have ridden a trail like that all day long. I was so sad to see it end.

Mike was already checked in by the time I got to our lodging for the night. It was pretty early in the day, so we took off to check out Clearfield, PA. We found Scotto’s Pizzeria downtown and ordered a large pizza and a Mug’s Root Beer. It was fun sitting down with no particular place to go, taking our time, and just bs’ing.

On the way out of Clearfield back to the hotel, I spotted this sign. I didn’t get a good look at the building, but I love seeing these signs and learning a bit of history along the way.
Tomorrow, we head to State College. I’ve been there a couple of times to watch the Wolverines pound on the Nittany Lions in football, but Mike has never seen the campus. I’m planning an early start to beat the rain — 90% at 11am. This may be my first call for a rescue — stay tuned!
🎶🎶🎶 no particular place to go 🎶🎶🎶#w2g!!!
LOL! I thought I would throw a little Chuck Berry in there.
Haha Becky! I love that song!!
D,
Make sure you ask Ian for a house to visit in State College. It has a very nice recliner and the owner lets you sit in it while he heads to the basement!
Ask for the room filled with pictures of their daughters boyfriend Buddy( I am scared for life)!
I remember this story. Kind of freaky!
So glad you were rewarded with a great day!!!
Sounds like it’s all coming together and another great day of exploring and riding.
It’s been awesome Frank!