102 mi, 2,477 ft gain, 52-76 / clear
I rode out from the start with Judd & John. We got to the first SAG stop around mile 35 where I invited anyone who wanted to do an extra 10 miles to see some old covered bridges on the route. Fred took me up on it!
So off we headed looking for my planned turn off. We found it, had a few rolling hills to get to the right hand turn, then down to see the State Road Covered Bridge located about 3 miles off the route. This is one of 17 in the county, dated 1984. I loved the design of this one. The crossed wood beams with large openings to see through it. Very cool lighting! Sadly my loop route I planned got a little turned around due to 3 miles of loose grated gravel road. We returned the way we came.
I then set off solo to find the older one. The Middle Road Bridge is dated 1868. It fell into disrepair but a group of volunteers brought it back to life. So I headed down a paved road about 2 miles.. then it turned to gravel. I had another 1.5 to the bridge. I could actually see them tearing up the roads. I turned around and rode up route to try a second way there.. it too was gravel!? BUT, I lucked out, it was more packed. So I did it anyway. I’d already time committed to the cause.. what’s 1.5 miles on gravel.
By the time I got to the location of the second SAG everyone was gone. So I kept pedaling. I traded out rootbeer floats for bridges, and I’m happy with it. Before I knew it I was in Pennsylvania! I stopped for my sticker placement and picture before heading out. At this point I had another 30 miles. I ran out of water.. so I stopped at a local ice cream shop. I bought 3 bottles of water and a watermelon slushy.
The ride into town was great. It had a shoulder and closer to town we gained a bike lane! We’ve not had those for about a week. I noticed the fields went from corn to baby trees! PA grows trees for crops, cute!! The fields of wheat turned to fields of strawberries, yes please. I paused in a town for the mural pictures. People are so talented for make these.
I got to the hotel and everyone was sitting around waiting for the rooms to be ready. Pretty happy with my choice, even if I turned a 90 mile ride into 102 miles. I washed my bike for what might be the last time on trip. Got settled into to the rest day hotel and ordered food deliviery for dinner. Worth it. Rest day up next before last week of trip!
Total mileage to-date:
2,840.4 mi
Total elevation gain to-date:
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