Day 3 – Confluence to Meyersdale
By Day 3, we were seasoned veterans of the the trail. Our backsides were getting calloused. And we were ready for anything. Good thing as the next 32 miles to Meyersdale was all uphill.
We woke figuring we were doomed to a breakfast of yeast rings and Sunny-D, but we were saved. For in Confluence, there is Mitch’s Food and Fuel. This place was a godsend as we could pack away a few thousand calories before we began our 1000 ft climb (ok, it was only like 800 ft but believe me, it was all uphill).
From Confluence, it was up the Casselman River (which looks a lot like a miniature Yough) toward Rockwood. Once again the trail was very pretty and there were very few fellow bikers. I’m guessing that when you get up here, only the long-haulers are on the trail.
Now we all took pictures with our cell phones which you are seeing in these excellent posts. But it soon became clear that Mark was the best photographer. I really think it was because he had the latest, greatest iPhone. Mine is an iPhone 1 which came over on the boat with Columbus. We went across a bridge and through a tunnel that looked like a big corrugated pipe. The lighting effect was amazing.
Le Magnifique
Now we’re from Pittsburgh as you know. And the GAP trail has mile markers. I live by mile 125 in Greenock, which is handy since Cumberland is at mile zero. So you always know how far you have to go. Now living in Pittsburgh and being a huge hockey fan, we naturally have a reverence for the greatest player who ever played, Mario Lemieux. So any time you happen to go past mile marker “66”, you have to stop and whisper a prayer to the hockey gods for sending such a great player to Pittsburgh.
As it would turn out, the Pens were playing Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs against the New York Islanders, so I was hoping my homage would help. We got to the town of Rockwood in time to watch the start of the game at the Rockwood American Legion (I’m a member). However, it being Sunday, there was not a single place open to eat in town and we had to get food from a local gas station. Still, we left Rockwood with about 12 miles left to Meyersdale. Phil was able to get the game on his phone which we piped through a blue tooth speaker mounted on my handlebars. As we pulled into Meyersdale, the Pens had just tied the game, and it was going into overtime as we got to our stop for the night.
Pulling into Meyersdale, we were seriously beat. The stress of the Pens game, the beers, and the long, hard climb made us glad to see the converted railway station. Unfortunately, our AirBnB was about a half mile away and required us to go down the hill into town, then back up. We got there just in time to watch the Pens lose in OT. However, Megan’s place was very nice and she could hardly be blamed for the loss. I highly recommend it to anyone planning to stay in Meyersdale.
So this is where having my own room that first night really bit me in the butt. There were two bedrooms, but both had queen side beds. There was a very uncomfortable futon in the living room, but a call to Megan yielded a fancy schmancy self-contained air mattress that all you needed to do was plug into the wall. I was tired so it really didn’t matter much. Plus I had my own bathroom as the other rooms were upstairs.
Dinner that night was catch-as-catch-can. We found a pizza place where we could get pizza and wings as well as the obligatory six packs of beer. We watched some movie on Netflix, then turned in for our last night away.
Tomorrow it was (almost) all downhill to Cumberland. Go check out Day 4 here.
Day Tripping With Rick