May 20, 2003 The bike had another good day. Everything seemed to be working, and there were no unexpected problems. It is shifting particularly well on the steep pitches. One thing did happen that wasn’t related to the mechanics of the bike.The bike had another good day. Everything seemed to be working, and there were no unexpected problems. It is shifting particularly well on the steep pitches. One thing did happen that wasn’t related to the mechanics of the bike. At one point we were descending at about 42 mph when a pickup truck passed us. We were experiencing a side wind at the time, and after the truck passed, we were hit by a gust. That caused the bike to swerve, and as I corrected, it went into some harmonic, and the “trailer was wagging the bike”. I thought I might lose control, but a combination of slowing the bike and LaValle staying absolutely still on the back (As she always does!) stopped the motion. We were momentarily frightened, but as usual, the bike took good care of us. We probably look a little funny tooling down the road with a floor pump strapped to the trailer! We were having fits using the little pump we took with us, so we bought a floor pump. That is much nicer, and the bike rolls much better with the higher pressure. LaValle is doing well, but I lost my climbing legs today. We are in Greensburg, PA instead of Pittsburgh because of it. I will be fine tomorrow, and we will do an easy ride to Pittsburg instead of doing a rest day. It will all work out. Today we were going to do the Allegany Alliance Bile Trail from Meyersdale to McKeesport, PA. We went to the trail after having been told it was paved to find that it is gravel – just like the C&O Trail. We opted to go on the roads, and as result, had another big climbing day. We were over 100 feet per mile. Since we had not planned on traveling the roads, our route was a bit informal, but LaValle did a great job of sorting it out. We had to stop a few times, but it worked out. People have been very helpful, and since we sort of invented this route, it is important to get input from the locals on what is going on. The climbing here is interesting – I call them mega-rollers, and they come one right after the other. You are no sooner topping out in the granny gear, than you have to shift like mad to take the descent. Then, before you get a chance to settle into a rythym, the road tilts up again. There is no rest for the wicked. The scenery today was mountain towns and farms. The towns are interesting because they are old, and the homes appear to be 100 years plus in age. The place we stayed last night – Yoder’s Motel – was an old home that had been converted. The farms are fascinating because of the size, the wonderful barns and the well-maintained facilities. This is an interesting place – if you don’t see woods, you see either farms or small mountain towns. You don’t see much in the way of mountains until you top out the climbs. That is because the mountains are really just great big hills. The weather today was mixed. It started out sunny, but chilly. It then warmed to the point we were down to shorts and jerseys. Then a storm front moved in and it cooled. We stopped here to have lunch, and while we were eating, the skies opened. Once we decided to stay here, we had to go to a motel. The rain was so heavy that it messed up my glasses to the point where we couldn’t ride. Ron