Day 52: Pittsburgh to Connellsville, Pa.

Yesterday we had an excellent day walking around downtown Pittsburgh and enjoyed another delicious meal prepared by our gracious hosts, Chuck and Brenda. They took us down the historic incline and gave us a walking tour of town, including a giant statue of Mr. Rogers.

This morning, we entered the final stretch of our tour, including a new cast member, with my brother joining us for our last week of riding. We descended the other side of the hill this morning and joined the very start of the Great Allegheny Passage trail. Shortly after leaving downtown, we saw a sign reading “Washington D.C. 350 miles” via the trail. From there, we followed 60 incredible miles of quiet, peaceful, well-signed trail all the way to our hotel, which is about 10 feet from the trail here in Connellsville.

As expected, the trail felt like a dramatic shift from the busy, industrial route we rode on Saturday. It is amazing to see the signage, with detailed information about the amenities at every stop. As we stopped for a snack at mile 20, we were approached by the trail volunteer who was staffing the welcome center in Boston, Pa. He shared quite a bit of information about the route and towns ahead, including brand new flyers for each of the small towns we are staying in with lists of amenities and a map of town. It is evident that towns along this route are very integrated with the trail. We were also surprised to see a lot of riders on the trail, including several groups of tourists. We likely saw more touring cyclists today than the entire trip up to this point.

After arriving in Connellsville, we took a brief walk around town and enjoyed some pizza. It’s nice to have Alex joining us for our last week. Tomorrow we will head further down the trail, and near the eastern continental divide in Meyersdale, Pa.

By the numbers:
Miles traveled: 60
Total climbing: 584 ft.
Sporks used as Ortlieb spare parts: 1
Average pace: 12.6 mph
Slices of pizza consumed: 12
Scoops of cookie dough ice cream: 6
Fluid Ounces in my carton of iced tea: 32

 Enjoying our delicious sandwiches prepared by our hostess, Brenda.

 At one of the signs along the trail today.

 Riding along the trail.

Leaving Pittsburgh on the trail. 

 Leaving our hosts in Pittsburgh this morning. Chuck and Brenda standing the back.

 The Petkus’ on the river in Pittsburgh yesterday. The condo building where we stayed is the one immediately above my head in the background.

 In front of Mr. Rogers statue yesterday on our walk.

 One of our bridge crossings along the trail.

Our first trail sign to DC.