The day started before it ended.  That’s pretty standard for days here on planet Earth.  I’m not telling you anything you didn’t already know.  But here at Ian’s ride we like to mix things up.  We zig when you think we’re going to zag, bob when you were expecting a weave, drink when you thought we would eat.  In the case of today’s blog, I’ll be writing about our experience in reverse, beginning with the ending and ending with the beginning.  What else would you expect when a brewery is being highlighted for supporting us today, and there was a little more beer drinking than usual?  We’d like to thank Alestake Brewing for the swag and all the beer donations to our bellies.

We finished our ride in West Virginia, at the west end of the Panhandle Trail which was our passage from Pennsylvania into West Virginia.  Our original goal was to continue from this point about six more miles and enter Ohio, but we did our research and determined those six miles were too dangerous.  Within these six miles there was a combination of roads with narrow shoulders, dilapidated sidewalks, a section of highway, and a slippery narrow metal bridge with no shoulder.  With the help from Dr. B, Jimmy and other trails goers along the way I have made it through some pretty difficult sections of trail since we left DC.  However, this journey has been about being on trails and being safe, and I’ve had to let go of the EFI (every f---ing inch) mentality I have had during past Ian’s Rides.

The second half of the Panhandle Trail was rough and unpaved, and brought back memories of the C & O Trail.  Jimmy, Dr. B, and I were reminiscing about how much we loved the C & O.  The transition from paved to unpaved was abrupt and took place at the state line between Pennsylvania and West Virginia.  Not too far from us a street ran parallel to the trail where half the homes were in West Virginia and half in Pennsylvania.  Most people don’t know this about me, but I am a card-carrying member of the United States Postal Service Fan Club (USPSFC), so I amused myself with thoughts of how the mail was delivered to one end of the street versus the other.  Do the West Virginia and Pennsylvania postal carriers have to enter this street from different directions?  I have so many questions for my fellow “Ponies.”  That’s what we call ourselves in the USPSFC.

The Pennsylvania section of the Panhandle trail was paved and very smooth.  It allowed for Jimmy and I to talk more than we can when trails are rough.  We love talking about the plants we are seeing along the trail, plants we don’t get to see back on the west coast.  All along the route we have seen Golden Rods, but today in particular there were many Late Purple Asters sprinkled among the yellow Golden Rods and the two together were very beautiful.  Dr. B commented how it reminds him of the Lupines and Poppies during springtime in California.  Robin Wall Kimmerer points out in her book Braiding Sweetgrass that there are evolutionary reasons purple and yellow flowers grow together in meadows and on hillsides, in fact Golden Rods and Purple Asters were her motivation to study this relationship.

While on the Pennsylvania portion of the Panhandle we came across a Ring-Necked snake which was quite beautiful.  It was a cold day and we were concerned it wouldn’t be moving much and may get hit by a trail user so Dr. B helped him/her off the trail.  Nature was calling for Jimmy, so Dr. B and I found a sunny spot on the trail to relax while Jimmy tended to his immediate needs.  Just before Jimmy emerged from the bushes, a murder of crows flew overhead announcing Jimmy was done taking care of business.  It’s scenes like this that keep the legend of Sasquatch alive in local folklore.  However, I don’t ever recall stories of Sasquatch carrying handy wipes.

The Panhandle was our second trail of the day.  We had transitioned to the Panhandle from the Montour Trail where we left off yesterday.  About a mile or so before this transition we came across an obstacle that presented some problems.  Trail workers were laying a fresh layer of crushed limestone, or as Dr. B likes to called it, calcium carbonate.  This was a big operation with hella big equipment involved.  We arrived at a point in the trail where a large tractor implement used to spread the limestone was covering the entire trail.  There was also a steam roller to help compact the limestone once it had been laid down.  If I was to get around this I would have to ride off of the trail (which was elevated about 4-6 inches above the surrounding ground) into soft wet dirt and then back up and onto the trail.  The space between the implement and the trees/bushes lining the side of the trail was narrow and would require some careful driving, not to mention some work by my team to make sure I didn’t sink and get stuck.

Dr. B laid down the 2 x 6 boards we had been carrying ever since the “Great Stair Incident of 2022” back on the C & O.  The intention was to have these boards act as a rail for me to drive on so my tires would not dig into the ground and get stuck.  Before I attempted this dare-devil maneuver we discussed everything we were going to do with the three trail workers (Larry, Andy, and Steam Roller Guy) operating the equipment.  Steam Roller Guy (his preferred, not legal name) compacted the newest limestone down even more, to ensure I would not get stuck on the trail itself before the Evil Knievel move I was about to attempt.  With the help of Jimmy, Dr. B, and our three new friends making sure I didn’t tip over I went for it.  I grabbed my sip and puff and said “yee-haw.”  I blew once to start my engine, and then blew as hard as I could.  There is some debate amongst the crew if the boards Dr. B laid down were helpful or as useless as those insignificant twigs he used to “help” get me up the stairs on the C & O.  In the end it didn’t matter because we’re badasses and we made it!  We thanked everyone and were on our way.

We arrived at the Montour trail where we left off yesterday.  As we were unloading and getting everything ready to begin the day on the trail a cyclist, Ryan, stopped by to see what we were all about.  We told him a little about our journey, he helped take some photos so we could get my mom and dad both in some pictures.  He was out on the trail training for a ride of his own.  He will be riding the GAP trail to Cumberland and back over a series of four days.  Hopefully he’ll enjoy the GAP as much as we did.  He gave us some local insight into the trails we were about to ride today and then headed on his way.  Shortly after, so did we.

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