I will try to ride the 38 miles from my cheap motel in Belle Vernon to Ohiopyle a location on the GAP, the Great Allegheny Passage bicycle trail, and then ride another 4 plus miles to Mill Run where Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water is situated. And then ride to a campground again on the GAP. This last bit of riding might be 4 miles or it might be 16 miles depending on the campsites.
Yesterday I took a much needed rest day. I had ridden about 480 miles and climbed over 11,330 feet in the previous 10 days. That includes the last four days of extremely difficult - had to walk the bike up many of the hills - 200 miles and 7,800 feet of climbing.
By a rest day I mean that I only rode a 15 mile round trip on the GAP to West Newton to check it out. What a beautiful bicycle setting. The GAP is a combination of old railroad line routes turned into a recreational trail for hikers, bikers, and some horse use. The section I saw yesterday runs along the banks of the Youghiogheny River, that joins the Ohio River in Pittsburgh.
This riding will require an early start, between dawn and sunrise. With rested legs and a railroad graded bike path this should be a piece of cake. Some places on earth make my heart sing. The Russian River is such a place. I have vacationed on it since I was a new born baby. The Youghiogheny River reminds me very much of the Russian River valley.
It was Sunday and there were lots of folks out with friends and families, fishing, boating, picnicking, camping, running, and biking. I talked to a couple that were bicycle camping along the path. They both had trailers and their dog rode in one. They gave me confidence that I would be able to do the same.
It might be that it is the water that runs through Falling Water that is what attracts me to it so much. Ever since I have seen photos of FLW’s master piece I have wanted to see it. It was purely happenstance that I get this opportunity to see and walk into it. It is its nearby presence to the GAP that originally sold me on taking this path for this final leg to DC. That and the last straw of course is the very rugged Appalachian hills.
Peace from just a few days out from DC.
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