October 2, 2011: Alliance, Ohio to Monaca, PA (45 miles):

Miserable, Miserable, Miserable!  That’s the best description for today. It was a short day mileage wise, but Cal did well under the conditions.

Rain and more rain, all day!  It was not heavy until about 3:00 this afternoon, but it varied from a light to heavy drizzle. Plus the temperature did not get higher than 45 degrees. Very cool!  By the time we arrived at the motel, Cal was soaked and chilly.  We have a whirlpool tub in our room tonight which Cal used immediately.  The weather will not be changing for the next several days.  By next weekend it is to be in the 70’s.  It can not happen soon enough!

The weather this week has been a nightmare for biking. Each night we have to clean the bike and ‘wash the works’ of wet clothing. Most hotels/motels have guest laundry facilities that are wonderful. We brought a laundry drying rack with us as we do not put all of Cal’s biking clothes in the dryer. Plus on days when the weather is good we still wash the smelly biking clothes. We are able to set the rack in front of the AC/heater so that by morning everything is dry.  This is especially important this week.    

How about this bridge? It was on a bike path – Cal needed to carry his bike across this bridge!

How would you like an oil pump sitting in your front yard? – I guess it is money, money and more money!

We left Ohio and entered PA today.  We were on a road when there was a ‘welcome’ sign for a photo.   

I took a few photos of several lovely settings I saw today as I was driving.

We were on hilly roads again – until we came to the Beaver River.  At that point we started going down hill. Cal had been told that the western mountains (Rockies) have gradual longer slopes than the Appalachians but the Appalachians have shorter hills with steeper grades.  He definitely concurs with this analysis.     

We are in Monaca, PA and tonight we were able to have dinner with a Rotary friend. We had a great evening of conversation and he was so helpful regarding information of this area.  Tomorrow we hope to see another Rotary friend who lives southeast of Pittsburgh.    

We hope to get to Pittsburgh by noon.  Cal wants to go to the Pittsburgh Steelers stadium while we are there, before we head south on the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) Trail.