We had a little storm today. It included high winds, some loud thunder and some hail. It also turned what was a beautiful week into a cold weekend, including a little snow.
I had the day off as I took Dawn for her follow up appointment at the doctor’s office. She was not permitted to drive yet and needed to get her stitches out. Her appointment was in the morning, so that meant I had the rest of the day to fit in a bike ride. There was so much going on that I knew this should be a short ride. I decided to go to Oil City and back, with a possible extension to the Belmar Bridge.
I started the ride north and was greeted again by the wind. Once again, it was very strong at times and made it very difficult to maintain 10 mph. When the wind was not driving me back, I was pushing hard and easily hitting 17 mph. But, the wind was dominant and made for a tough journey.
Although the journey was tough, it was also very enjoyable. The sky was blue and the clouds were big, white and puffy.
Today’s ride started out just as the last had ended, with a lot of wind. The wind was certainly worse this time, as I had a difficult time, with fresh legs, keeping a steady pace. As I headed south from Franklin, down the Allegheny River Trail, my speed fluctuated from a wonderful 17 mph all the way down to a hard earned 10 mph. When the wind blew, I struggled.
My destination of choice today was Brandon. It totals about 25 miles round trip, which is an excellent distance for my second ride of the year. I enjoy the ride there and the scenery along the way. Additionally, I am secretly performing reconnaissance, in hopes of finding a nice place for us to buy someday.
The weather was finally in my favor and I decided to hit the bike trail for the first ride of 2010. I was not sure how far I would go, as it had been a long winter and I had been very lazy. I thought that I could at least make it to the Belmar Bridge and back, so I set out south on the Allegheny River Trail.
My first stop was before I even got to the trail, in Riverside Park. I pass through this park on the way to the Franklin trail head. I stopped only to take note of the height of the river. All of the recent rain and melting snow had the water level high, but normal for this time of year.
Once again, my goal was to make it to Coal City. I was planning on heading down to the Sandy Creek Trail from Franklin and east to the Rockland trailhead where I would pick up Route 257. This seemed like the approach that would get me to Coal City and eventually Brandon without having to climb and super hills.
I started off from the Franklin trailhead riding at a fast pace, between 16 and 18 mph. It was all business for the first few miles. Then, I got a couple glimpses of foliage scenery around me and decided to start taking some photos. At one point, I was bombarded by leaves falling at such a rate that it looked like it was snowing leaves and I stopped to take a picture of this. The rest of the time, I was just looking to my right across the river at the trees lining the hillside. I stopped in some of my favorite picture locations and snapped some pictures of the scenery. I thought it would be interesting to see the “before and after” pictures when I got back home.
I continued riding south on the Allegheny River Trail. The air temperature was mild, with the thermometer only reading in the 50’s. The sun was out for much of the first part of the ride. In the sunny spots, I could feel the radiant heat of the sun warming me slightly. It did not do too much for the air temperature, but at least it gave me a brief warming.
I made it to the Belmar Bridge in what seemed like no time at all. This 5 mile trip was getting to be second nature and allowing me to drift deep into thought, making the the ride fly right by. I climbed the steps up to the Sandy Creek Trail and headed east towards Rockland. The Sandy Creek Trail was fully shaded and much colder than the Allegheny River Trail. The wind was blocked by the hills, but the sun was blocked by the trees.