Rob's Blog

Dawn got for me, at some point back in the 1990’s, a Huffy mountain bike. It was a good bike for the little that I rode it. I had made several attempts to “get back out there” and ride, but continuously failed to do so. I tried the Justus Trail here in Franklin shortly after I got the bike, but could not get into it. The excitement for cycling was gone.

Recently, I got the desire back. A couple of months ago, I got my old bike out of the basement, inflated the tires and prepared for a ride. I spent minimal time tuning up the brakes and gears, as I had no faith that they would actually do as I intended. It took another several weeks for me to actually get on it and ride. Eventually, I did.

The maiden voyage was on the bike trail here in Franklin, but not the Justus Trail. There is not much to that trail. It only goes to Oil City and the scenery along the way does not hold my attention. Maybe that is why I failed to be excited about it before. I did my research and found that travelling south from Franklin on the Allegheny River Trail may be more exciting. There is a tunnel out on the Sandy Creek Trail that peaked my interest. So, that was my goal, get to the tunnel and back.

On Sunday morning, I grabbed the camera, a hat and my water bottle and set off. I rode the one mile town route to get down to the Franklin trail head. Once there, I immediately set off to the south, down the Allegheny River Trail. The ride was acceptable and the bike performed decently. My legs were holding up well, as I blazed a fast pace.

I passed many others on bike, foot and roller blade as I travelled the five miles down to the Sandy Creek Trail. It was a nice day and I was happy to be outside. I was so happy that I even greeted those who I passed. This is not typical behavior from me. I am all business all of the time.

The ride to the Sandy Creek Trail was even more enjoyable because it was my first time seeing Franklin and the surrounding area from that perspective. There was so much for my eyes and mind to explore. Even though I had the camera, I did not take any pictures yet. I knew that I would be back up this way coming home, so there was no urgency. My goal was to make it to the Sandy Creek Trail and take pictures on the way back.

As I approached the Sandy Creek Trail, I could see the Belmar Bridge. I really was not prepared for this. In my research, I may have seen the bridge, but paid little attention to it. Now, however, all I hoped was that I would get to cross it. That was indeed the case, as I would have to leave the Allegheny River Trail and climb the steps up to the Sandy Creek Trail.

When I got to the top, I immediately started across the bridge. Well, I did take some pictures first. As I got out onto the bridge, I could not help stopping to take more pictures. It was a fine view that allowed me to capture the water, the trees, the clouds and all of the landscape in one simple photograph. After I finished taking my twenty pictures, I continued across the bridge.

On the other side was the Belmar trail head of the Sandy Creek Trail. I looked at the map and was disgusted with the fact that they do not have a “you are here” indicator. I had to guess where  I was. That is not something that I should be doing, especially in the middle of nowhere. After deciding that I had no idea where I was on the map, I decided to keep following the trail ahead of me.

I continued out the trail, past the Belmar Landing sign for about a mile before I was the directional indicator on one of the mile markers. After a quick computation in my head, I determined that I was heading in the wrong direction if I wanted to go through the tunnel by Rockland. At this point, I was not turning around and proceeded onward.

As I continued, I noticed that civilization was certainly being left behind. Belmar is in no way a thriving metropolis, but when compared to where I was heading, it just might be. The river was on my left and was lined with camps, cabins and campers. To the right was nothing but woods, tree stands and the threat of a bear attack. I did see other people as I headed out to Fisherman’s Cove and the end of the trail.

I did pass some interesting sights along the way. The caboose turned in to camper and left to decay and the views of the Allegheny River and Big Sandy Creek kept my interest. There were also many trails that permitted access down to the river and in one case I passed a “store” that appeared to cater to the outdoors-type. I may have to stop there next time through.

When I did get to the end of the paved trail, I thought of continuing on the gravel path, but did not know where that would lead. I did not want to be riding on a dead end path and be disappointed when it did not go anywhere. So, I turned around and headed back to Belmar.

The ride back to Belmar was a little rough. The bike would not get into the right gear and I was either forced to exert too much of not enough force to get the thing moving at the right speed. I started to get tired and frustrated. I still managed to enjoy the scenery and take some pictures. 

When I got to Belmar, I took a five minute break and sent Dawn a text, letting her know that I would be home soon. I headed back across the bridge after considering going back on Belmar Drive. I was not sure about the number of hills that I would have to climb and I was not ready for any hills at this point, so I took the safe route back the trail.

On the way back, I took some more photos of the bridge and the staircase that has to be navigated to get up and down. I will say that the walk up the stairs is much better than the walk back down. There is very little clearance for a person of normal height, let a lone a man of my size. At least walking up I can see where I am going to decapitate myself whereas going down, it was all a surprise.

I did have a deer run out in front of me on the Allegheny River Trail. I could just imaging explaining to my wife and friends how I hit a deer on my bike. Luckily though, it was far enough ahead of me that I did not stand a chance of hitting it. I did think that I should get a gun rack for the bike. Riding through the woods would me a good chance of getting a deer. It is too bad for me that I do not hunt nor do I own a rifle.

After I got back home and fought with the bike for a little while trying to adjust the gears, I complained to Dawn about the bike and she told me just to buy a new one. I thought about it, but decided not to, for now. Later on that evening, my rear-end was paying the price for the 22 mile ride on a seat made of bricks and maybe shards of glass. As the week went on, I thought about a new bike and did some research to determine what I should get. There will be more on that later.