MEYERSDALE, PENNSYLVANIA
The alarm didn’t go off. It didn’t need to. I was up at two minutes before 4:00 a.m. and decided I would drive to Pennsylvania and ride a portion of the Great Allegheny Passage Trail.
Although I have ridden on the trail many times (all in sections except one through trip from Pittsburgh to D.C.), today would be different. I was going to provide “trail magic.”
Trail magic occurs when people on the trail experience the magic through the kindness of a stranger. Usually, it will be food or water. But it could be a ride too. I left home and stopped in Cumberland to load up on ice. I had purchased water and snacks before and was all set.
I parked at Deal Road. At 7:45 a.m. I pedaled off towards Ohiopyle. My trail magic was directed at the Texas4000. Although their website indicated that they would be on the trail this day, I never ran into them. It would have been a grand gesture but just didn’t work out. Just south of Markleton I turned around to head back.
Although disappointed, I was prepared for this possibility and would make the best of it. It was a beautiful day. I was on a bike. It would be a great day.
When I had passed Rockwood there was a volunteer standing at her “welcome center.” She asked me to sign the guest book and I told her I would on the way back. So now, on my way back, I stopped and signed the book. Name. Address. Comments: “Pave it.“
This trail is so nice but how much nicer would it be with a fresh coat of asphalt. I rode my gravel bike (Checkpoint) but with road tires (32s). And that was easy enough. 28s or 25s would have been OK too. But crushed limestone is a tad bit harder to pedal than asphalt. Mostly for me, it’s the dust. My water bottles were coated with fine limestone dust and it tastes gritty even if it really isn’t.
I caught a young woman, Hannah, near Garrett. She was leaving Rockwood when I was signing the guest book and was far enough up the trail that I assumed she had jumped off at Rockwood rather than continue on the trail. I asked her where she was headed and she said the Eastern Continental Divide. I told her I was too if she would let me ride with her. She said that would be fine.
Hannah was from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but is now living in Morgantown. She came to Ohiopyle to ride her first Century. So we talked all the way to the Continental Divide. When we turned I insisted that she stop and get some trail magic. And she was happy too. I had ICE – and the temperatures had crept up to the high 80s. I gave her a cold Gatorade to take with her as well.
As Hannah was leaving I rode with her another four miles towards Meyersdale before wishing her the best of luck and turning around. Then I returned to the car. It was just in time as two women and a man were sharing what little water they had left. I invited them to my car for some trail magic. Ice. And water.
It didn’t work out for the Texas4000 on this day (I learned they were wheels down at the ungodly hour of 5:00 a.m. and I just missed them at Deal) but it did for other complete strangers. That was fun this trail magic thing. And an added bonus. My name is on a plaque at this stop.
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