Another Easy Day: Up the Hill and Across the Mason-Dixon LineChalk Hill, PA
to
Grantsville, MD
July 24, 2003
Back up to Manitowoc to Washington
Westbound: Uniontown to Chalkhill Eastbound: Grantsville to Hancock
Another Easy Day: Up the Hill and Across the Mason-Dixon LineHaving fallen asleep before 10pm, waking up early wasn’t too much of a challenge. I got going early but without breakfast. The place next door did not open until lunch. Again the air was damp. The light rain soon had me soaked but not dripping. Within ten miles or so, I came to a big restaurant on the other side of the road. It was the kind of place businessmen hit first thing in the morning and use a town forum. In that function, it resembled the breakfast stops in Winnett and Jordan, but unlike the Montana experience, the food here was only superficially adequate and not really satisfying. It wasn’t as hot and was missing other little touches. My gosh—had twenty years in the mid-west really changed my expectations that much?
Warmer and nearly dry, I stretched breakfast as long as I could—read the local newspaper thoroughly—and then resumed progress. On my maps, this stretch had looked like it would be challenging, but the road was quite nice and the traffic was light. Unlike the first stretch on US40, this segment did not go up and down in shorter, frequent, steeper installments. With the rain stopped, it was easier to feel comfortable. And—with nearly a full day of rest—I was much fresher than I had been after spending most of a day getting to Canonsburg.
The restaurant was part way up a long gentle hill. Following that there was a short, steep hill from the bridge over the Youghiogheny River Lake and then a longer hill that brought the highway across the Mason-Dixon line into Maryland. Upon gaining the top of that plateau, the road went gently up and down for a few miles with one more climb, which I noted was almost as high as Snoqualmie Pass, before dropping down into the town of Grantsville. I went right by the Casselman Inn in the center of town as well as some other places where I could have had lunch. Error. I knew the Inn was there and counted it as a back up if the Holiday Inn had no room. Unfortunately, I did not find Mark Boyd’s glowing report of this stay there until months after I got home.
East of the town, at the top of a short, steep hill I found a construction crew. While waiting for the go ahead, we chatted about my bike and the tour. My efforts became a fulcrum for one part of the crew to tease another. They assured me that I would find the Holiday Inn at that next interchange with the Interstate and pointed to the top of the next hill. It wasn’t quite that close but almost.
I arrived at the Holiday Inn just after the dining room closed for lunch but before my room was ready. I should have taken that as a signal. It was early enough to press on to Cumberland. But I was still “on plan” albeit a day behind. It looked like I would make D.C. On Sunday if nothing went wrong and I didn’t see the point of pressing. The upside was small and the downside potentially huge even if the risk was slight. So I went to the Burger King or whatever it was next door, had something light, and returned to check in. It was nice again to have time and luxury, though this older Holiday Inn was not overly spectacular. Eventually dinner time arrived and I entered a nearly empty dining room. The pasta was ok, but the ambiance was tainted by the fellow at the bar smoking and the empty seats.
About 30 miles in about 4 hours including a long breakfast.
Back up to Manitowoc to Washington
Westbound: Uniontown to Chalkhill Eastbound: Grantsville to Hancock