Monaca, Pa
to
Uniontown, Pa
July 22, 2003
Back up to Manitowoc to Washington
Westbound: North Canton to Monaca Eastbound: Uniontown to Chalkhill
Monaca to Uniontown
July 22, 2003
Despite the warmth of my welcome from the staff and other guests at the Kobuta Hotel, I was insecure in not having the bike in the room with me and did not sleep all that well. Another storm woke me in the middle of the night and then I awoke around six. I got going as soon as I could. I felt like I had lost another half day. Getting back on route required reclimbing the big hill but with the compensation that the crossroads at the top promised what looked like a good breakfast restaurant, the Kings Family. Breakfast was good and gave some time for the morning fog or drizzle to ease. Once I got going again, it was downhill to the Ohio River followed by an interesting stretch of PA 51, aka Bike Route A, with Pittsburgh across the considerable river. Even the road was a busy industrial highway, it had room for me to ride, the pavement was reasonably clean, and there was only one decent hill. Around 10:30 in the morning, I reached Groveton and found the sign for access to the Montour Run Rail Trail.
The good news was that the climb was very gentle. The bad news was that the surface was crushed rock and was still damp from recent rain. In all, however, it wasn’t bad but seemed slow. When I reached suburbia, I briefly exited the trail to the parallel highway but realized I could not consistently figure my path, cope with traffic, and sprint up the hills. Chastened, I returned to the rail trail after confirming that it does give excellent access to some pricey motels on the outskirts of the airport. If I had been running an hour or two earlier the day before, it would have worked well. And if I’d had my head lamp, I could have continued safely even the day before. Access to the down market motels was also likely but I didn’t see their signs.
Resigned to the trail, I continued onward. The further one gets from the river, the less polished the surface appears. I understand that subsequent storms washed out some portions of the trail. Eventually I began to wonder if I had gone too far, but PA 980 did appear.
PA 980 lacks shoulders and has two modes—up and down—but I was glad to have pavement and the hills were still within my capacity. After all, this wasn’t Ohio.
I rode into downtown Canonsburg around 1:30 or 2:00 and stopped for lunch. I had an excellent meatball sub, called home, and moved on. Getting out of Canonsburg required climbing a substantial hill. This one was not a joke, but with a decent rest from lunch, I was able to grind my way up it. Once on top, the riding was pretty nice all the way to U.S. 40.
Upon reaching the National Highway, however, the riding became serious. One harbinger of what would follow is that the junction with US. 40 was halfway up a steep little hill. From there I recall no level riding all the way to Uniontown. It wasn’t all uphill but none of it was side hill. The shoulders were also inconsistent. Once again, the expectation that “U.S.” highways would have real shoulders was overly optimistic. The good news was that the traffic was light and almost universally friendly. I stopped at a Dairy Queen to refuel—yuck never again—and continued onward. I was running out of daylight and losing light to the cloud cover. Rain came and went but the light did not return. I turned on the blinker and focused on progress. One stretch was a lovely four lane highway. Watching my mirror, I took the lane to avoid junk on the shoulder and made very good time for the few miles it lasted. Eventually, soaked and tired I arrived at the western edge of Uniontown. I had been planning on the Hampton Inn on the north side of the road, but a Motel Six on the south side looked less expensive, would avoid crossing the highway twice, and was closer to a Bob Evans. I entered and asked for the drowned rat rate. Without asking for further evidence that I qualified, the clerk obliged.
Having eaten something at the DQ—exactly what it was aside from chickenish escapes recall—I wasn’t starved. I showered, sorted stuff, and took advantage of the guest laundry to get clean clothes. While waiting for the dryer to complete its magic, I got some pasta from a vending machine and nuked it. It wasn’t good, but it rounded off my intake for the day. I think I hadn’t caught up from the deficit of the McD’s breakfast the day before. I got to sleep late but satisfied. The ankle had continued to heal. It was still sore when walking and not up to heroic uphill standing starts, but it was no bother while riding even on a tough day. Moreover, I was not that far from Maryland and I still had 160 hours to catch that airplane.
About 88 miles in about 13 hours on the road including all three meals.
Back up to Manitowoc to Washington
Westbound: North Canton to Monaca Eastbound: Uniontown to Chalkhill