{"id":847,"date":"2009-08-14T02:00:37","date_gmt":"2009-08-14T09:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/liveforthepath.com\/?p=847"},"modified":"2025-01-28T10:52:35","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T17:52:35","slug":"day-58-new-philadelphia-oh-to-bridgeville-pa-a-day-with-many-hurdles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/liveforthepath.com\/?p=847","title":{"rendered":"Day 58 \u2013 New Philadelphia, OH to Bridgeville, PA \u2013 A Day with many Hurdles"},"content":{"rendered":"

102 miles in 10.5 hours \u2013 Max Speed 34 mph<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A sign in New Philadelphia, where they seem friendlier than regular Philadelphia (note: I actually really like Philly)<\/p><\/div>\n

I started out today knowing that it was likely to be my final day on roads until I was almost home. I don’t know how I felt about this, since I really don’t mind road riding (most people I talk to seem to think that would be the worst part), and I know that most people on bike paths are idiots. But I think that I was excited for the change.<\/p>\n

Anyway, the paths were still a ways away, so it was time for me to head out. I went out east and headed on some quiet back roads for a while. Then, all of a sudden, my back tube blew out. Damn, it was my last slime tube (not actually slime, some tube specialized makes, with a slime like substance in it) and I only had one regular tube left. I mean, I have patched some old ones, but I don’t trust them very much. Anyway, I put my last tube in and prayed I would make it to the next town with a bike shop.<\/p>\n

\"I<\/a>

I loved the name of this company.<\/p><\/div>\n

I got back on the road and went through some small towns with no services, which was unfortunate because I was rather hungry. Finally I reached Bowerston, which had a single cafe open. But it may have been the cheapest of the entire trip, and it was also quite delicious. I talked to the waitress for a while in there about biking. She had recently decided to go back to nursing school too, so I congratulated her on that, especially since my sister is just entering nursing school. I then got to take a rail-trail to the town of Jewett, which was excellent.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A nice, empty, bike path<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Ohio<\/a>

Ohio Countryside<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Fox!\"<\/a>

Fox!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Historical<\/a>

Historical Marker<\/p><\/div>\n

After that it was around 30 miles on more brutal hills until I reached the town of Steubenville, which is the end of Ohio. It is a fairly large town, so I looked in my phone for bicycle shops. I saw one in Weirton, across the Ohio in West Virginia, so I tried calling them, but got number disconnected. I went to grab some food so I could think about this. At McDonald’s I realized that I should search for sporting goods stores, and saw there was a Dick’s in Steubenville, so I went there and bought a few tubes. With that out of the way I came to the next issue.<\/p>\n

\"NOOOOOOOOOO\"<\/a>

NOOOOOOOOOO<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Wow.<\/a>

Wow. Wow. You win the worst company name of the trip award.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Downtown<\/a>

Downtown Steubenville. You can see the bridge I took in the background.<\/p><\/div>\n

There are three bridges across the Ohio River in Steubenville, but one was closed. Another one was on a freeway which was closed to bicycles. That left one last bridge, but on the other side of that was a freeway you had to get on. Hmm. I asked around, but no one could really help me out. I decided to take the bridge that I knew I could legally take, and deal with the consequences on the other side. I made it across the bridge, and darted the two miles into the town of Weirton without incident. But, I don’t have a picture of that state crossing, since stopping and taking pictures when you are somewhere illegally is probably not the best idea.<\/p>\n

Once in Weirton I shot through town and made it to the first major trail of the network home, the Panhandle Trail.<\/p>\n

\"I<\/a>

I can ride my bike with no handlebars... with no handlebars...<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Woot!\"<\/a>

Woot!<\/p><\/div>\n

This was an excellent trail with very little foot traffic. Unfortunately the gods saw to it that it wasn’t totally smooth, as they opened up the skies for a several hour drenching rain. Oh well. I had a goal in mind for the day, as there was a Holiday Inn Express just Southwest of Pittsburgh in a town called Bridgeville, which didn’t look too far off the trails. Remember back to Utah and Wyoming, that I had acquired a free night at a Holiday Inn, and I was ready to use it, particularly since I was soaked.<\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>

My last photo before the deluge. Pennsylvania state line!<\/p><\/div>\n

I made it to the where I wanted to get off the trail, and then the real fun started. First it was still raining, and the roads had a lot of traffic, and it was twilight, which is a really bad combination. But I made it through the traffic, and to where I needed to turn. Problem is, the one road I could have taken was actually a freeway and was signed for no bikes, and the other road was closed for repairs. I ended up taking some ridiculous back route up and over a freaking mountain (Pittsburgh seems like an extremely hilly city, at least the burbs). I eventually made it though, checked in, ate, and went to sleep.<\/p>\n