Friday Evening is Beach Time

Carlin Park Beach
Jupiter, FL
June 21, 2024

 Chris and I headed to the beach last evening to enjoy Happy Hour with friends. The beach was the perfect escape from the oppressive heat. We were greeted by beautiful cloud-filled skies, bright sun, a strong surf, and a pleasant wind to keep the experience comfortable. There were even surfers to provide entertainment.

The Crew
Carlin Park, Jupiter, FL
June 21, 2024

Sitting on the beach at the end of the week, and especially a week in which we traveled, provided a way to relax and unwind from the activity. 

The surfers always provide a show and since I can't surf, I am always fascinated at how they balance themselves upon the ever-changing waves and avoid crashing onto the shore. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Buc-ee's - St Augustine

Buc-ee's
St Augustiine, FL
 June 20, 2024

 Beginning the day in Pooler, Georgia, meant that we had an easy 5-plus hour drive and would arrive home in the mid-afternoon with enough time to unpack and resume life before dinner.

It was a great plan--and it worked! 

One thing that Chris and I did was to stop at a Buc-ee's to better understand the mystique of the place. We visited a Buc-ee's in St Augustine, FL, for gas and to get some sandwiches for lunch. This Buc-ee's is across the street from a Costco and so the traffic is a bit heavy.

We were amazed!

The place is huge and after gassing the truck we spent about another 30 minutes exploring the store. Most importantly; the restrooms are fantastic! The selection of sandwiches and things to buy means that this is a great place to stop on a trip. One of the reasons that I was interested is that a Buc-ee's is planned for I-95 near Ft Pierce, FL. That would provide a great place to get gas and snack items as we head out on our regular treks north.

Wait, did I mention that gas was $2.99/gallon? It was the least expensive gas we found on our trip!

As for the flamingo sign, I did find the cute sign in Buc-ee's. No, I did not buy it.

We arrived home safely and I able to get my bike to the shop and have it repaired before the shop closed. I may not have mentioned it, but my bike had a problem on the GAP ride that I was able to troubleshoot. The shop covered the repair under warranty on the cassette that I had installed as part of my pre-trip maintenance. Yay!

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force

Me in front of the B-17G City of Savannah
Pooler, GA
June 19, 2024

 I have driven by this museum, which sits just off I-95, on many occasions. There is a beautiful B-47 sitting outside which calls to me every time we pass it on the road. Yet, until yesterday, I had been too focused upon the destination and not the journey to stop and visit the museum.

B-17G City of Savannah
Pooler, GA
June 19, 2024

The National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force is located in Pooler, Georgia. Actually, it is a Savannah exit. It is easy on and off the interstate and definitely worth a stop if your interests include the Air Force and WW2. 

Both of those topics interest me and I was assigned to Eighth Air Force for six years of my Air Force career. First to a bombardment wing in Rome, NY, and then to the Eighth Air Force Headquarters itself which was then at Barksdale AFB, LA. 

The museum presently focuses the history to the Eighth Air Force through the Berlin Airlift, but is being expanded. There are two Vietnamese era fighters on display outside: a MiG-17 and an F-4. But the items associated with WW2 and the story of the campaigns and the crews and personnel assigned are rich. The museum has the only escape and survival section, in the form of a reconstructed house, that I have seen and describes how the civilians living in Europe assisted allied airmen to evade and escape from Nazi-controlled areas--often at the price of their own lives and freedom. 

Why is the museum outside Savannah? I learned that the first headquarters of the Eighth Air Force was in Savannah, Georgia! 

The artifacts in the museum are inspiring and relevant to today. I found the Hitler Youth Oath posted on the wall of the museum. The youth are often portrayed as more like the Boy Scouts, but this oath indicates that it was much more allegiance to one man and not an ideal or a republic--but a single person, which I found scary.

Of all of the items in the museum, except for of course the B-17, one item that really caught eye was the Nazi banner. I had never seen one in real life. I had seen images of them hanging from buildings, but never fully comprehended their larger than life size and impact. 

I definitely recommend this museum. They also have a mission briefing that runs through how the aircrews were prepped for missions and the ground crews maintained the planes. It has a lot of actual footage and is well done. I was told it is soon to be replaced by  something similar which is being produced by the 100 Bomb Group organization which assisted with the series Master's of the Air.

-- Bob Doan, Pooler, GA

South for the Summer

 

Mockingbird with Nut
Welcome to North Carolina Welcome Center I-95S
June 19, 2024

Summer begins tomorrow afternoon at 4:51 PM. We should be back at our home in Florida shortly before Spring hands off the season to Summer. 

We are on the road home after a short visit to allow my assault on the GAP. 

And now I am tackling I-95. Ugh. At least things seem light so far because of the holiday. 

— Bob Doan, mm157 North Carolina

Riding the GAP - The Light at the end of the Tunnel

Brush Tunnel
Near Cumberland, MD
June 16, 2024

 The third day of the GAP ride was tunnel day. We rode through three long tunnels, one of them was almost 3300 feet. I learned that tunnels are dark and cold! Really cold!

The last tunnel was most interesting, however, not because of its particular geography or length, but because as we arrived to transit, a Western Maryland Scenic Railroad train was coming out of the tunnel. Truly, the light at the end of the tunnel was an oncoming train. 

We stopped and chatted with the runner in the image while the train passed. It was pretty exciting because we had been riding along the tracks for quite a few miles and I hoped that we would get to see the train. And we did!

I enjoyed waving to the people on the train. When we lived in Maryland I wanted to ride the train, but never was able to get it on the schedule. 

I feel fortunate that within a few miles of the end of the three-day ride to have actually arrived at the perfect moment to see the train emerge from the tunnel. Coincidence? I think not. 

-- Bob Doan, Odenton, MD

The Gap - We did it!

 At about 12:30 PM, Sunday, June 16, 2024, three travelers biked into Cumberland, MD, completing a Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) trail ride. There were no bands or cheering crowds, just three riders on fully loaded bikes achieving the goal they had set out three-days earlier in Pittsburgh, PA, to achieve. 

Milemarker 0
Cumberland, MD
June 16, 2024
Photo by Patrick

I took an image of final day the stats, just to remember better what we had accomplished. We had climbed over 1300 feet in about 20 miles and then descended about 2300 feet in 24 miles. We were in the saddle for about 3h46m, but were out on the trail from 7:20 AM until 12:32 PM for a total ride time of 5h12m. We stopped a lot to enjoy the countryside and the beauty.

There was so much to see along the way. We saw farmland and hills. We enjoyed crossing long bridges and biking through long tunnels. We even got to experience a train passing us and coming out of a tunnel that we were about to traverse. We stopped to let the diesel smoke clear from the tunnel before proceeding through. 

Patrick and Jeremy on the Trail
Greenville Township, PA
June 16, 2024

The final day was not without equipment problems. My bike decided to go into freewheeling mode again. I think the hub, which has almost 4000 miles on it, may need replacing. I will take it into the shop when I get back to Florida for a definite diagnosis.

Atop the World coming out of the Big Savage Tunnel
June 16, 2024
Photo by Patrick

But completing the ride, actually it was a journey, was the best. Along the way we biked just shy of 160 miles. That distance includes the off-trail riding to and from hotels, bike shops, and eateries. 

I think we had a good plan, which was devised by Jen. Doing the long ride, almost 60 miles, the first day set us up for success on the tough almost completely uphill second day. It then allowed us to enjoy the assault on the summit followed by the 24-mile mostly downhill into Cumberland. To dispel a myth--yes we did pedal on the downhill, but our speeds averaged about 15-16 mph which offset the 9-10 mph on the uphill side.

Eastern Continental Divide
GAP Trail
June 16, 2024
Photo by Patrick

The Big Savage Tunnel, at 3294 feet, was an experience. It was dark, even with my sunglasses off. And it was cold. All of that made it a bit disorienting. 

This ride had been planned for a long time. And as I wrote earlier, a big thank you goes to Jen, who was not able to join us on the trip she planned. But, she was critical in helping us complete the trip after the accident. Thanks to Patrick for his advice and help in selecting gear and giving advice about how to best tackle the ride and for persevering after flying over his handlebars and impacting the ground rather roughly. It was his fifth trip on the GAP. Finally, to Jeremy for being a force of reason during the difficult time on the trail after the accident when it seemed that the ride may be over before we completed Day 1 and for leading the final 6-mile tough uphill leg during Day 2. 

I can't believe it's over, but am happy that we did it. Yesterday was my best Father's Day ever--on the trail and lunch with my boys and then having dinner with my daughter.

-- Bob Doan, Odenton, MD

Day 2 - GAP

Ready to Depart
Connellsville, PA
June 15, 2024

We survived.  

It was 45 miles uphill. We gained over 1000 feet in elevation as we rode today.  Thankfully, it was at a low incline.  But all uphill. 

We left Connellsville this morning full of enthusiasm and arrived in Rockwood about 4pm after a grueling day. Along the way we crossed bridges hundreds of feel above gorges.  We saw whitewater rafters and had a broken spoke fixed at a bike shop. 

Bridge into Ohiopyle
Ohiopyle, PA
June 15, 2024

But, unlike Friday there was no major accident to slow our progress. 

The bridges we crossed were awesome. High above the river. It was fun to see the people on the river. 

Great day. 

Today our goal is Cumberland, MD. It will be a tale of two rides.  The first half will see us gain another 600 feet of elevation and the last half will be a downhill where we lose about 1600 feet of elevation. Fun. 

— Bob Doan, Rockwood, PA

Day 1 into Day 2 - The GAP

Waterfall along the trail
GAP
June 14, 2024

We completed our aggressive day1 ride.  But, it was not until 8:30 pm that everyone arrived at the hotel. As I previously wrote, we stopped for lunch with about 25 miles remaining in our planned ride. After lunch we completed another 10 miles before problems happened. My bike developed a weird thing where the pedals turned freely in both directions.  Ugh. After taking the back wheel off to examine the free spinning cassette, I banged the tire on the ground and everything returned to normal.  Apparently the lever which allows the pedals to go backwards freely failed to reengage. We reassembled the bike and it worked perfectly for the rest of the day.  

About one-half mile later, however, Patrick collided with my rear tire and bent his front rim.  He also took a nasty tumble. We fixed the rim as best we could to allow the bike to be ridden, but it had to go to a bike shop.  The decision was to head back to West Newton which was 5 miles closer than Connellsville. Jeremy accompanied him while I pressed ahead to check into the hotel. Through a series of events best left for Patrick to explain, they wound up in Pittsburgh to replace the wheel and then Jen drove them to the hotel in Connellsville. 

So we are all back together with functional bikes for the next two days of planned riding. It was not easy, but it is done. 

Today is a planned 40-mile ride.

— Bob Doan, Connellsville, PA

GAP Day 1

 

Point State Park
Pittsburgh, PA
June 14, 2024

We are 35 miles into the ride.  We are planning 60 for today ending in Connellsville, PA. 

Riding out of Pittsburgh along the river was beautiful and also a testament to the steel city.

We will depart West Newton in a few minutes to hit the trail again full and ready for the remainder of the day. The weather is awesome.

Bob Doan, West Newton. PA

Preparing to Ride

 

And we departed for the ride yesterday.  We arrived safely in Pittsburgh and are preparing to head out. The car was fully loaded as are our bikes. 

It is early and we are hoping get 60 miles done before the afternoon thunderstorms. 

More later. 

— Bob Doan, Pittsburgh, PA