Day 54, 26 September: Steubenville, OH to Homestead, PA
Today was a testament to the flexibility and ingenuity of the Support Team. Due to construction and traffic on the bridge we needed to cross to get from our hotel to the Panhandle Trail to start our trek to Homestead, we loaded up bikes and ferried everyone to a parking lot near the trailhead in Weirton, WV (another state down!). We also had to coordinate meeting two classmates, Tim Ellis and Steve Dean, who would be joining us for part of the ride.
In spite of all the moving pieces, that evolution went well – except… Dave, who has been having issues with our route app, Ride With GPS, decided to opt for speed over navigation – and took off before we had even taken the group photo… more to follow on how that worked out.
The next evolution was a bit more complicated. A tunnel along the trail is under construction that had no way around it – so we had to coordinate all 7 riders, Sally in the SAG vehicle, Mark Young and Dick Weller (24th Co. Support for the last two days) and Mark Landry in the truck, meeting at the same spot before the tunnel at the same time. Well, all the support vehicles made it with precision and finesse. We riders – not so much. We got separated from Steve and Tim; Dave had missed a turn and was headed points west. So, after much gnashing of teeth and cursing of inconsistent maps; Mark Y. and Dick were detailed to collect Steve, Tim, and (somehow) Dave. Mark L. stayed behind to get Dave headed back in the right direction and Sally loaded Tes, Doug and I and headed to a “predetermined” rendezvous point near the trail on the other side of the tunnel… Standby – Execute!
After some U-turns, we got to the rendezvous jumping off spot – only to see a sign “Private Road. No Public Access to Montour Trail”. All being officers of the highest quality – we ignored the sign – proceeded down the rough dirt road to see if indeed a trail was down there. Meanwhile Mark had maneuvered the truck AND trailer near Sally’s car and unloaded our bikes. We walked our bikes down to a construction area and, with the help of a friendly construction worker, got pointed in the direction of the trail. All good, until we came to an 8-ft fence across the trail with a big sign “TRAIL CLOSED.” Again, being “officers of the line in the highest regard” – we ignored the sign – and the fence; hand-carried our bikes to the other side of the fence… and blithely proceeded down the trail. Next stop – Homestead.
Oops, my “inner voice” insists I mention the #@*$ hill at about 35 miles. The cue said make a sharp right at – whatever; doesn’t matter – and SURPRISE, a climb that gave me flashbacks to Oregon; a good mile at 8 to 10% incline. And we keep being told “it’s all trails and flat.”
With very little – comparatively – fanfare, Tes, Doug, Bill, and I made it to the 45-mile Support Stop. Where we had a joyous reunion with Mark, Dick, Steve, Tim, and yes, even Dave was back in the fold.
Personally, I think Dave is angling toward making this trip an even 3500 miles, instead of 3241-ish.
The route from 45 mi in was mostly on the GAP Trail (Great Allegheny Passage), which consisted of a lot of industrial areas and a lot of nerve-wracking turns. Doug had gotten the word a news crew (Pittsburgh WPXI, Channel 11, NBC) would be filming us coming in. We (attempted to) form a nice line-abreast so all would be visible. OK, now for the Naval oriented among you, imagine 5 Officers of the Deck giving orders to the helmsman – at the same time. Needless to say, we had to do a few re-takes; but the cameraman was very gracious and did not laugh.
Kevin Reale (24th Co.) was waiting with a terrific bumper buffet. He obviously had gotten the word from Mark and Dick, who had been given the gouge by Mike Obert.
The photo of 24th Co. representation at Homestead represents almost ⅓ of the entire Company – just sayin’.
Also, today (mercifully!) completes Stage 4 – we start the final stage tomorrow!
Ron Bowman
USNA 1973 Ride-2-Remember 
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