FJR Adventures: Day 5 - to Pittsburgh

August 13, 2021

I got up early, packed, and was ready to hit the road at 6:40am.

Right off, I will tell you that today is pretty much about riding, not sightseeing, taking pictures, or otherwise messing around. The Google maps thing tells me I have 466 miles to cover to get to my son’s place in Pittsburgh and I want to get there today. I figured I’d ride 100-120 miles and then stop for a late-breakfast somewhere along the way.

I did stop to check the map app some miles in as I was being routed on some really back, backroads. Here’s what it looked like.

And, looking to my right I saw this shed. I guess they don’t want any visitors.

I stopped for gas and the station had one of those pumps that plays one video ad after another. The sound was loud and had a very low dynamic range like it was coming out of an old-style telephone. I wanted to wash my windshield but had to get away from that pump as soon as I could.

I parked off to the side for a bit and now with a freshly cleaned windshield and full tank it was time to ride again. BTW, I am getting 54.5 miles to the gallon and the bike runs on regular.

I stopped for a picture of what I am riding through for miles and miles. Corn and soybeans. Everywhere.

I was starting to feel hungry so when I got to Rochester, Indiana I thought that, due to its size, it would be easy to find a cafe. I wanted a sit-down place so I could write my blog entry from yesterday, something I didn’t do back in the campground because cell service was very weak there. When I hit town I went through their downtown and saw nothing and the next thing I knew I was around all the usual fast food places. I'm not doing fast food as I am not sure what they would have that I could eat for breakfast, I so went on my way. About 30 miles or so later, at the intersection of 2 country roads, with no nearby town, was a cafe. It was perfect. I had a good breakfast and I got the blog updated.

Back the road again. Here’s a screenshot of the route I am following now.

The next couple hundred miles was just about logging miles. I was tempted to hit the interstate but wanted to stay true to my “no freeway” goal so I kept on going over the backroads. I crossed over one of those interstates and when I looked down I saw lots of semis, RVs, and cars jockeying for position. Yuck. I'm glad I'm on the roads I'm on.

I was not happy about being routed through what must have been Akron South. Lots of traffic signals and from my position it looked like talking on a cell phone while smoking a cigarette and driving must be a local requirement of some kind. Many, many times when the lights would turn green, no one goes because they are on their phones.

I crossed into Pennsylvania and could see an ominous sky up ahead. The streets were wet so I figured I was catching up to a storm that had just moved through the area. Then I started seeing lots of lightning and I picked up some raindrops. I pulled into a gas station just as the rain came and, after I topped off the tank, I pulled my rain liner out and got it zipped up inside my mesh jacket. Of course, then the rain stopped but as I continued on I still encountered the occasional sprinkle.

I’d shared my location with my son, Dan, who lives in Pittsburgh, and we texted back and forth a few times about meeting up. He rode his BMW out to a gas station in Beaver Falls to wait for me. Right when I showed up the sky opened up and we decided to wait it out since we were under a cover where we were.

Once it lightened up, he led the way to his place, about 30 miles away. It was still raining and, of course, by now it was dark, not the safest conditions but my bike really does handle well and I had Dan to follow. We have matching communications equipment in our helmets so we chatted along the way and he said we’d do some sightseeing on the way back. We ended up to the overlook on Mount Washington with downtown Pittsburgh looming up on the other side of the Monongahela River.