Our private tour of the Cannondale factory in Bedford, PA. It was after dinner, so the production line wasn't running, they invited us back in the morning to see everything in action, but it is our hardest day tomorrow, so we politely declined.
me
Andy
our tour guide. It was a lot of fun to see how the bikes are made. We even saw the testing room where they were running tests on all different bikes and components to see how strong they are and what their breaking point is. We got to watch frames bend and stretch on machines to try to replicate regular use, but with excess force added - it was amazing to see - we weren't allowed to take any pictures in there though. (Dan, Steve, and Brian off to the side)
future bicycles!
exactly how each welded joint should look
a colorful array of paint remnants on some pipes
along the bike trail
view from up on a bridge on the bike trail. we were high up over a highway. The bike trail is all old railways
off the trail and onto the road again. back to following our cue sheets again and dealing with those motorized vehicles that always seem to get in the way
the view from the hill going up to the town of Berlin
more from that same hill
the Pennsylvania flight 93 memorial that we rode right past.82.54 miles
11.8 mph average
44.4 mph max speed today!
We rode on the Great Allegany Passage bike trail for the first 30 miles of the day today. It was a lot easier mentally to deal with than yesterday's 50 miles on it. It was quite beautiful with lots bridges, water views and farms. Some people opted for a road route today instead that was very hilly through the Alleganys. The trail is crushed limestone with some muddy spots, which can be unpleasant on skinny road tires (as Kari put it: "I don't want to ride on kitty litter") We also have a few people who really enjoy hills. I was content on the trail, knowing that I'd have plenty of hills this afternoon and tomorrow. We have now ridden a total of 85 miles on the Great Allegany Passage. We got off the trail in Meyersdale and the hills began. Some were pretty steep, but the scenery was gorgeous! Stopped in the town of Berlin, that was at the top of a long hill for lunch. A very nice couple asked me lots of questions about my ride and ended up buying my lunch for me! We rode up a hill to the site of the flight 93 Sept. 11th crash where there is now a large memorial set up. We also rode over Bald Cap mountain, one of the Allegany mountains at an elevation of 2906'. I was absolutely exhausted at the end of the day and worried about how tired I would be for our toughest day tomorrow. It started raining tonight after my tent was set up and I was showered. I just hid out in my tent for a while and luckily it stopped before dinner. We had pizza ordered in for dinner at a pavillion and then went on our Cannondale factory tour. Tomorrow is it - the day we have heard so much about - it is finally here - our last real ride and a difficult one. The two 50 mile rides after that barely even count, they are practically a rest day for us by now.
No comments:
Post a Comment