You can drive to Pittsburgh from Philly in 4.5 hours, or you can ride it in 45 hours. This past weekend I had the joy of doing both. Things kicked off Thursday morning after a short ride into city limits where max picked me up in our compact SUV, which to our surprise turned out to be a Toyota Matrix. I figured there was no way we were getting 3 bikes, all of our gear, and 3 people in there, but luckily our lightweight “race” setups were accommodating. We made a quick pass through the Reading area to pickup Chris and then we were on our way along the turnpike. Since much of PA Bike Route S parallels the turnpike you are able to preview sections of the race route along the way providing a glimpse of what is to come.
Eventually we arrived in downtown Pittsburgh where we ditched the rental car, assembled the bikes, and pedaled to the home of our gracious host, Eric McKeegan. The evening probably consisted of a few more beers than necessary the night before a 400 mile race, but temptation is hard to resist when you are at one of the best Belgium beer bars in the US. It was also a chance to meet up with Maurice, Steiner, everyone’s favorite financial advisor Peter Rubincam.
Friday morning over 25 of us gathered at 5am for the neutral rollout before the start of 90 miles of rail trail. The best part was seeing all the completely different bike setups and gear strategies. I fully expected to have the most ridiculous setup since I was on a full suspension mountain bike carrying just about everything I would for the Tour Divide, but I was wrong. There were setups ranging from overloaded touring bikes, single seat bags & water bottles on single speeds, to a strategically packed recumbent. Some would jump off the front right from the start and never be seen again while others would be reeled in over the daunting rail trail.
My strategy going into the race was to treat it purely as Tour Divide prep and ride similar length days, 150 miles Friday, 150 Miles Saturday, and the final 100 miles on Sunday. This seemed like a sensible philosophy but I figured it was best to just start turning the pedals and see how I felt. Unfortunately how I felt was not so good right from the start. It also seemed like most of the others I was riding with (Chris, Eric, & Max) were not feeling a lot better. I know these three Crush the Commonwealth veterans were gunning for a record setting time, but after a seamlessly never ending slog on the rail trail it did not seem like it was going to happen this year.
The comforts of pavement, varied topography, and the opportunity for gas station dining were all welcome sites to lift the spirits Friday afternoon. It made turning the cranks a little bit easier for a while until we could reach the next Sheetz to refuel on hoagies, candy bars, chips, and soda. Eventually after about 200 miles in the saddle we arrived in the trucking mecca of Breezewood. The decision here was whether to push on through the night or stay in the abandon turnpike tunnels just outside of town. The group of 5 was slightly torn, but when a hotel rate was negotiated down to $54 a night the decision became much easier. We avoided the evening rain, got a few hours of quality sleep, and even got a shower!
Sunday morning we were up early for milkshakes and breakfast at Perkin’s to fuel up for the long day ahead. From there it was about 10 miles on the abandoned turnpike which include 2 tunnels, one of which stretches almost a mile long. Coming back out to daylight revealed the rolling countryside of central PA. Some rollers up, some rollers down, click off a bunch of miles, and arrive at the next Sheetz. Repeat that process a few times and you will eventually make your way to Lancaster just before sunset. Traveling through the heart of Lancaster city is reminiscent of west Philly, but within 10 miles of town you enter the rolling country side where horse and buggies replace automobiles, and the drunk heckling was transformed into a porch front accordion concert. With the sun setting, the wind at our backs, and the air getting fresher, I began to feel rejuvenated despite being 300+ miles into the race. Surprisingly enough this was some of my favorite riding during the entire trip. Everything just kind of fell into place and we were able to surf the tailwind into Philly with one final Sheetz refueling of saturated fats and caffeine.
After about 6 hours of night riding we made our way into the city limits of Philadelphia. It just so happened that we timed our arrival to coincide with last call so there was no shortage of heckling, cheers, and ridiculous comments over the last couple miles. Eventually though we rounded city hall with the home stretch in site and put in somewhat of an attempted sprint effort. We arrived in exactly 45 hours, certainly not a record setting pace, but I found it to be a reasonably comfortable way of enjoying the race and finishing in a decent amount of time.
Our greeting at the Liberty Bell could have not been better. After a few minutes of gathering ourselves and a quick reflection of what was just completed we were greeted by a few guys on their way home from an evening at the bar. As they approached in their seemingly matching club outfits the husky shirtless guy (complete with fake tan) slurred to us, “hey, why are you guys riding bikes so late at night? What are you guys faggots? Why don’t you go get some girlfriends!” Such an ironic statement given the source, but well worth a good laugh, and enough to motivate us to start the extra 10 miles back to crash for the evening wrapping up a 230 mile day.
