Green Mile (11 Loops)

Very Short Gym Session Before Work

No Place To Park At AHN Wexford Health & Wellness Pavillion

Trail Runners of North Park Thursday Night

Walk Uphill To Get Lunch

I began at Star City Access to the Monongahala River Trail, in Monongalia County, West Virginia. The drizzle had just stopped. The sky turned partly cloudy with cumulus clouds moving faster than me. I watched the play of light and dark rush past as the predicted winds picked up. I saw an interesting new side trail and decided to take it up hill until I reached a road. The trail was rough and rocky or covered with railroad ballast. It was an unfinished trail, but good for mountain bikes now. I passed an elementary school and some national laboratory, followed by what looked like the institutional orange brick buildings of housing projects. I turned around. Gaining speed on the bumpy trail, my Gatorade popped out of the drink holder, landing on the ground. I finished the downhill and returned to the main trail. Surprisingly, despite the recent rain (rain enough to turn most water a chocolate milk color) the trail itself was pretty solid for a crushed limestone trail. My bike did not run deep into the trail, as expected. Still, I struggled to average 7-8 miles an hour. I passed Van Voorhees Access, where I found the restroom locked. Several miles farther and I passed the massive cooling towers of a coal fired power generation plant. This was followed by a lock & dam and then a glass factory. I had arrived in Fayette County, PA and the Sheepskin Trail. I continued about 2 miles, turning through Point Marion, PA to cross a bridge over the Cheat River, where I discovered at least a mile of new trail (since 2021). The new trail was soft and hard to ride on, and I was happy to reach the end, where I road on NIlan Road to Lake Lynn Hydroelectric Power Dam. I then turned steeply up Lake Lynn Road, having to push my bike part of the way. I pushed my bike down a grassy hill, adjacent to steps that led to the Cheat (River) Lake Park and Bicycle Trail. It was nice to be on a bike trail again. The wind was whipping white caps on the lake, which made me glad I did not bring my Kayak. I then, thought maybe I could have brought my Kayak, when I saw 2 fellows fishing from kayaks, in an inlet of the main lake. The temperature had warmed considerably from the mid to upper 40s when I left Wexford to the low 60s when I arrived at the start of my bike ride. It was now in the low to mid 70s. Two ladies passed me on their bikes, after I had passed the center of the park, which features two Kayak ramps, a beach, playground, picnic areas, etc. Lots of milestones are left standing. That might be a West Virginia thing, as I remember Millstones in Tomlinson Run State Park. After I had reached a fallen tree, 100 yards or less from the end of the trail, I turned around. I saw a pileated (Woody Woodpecker) in the trees! It did not peck anywhere nearby. Some light rain and a colder wind blew for a while, making me wonder whether I should put on my jacket. The sky grew mostly cloudy with dark gray clouds and wind still whipping leaves high into the air. I climbed out of Cheat Lake Park and returned the way I had came, except I took NIlan Road all the way from the Lake Lynn Dam to the Bridge across the Cheat River into Point Marion. I was in Pennsylvania for the 2nd time on this ride that began in West Virginia. When I had gone some distance down the Sheepskin Trail and was near Van Voorhees Trail Access, I heard the unmistakable distant sound of spring peepers. The sound grew louder, to clear any doubt that I was in fact hearing these little frogs for the first time this year, nearly a year exactly from when I heard them first last year, which also happened on a bike ride. I was super tired and running late to get home without losing sleep for tomorrow's work shift, so I put off this story until Sunday.

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Michael Ciccone

Monongahala River Trail, Sheepskin Trail and Cheat River Lake Trail With A Connector Trail & Some Roads

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Green Mile (11 Loops)

Very Short Gym Session Before Work

No Place To Park At AHN Wexford Health & Wellness Pavillion

Trail Runners of North Park Thursday Night

Walk Uphill To Get Lunch

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