Today is day one for our NEALS 30th anniversary bike ride. We ended up as a group of 12. 10 of us are affiliated with NEALS and two are friends who want to help. Most have done some bike riding, but none have done multi day trips like this one.
The first day was beautiful. We left Pittsburgh, passing multiple remnants of its industrial past. After about 20 miles the path followed the Youghiogheny River (quite a mouthful) to Connellsville, a total ride of about 60 miles. We are staying tonight in a church; the pastor and church volunteers have been very hospitable, cooking us dinner and generally being incredibly gracious. I think everyone survived the ride in good fashion.
There was a particularly poignant memorial a few miles from Connellsville. In 1907 there was a mind disaster killing 239 minors. Not too surprisingly I guess, that put only a minor crimp in operations and the mine operated until 1951.
Tomorrow is a somewhat shorter ride to Rockwood.
Jeremy Bikes NEALS 30th Anniversary Ride 