The Ride for Rare Diseases 17th Anniversary 

On June 24, 2009 our group of 14 people set out from Pittsburgh on our bikes for a six-day,  325-mile ride to Washington, D.C.  Our goal was to raise awareness of rare diseases such as vasculitis.  Here is a blog of that adventure.  

1. Point State Park Launch in Pittsburgh

The End: Credit Roll

Every good adventure story has to have an ending. Here is ours---the cast of characters in the VF Power Pedal Ride. I think the quote is especially relevant to our event.

This will be the last posting for this blog. It's time to move on, get back to reality, and possibly return to another bike adventure for another day.

Things We Learned Along the Way

Wrapping things up with some final thoughts on our ride:

• Yes, you can have "trail mirages". Around mile 58 of a 60 mile day it's possible to think you see someone hundreds of yards ahead only to discover it was light bouncing off of leaves. It didn't happen often, but I once I yelled out to a shrub not to wait for me and keep going.
  
• The most interesting sensation was riding through one of the long tunnels. About a quarter of the way through you find yourself in total darkness moving rapidly toward a distant pinpoint of light. For a few moments you get this odd feeling of weightlessness, or levitating. Very cool, but disconcerting too. Enjoy the head trip, but keep your wits about you. Bad things can happen in dark tunnels.
  
• Cell phone coverage was spotty. I found loss of coverage mainly around Ohiopyle, Meyersdale, and sections of the canal path. Some people had a signal most of the time; others did not. The walkie-talkies worked most of the time but remember to pack lots and lots of extra batteries.
  
• We learned a lot about where to stay and where not to stay overnight. There are two places I would discourage you from staying and if you want to know where and why contact me directly. Overall lodging was good. The best advice is to stay in known hotel chains such as Super 8, Holiday Inn, Red Roof, etc.
  
• Eating out? Check out Ed's Diner next to the Melody Motel in Connellsville. The garbage breakfast was my best one of the trip. Tons of protein for the day in this mishmash dish of eggs, sausage, and cheese.
  
• When in Meyersdale be sure to check out the train set up near the trail head. It's a nice reproduction of the surrounding area with a few trains in action. You can see miniature reproductions of bridges and buildings from that area.
  
• Don't race through Great Falls if you can help it. Stop and take in the main attraction. You'll be glad you took the time to see these spectacular Falls.
  

Arrival

We finally arrived.

Abbey Presents Document

Abbey Doyle, the youngest member of our biking team, presents a representative from Sen. Zack Space's Office with a copy of " A Call to Action".

By the way, Abbey deserves special credit for rolling with plans as they sometimes changed on a dime. It can't be easy for a 14 year-old to be riding with a group of mostly middle-age people, but she did fine.

She never complained or whined or whimpered. Abbey has the right stuff!