Day 2- Somerset to Altoona, PA: Be Careful What You Wish For and Flight 93 Memorial

After not thinking that Day 1 was a hard day, Ken got what he was hoping for (?) on Day 2. It was supposed to be a 77 mile day.... It was another gorgeous cycling day, a bit warmer than Sunday with highs in the low 80's. A little baseball rivalry to start, but as usual the Red Sox outdid the Yankees (2 to 1 this time). Had a great time with Neal (Yankee fan) and Steve (Red Sox) all day.


We had an early climb out of Somerset right away and then some gentle rollers. About 15 miles out, bam! Gabe's back tire blew out. This usually spells disaster because none of us carry a spare tire (spare tube of course) but with a minute who do we see but Pete Garnich in the Knapps truck coming over the hill! Saved!!
Pete and Henry to the rescue!
Gabe pointing to the Knapps truck















At mile 9, we came upon the Flight 93 chapel and memorial to the crew. We knew that down the road was the Flight 93 Crash Site and Memorial in Shenksville. Unfortunately we missed the turn and it wasn't until we were 4 miles down the road when I realized what happened and decided to head back

This UA93 sign was carved out of wreckage from the plane
Flight 93 Chapel
















with a few other riders. It was of course worth it, despite the extra ten miles and a few extra hills (nothing in the scheme of things, right?). The Memorial was powerful and our time there wasn't enough to do the site justice. A ranger recounted what happened on the flight itself and how locals saw the plane flying upside down low to the ground before it crashed into the ground at 567 mph. So senseless. 

This boulder marks the spot where the plane crashed
The memorial wall

A ranger explained what happened on the flight
After leaving the memorial, I was on my own and hammered to catch up to my crew. I was happy to find them after the first SAG at a beautiful overlook on top of Schaefer Mountain- a real Kodak moment and great to be back with my buddies.


After these photos we had a screaming, long downhill on the section of the road that was paved, and then a brakefest on the rest of the poorly paved section. Our hands were cramping from braking and Pete told us later that some carbon fiber rims actually melted from the head from braking. I saw one of those melted rims- wild!

The rest of the day's riding was lovely. Amazing how much rural America we see on these rides. A lot of closed businesses sadly- makes you wonder how people who live in these areas are able to make it. This speaks perhaps to the disconnect between areas like these and D.C. politicians (and might account for the rise of Trumpism).


The day ended with a fair number of short steep climbs, and left me overall darn close to my limit- 88 miles today and around 5000 feet of climbing. A tougher day than yesterday but another great one in the books. You can feel the weather is changing as hotter weather is creeping in. The rest of the week won't be as ideal as Sunday and Monday but again, it's for the kids! The pool beckoned after this ride and it felt great. Time to sit in bed and watch the home run derby...




Fun shot of the day


Lovely shot (from yesterday taken by Peter Downey



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