It was still raining when I woke up - not an auspicious way to start the day. I was in even less of a rush this morning, as my only real plan was to meet STN's SLK50 (Robert) around noon to visit the Altoona area's 2 amusement parks, Lakemont Park and DelGrosso's. Eventually the rain subsided, and I set about getting everything ready to dry. It didn't actually take too long for the rain fly, and the rest of the tent, to dry, but my Phantom suit was still a little soggy from yesterday's drenching. I laid it out as best I could to catch the sun's rays and walked around the campground.
The headless horseman rides again
No shortage of little slimy things after the rainstorm
My own little trail down to the lake
Looking back to my site
I left Prince Galatzin and headed north on Beaver Valley Rd, which had some nice turns to help clear the morning fog. The road was still wet from the all-night rain so it wasn't quite as fun as it could be. A quick traverse on Roseland Rd/SR1022 led to Skyline Dr/PA865. I had very little expectation for roads around Altoona, perhaps unfairly so. As it turned out, 865 was a hoot! Of course it would have been much more fun in the dry, but even wet it was still beautiful. I reached the end of 856 in Bellwood PA and pulled into a Sheetz to gas up and kill some time, as I was running a bit early for my noon meeting with SLK50. That's when the skies opened up and all hell broke loose.
PA856, aka Skyline Drive
The rain came down so hard and fast it was astonishing. It was whipping through the station sideways - even though I was parked well under a big roof that extended out to the pumps my bike was soaked in seconds. I quickly checked weatherbug on my phone, and saw that there was a tornado watch issued for the area. I called Robert expecting to cancel our meeting (and spend the next couple hours at the Sheetz), but he insisted it would blow over in a few minutes and he'd meet me at the station.
Crappy cell-phone pic of the rain
Sure enough, by the time he pulled in (in a minivan - ha!) the rain had stopped and the sun was beginning to peek out. We chatted for a couple minutes about our plan of attack for the day, and I followed him the couple of miles up to DelGrosso's in Tipton. Sure enough, it was like the storm had never happened, and the rest of the day's weather was the best of the trip so far.
Spent the next couple hours at DelGrosso's with Robert and his 3 kids, riding rides and telling stories. I'd first met Robert at my first Burger Run back in 2007, and hung out a lot with him at SWRiverstone's first Winter Meet and it was great to reconnect with him. With the weather being so perfect, we went back and forth about whether we should ditch the amusement parks and go for a motorcycle ride, and it was a tough choice. Robert's oldest son wanted to hit the road, so we dropped him off at Robert's house on our way down to Altoona and Lakemont Park. I was jealous that even the road leading to his house was better than anything within 30 or 40 miles from my place in southern New Jersey. Robert very generously offered me his backyard to camp in, and that was very tempting, but I wanted to end the day closer to my Hagerstown MD meeting with Jim Monday morning. Thanks again Robert!
Nice covered parking at DelGrosso's
You can see all of Tipton from the top of the X Scream Tower
As we pulled into the lot at Lakemont, it was obvious something wasn't quite right. The park was supposed to be open until 6, but at 3:30 the parking lot was empty. Empty empty. Turns out when the weather hit earlier in the day, Lakemont decided not to open. Bummer. I was really looking forward to revisiting the park, as they have 2 wooden coasters, both interesting.
The 1960 John Allen-designed Skyliner was originally built in Roseland Park in Canandaigua, NY, and was relocated to Lakemont in 1987. It is one of the very few wooden roller coasters that have been preserved through relocation, which is fantastic. The Skyliner gives a nice ride, nothing too thrilling, but the first drop does have a terrific pop from the back seat.
But the real star at Lakemont, at least for us coaster buffs, is Leap The Dips. The oldest roller coaster in the world, this side-friction (no underwheels to lock the car to the tracks) coaster was built way back in 1902. It delivers a very different, gentler, kind of thrill from a time where most people had never travelled faster than walking speed. The coaster was almost lost to time as years of neglect had made it unrideable, but Lakemont, along with the American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) mounted a huge preservation effort that resulted in the ride being brought back to good-as-new condition. It runs gorgeous bespoke cars as well.
As close as I could get to the Skyliner
With Lakemont closed, Robert laid out some route ideas for me to take over to Cowans Gap State Park, where I figured I'd end up for the night. My first target was Blue Knob State Park just a few miles south. Blue Knob is the second highest mountain in PA, and SR3003 and SR4035 climbed higher and higher as they worked their way south to the park. The views along the way were very impressive. Surprisingly, the park itself didn't really offer any grand vistas once I arrived, at least none that I could see from the road. I took a quick detour up the the ski area, and an even quicker detour down a gravel road to the snowtubing area.
The road up to Blue Knob
Nosebleed territory for this flatland bike
Once back on tarmac I rode south through the length of the park, taking 869 down through Osterburg. From there I found myself on a particularly undulating thin strip of a road called Younds Rd, or SR1018, on my way to the "on the map but not really anything" town of Imlertown, PA. This was quite a fun surprise, with lots of suprise crests and dips. A little 4-lane to get through Bedford, and I was on PA 326, a road Robert highly recommended.
Yount Rd through Imlertown
PA 326 went up, down and around the mountains of south-central PA before eventually dropping me on US40 in Flintstone, MD. I have to thank Robert for that road, it was really a highlight of the day. I will definitely plan a stop to this area in future travels, as this little section of PA looks to have a few challenging roads that I'd never noticed before.
I had originally planned to cut off from 326 to work my way east through Artemis and over to 26 and eventually to Cowans Gap State Park, but my brain, the map, and the GPS were not getting along and I couldn't quite figure out how to do that. I ended up wasting a bit of time going this way and that, and by the time I had reached Flintstone my daylight travelling options were dwindling. I could work my way on more backroads NE to Cowans Gap, but I could run out of daylight by the time I got there. Not only do I not enjoy riding at night, I really don't enjoy picking out campsites and setting up in the dark. As much as I had wanted to avoid the slab if at all possible, I eventually decided to hightail it east on I-68/I-70 past Hagerstown and make my way to Catoctin Mountain Park.
On my very first solo motorcycle trip, way back in 1994, I found Catoctin Mountain Park on my way from NJ to OH. I had hoped to camp there, but it was too early in the season. I ended up that night roaring across pitch-black Maryland trying to find someplace to sleep, eventually pitching my tent at a closed New Germany State Park at around 1am.
No such problems this time. After an always-fun run up the Park Rd, I arrived around 8:30 and grabbed one of the 30 campsites. I could have had my pick of the place, I don't think there was another camper in the park. After setting everything up, I had to ride into Thurmont for something to eat - I kind of forgot to get dinner. On that first trip in 1994 I had some great pizza at Rocky's New York Pizza, a little storefront in the downtown of Thurmont. I found them on my GPS and followed the directions, only to discover that Rocky's has now become a small chain of pizza places, and this one was in a big shopping center, empty of customers and getting ready to close. Oh well - good for Rocky, bad for me.
I ended up at a bizarre 50's diner-themed Burger King. Ate quickly, checked messages, talked to the family back home, then rode carefully in the dark back to the campground. Only about 200 miles today.
Seriously? Now I need a Coke Sommelier?
That is one funky Burger King (cell phone pic)
