Hi all,
I may be spending a weekend near Seven Springs in February, and I'd like to try riding my bike there if the snow isn't too ridiculous. I've done the GAP/C&O ride from Pittsburgh to DC and it looks like taking the GAP for at least the beginning of the route would work, but after that I'm unsure.
Does anyone have any local knowledge of the roads in that area to recommend a route from some point on the GAP to Donegal? It's within a mile or two of the Donegal exit of the Turnpike, exit 91.
Looking at a map I see a few options, getting off the GAP at maybe Connellsville, Smithton or even Ohiopyle, but I have no knowledge of the roads in that area. Any help would be appreciated!
Kristofer
I've not biked out that far, but the hill climbing out of Connelsville (Rt.711) should be avoided at all cost. It's long, steep, and has very heavy truck traffic. Google maps (bike) shows using Memorial to Pleasent Vally rd. but Memorial isn't a great road either but you're only on it for a little more than a mile. Not sure about Pleasent Vally, but the name is nice.
Oscar Swan's book has a "Donegal" Ride.
www.cs.cmu.edu/~apd/Pittsburgh/Oscar_Swan_Bike_Rides_Out_of_Pittsburgh.pdf
No searchable mention of Connellsville in the book, though.
The easiest and most direct route would be to take S.R. 130 all the way out there, hitting 711 just a few miles from Donegal. S.R. 31 is also ridable, though has pretty heavy traffic. There are other, nicer, routes across the ridge, but you'll need a good cue sheet.
The rail trails are often pretty tough going this time of year, and taking the trail to Connelsville will add quite a few miles to the trip.
Just about any way you go involves a pretty substantial climb over Chestnut Ridge, except U.S. 30 along the Loyalhanna, but I don't recommend that Eastbound. These are all pretty hard rides, especially this time of year.
Thanks for the assistance everyone. I may be biting off just a bit more than I can chew trying to do this ride on my mountain bike in February.
The Oscar Swan book is a fantastic resource that I was completely unaware of.
Do it.
Plan and prepare reasonably, check the weather, be safe.
But not doing something because you're not sure you can do it is not a good reason.
If you are on route 31 coming out of Mt. Pleasant, the approach to Donegal on 31 heading east is known as "Three-Mile Hill." It's not a joke. Biking that far just to have that as your final few miles would suck or be glorious (if that's your thing). You can take 130 to Greensburg and then snake your way on back roads to Norvelt, over to Kecksburg and from there, there's a road that leads to Polymath and some Frank Lloyd Wright house that was moved from Chicago(?). If you google that stuff, that road spits you out on 31 on top of Three-Mile Hill about a half mile west of the Donegal turnpike exit. There are a bunch of little ups and downs going that route rather than a bunch of giant hills. All that said, I travel those back roads quite frequently and drivers may not expect to see a cyclist back there in February. I'll see if I can't map it and post a link.
A google maps search for directions from Norvelt, PA to Donegal, PA gives you the route I described. To get to Norvelt from Greensburg, you want to take Mt. Pleasant Road (there's a Mt. Pleasant Road exit on route 30 as one of the six Greensburg exits) out past Pitt-Greensburg through Mutual to the Westmoreland Fairgrounds and down into Norvelt. My only advice is bright colors in broad daylight. A cyclist will be rather unexpected by locals in February.
I suppose I missed the GAP part of the post! In my mind, Pittsburgh to Donegal doesn't go that far south. Then again, I'm in Westmoreland so that's probably why I favor the route from Greensburg. Sorry for the confusion.
