Day 3 - Pennsylvania
We’d stayed overnight in a hotel directly on the route and woke to overcast skies.
Breakfast done, we made a quick stop at Walmart around the corner for some supplies and then hit the road.
Once out of town, the route uses secondary roads and avoids traffic.
We crossed over i81.
The bridge is a year older than me.
It wasn’t long before we reached the first off-road section – Bear Hole Trail.
Unfortunately, GPS Kevin’s route was living up to its reputation with this trail closed to motor vehicles. Jay was adamant that we should not ride the trail asking us “Do you want to deal with these people?” We decided to take his advice and re-route.
We quickly picked up the route again on the other side of Bear Hole Trail and were enjoying the smooth, twisty and undulating country roads through the forest.
We came to a downhill right-hand hairpin…
I was leading with Russ close behind, we’d cruised around the turn and were off down the next straight when we heard Jay on the intercom. He overshot the turn and slid the AT under the barrier. He knew immediately that he’d broken his leg which was jammed between the bike and the barrier, with his foot twisted backwards.
I have to say he took it very well and was even trying to help free his bike!
Once Jay was free, we tried to free the bike, but the foot peg was jammed under the barrier. It took us nearly an hour to get it out and in the end, we had to bend the peg until it snapped off.
A really helpful local woman and her two teenage sons stopped in their pickup truck and offered to take Jay to the local hospital. But first, I rode the AT to their house which was about 5 miles away and we stored it in their garage. They then took me back to the scene to collect my bike, and Russ and I followed them to the local town of Lebanon where Jay was checked in to the WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital.
After a quick check of Jay’s medical insurance, he was seen immediately by the triage nurses and then taken to a consulting room where the Doctor arrived within two minutes.
Jay was sent for x-rays and the doc confirmed that he’d suffered a spiral fracture of his lower leg and damage to his ankle due to it being twisted through 180 degrees. He would need surgery but this would be done back in New York, so he was patched up ready to be shipped home.
It was at this point that we reluctantly left Jay at the hospital. His wife and son would come in his truck later that evening to collect him and his bike. A sad end to Jay’s trip.
As you can image, the mood in the camp was a bit subdued. It was mid-afternoon by now so Russ and I decided to find somewhere to eat. We found the Longhorn Steakhouse on the main strip in Lebanon.
We plotted a more direct ‘A-road’ route to our planned stop for that night and pushed on.
The roads in Pennsylvania were very scenic and lined with big houses set back from the road, with porches and rocking chairs. They must spend a fortune on lawn care as every garden was immaculate. We were behind schedule so didn't make too many stops or take many pics.
A quick stop at a local convenience store somewhere in West Virginia.
Russ using his 5ltr fuel can for the first time.
We rolled up to the FireFly Inn in West Virginia at nearly 11pm with 248 miles on the clock.
Day 3 track-log.