The sky was threatening on Saturday morning. The weather channel showed a large storm
area south and west of Wellsboro. It was however, warm and humid in town and largely dry.
We had breakfast at the “Famous Wellsboro Diner” ( famous by their own estimation I reckon).
There were 6 of us jammed into the last booth in the back, when I spotted a SUV with a
recumbent on top stopped at the red light next to the diner.
“It looks like someone with a Burley headed into town, It's got Pennsylvania plates on the
vehicle is it anyone anybody knows”. I asked
“Nope” was the general reply.
“Hey Ed, didn't that guy from Erie, who called you have a Burley”? Asked Paul.
With that Ed practically leaped over the booth and sprinted up the isle of the diner, heading
for the door. I’d heard Ed was fast, but wow he can hurdle too.
A couple minutes later Ed came back and introduced us to Dennis Miodis, from just west of Erie.
Dennis had come over for the day to ride the trail with us, and he turned out to be a good bit of
the days entertainment.

After breakfast we picked up one other rider, Phil Snyder from nearby Tioga, Pa. Phil is a good
friend of mine, who still rides upright. Our convoy reached the parking area at Blackwell about
9:30 am and there were a few cars in the lot already. We unloaded and assembled our bikes and
were on the trail about a quarter to ten.

One of my big concerns was the trail would be slimy and gritty due to the excessive rain in the
area during the summer. This turned out to be exactly opposite of the trail condition. Indeed
the rain had packed the surface down hard. The normal ½ inch of loose material was down to
about an eight of and inch and even narrow road tires handled very well.

With trail in nice shape we made good  time on the trail. The lower section of the Pine Creek trail
has only been open for 2 years. It is my personal favorite section stretching 25 miles from
Blackwell south to Waterville winding along the Creek and going right through several small
villages. There are however, a number of crossings that incorporate an offset gate barrier. It
can be a close shave maneuvering around the gates. I'm not how a real LWB would handle it.  If
you get tired of riding the trail there are many opportunities to ride on route 414, a typical hard
scrabble state road here in Pennsylvania. There are bathrooms approximately every 6 miles or so
along the trail. In many places you are way below some of the mountain peaks of the endless
mountains of Pennsylvania.

Ed and Pat decided to turn back at the 15 mile point. The weather was getting threatening and
it looked like it might start to rain. The rest of us continued on for a couple more miles until it
did actually start to rain. It looked like a pretty downpour so reluctantly we headed back up the
trail. Dennis, Phil, Ed, Pat and I met at the general store in Cedar Run, a quaint little place, with
great ice cream. Paul and Milan were in the zone and had skipped the stop and were doing a fast
ride back to the cars.

After an ice cream break we headed back up the trial. Ed and Pat had left earlier, so Dennis Phil
and I were taking our time riding and chatting the whole way. A couple miles up the trail Paul and
Milan found us. They had gone back to the parking lot, decided it was too nice right then to put
the bikes away and came back to ride with us. We all continued back to the parking lot. Along the
way Dennis and Phil swapped bikes. Dennis had a Burley Canto, and Phil a vintage Lotus road bike.
They got back to the parking lot a bit behind us. Phil had a big smile riding in on that bent. Dennis
commented that the Lotus, while a real nice bike belonged in the Smithsonian Museum “Right  next
to Lance Armstrong's’ testicle.” Dennis does have a way with words.

The rain started in earnest, and we spent the rest of the afternoon huddled under the lift gates of
2 vans, drinking beer and solving world problems. Then it was back to the hotel for a quick shower
and dinner.

Day 2  - Snake, Rattler and Rollin'

Sunday was a much better day weather wise. It started out warm and humid and then became hot
and humid. We got to the trail parking lot at Darling Run around 8:45 unloaded the bikes and waited
until a little after 9 to start the days ride. A couple local riders were supposed to show, but I think
the weather kept them away, it did look like it may rain around the starting time. We did talk to a
couple on bents that were there from the Philadelphia area, up for a weekend visit to the area.

Down the trail a mile or so we saw a couple nice Whitetail bucks on the bank across the creek. Without
field glasses the antlers were very visible, even though they were about a  hundred yards away.
Four miles down the trail we stopped for a photo op at the falls at the Turkey Trail, a hiking
path that comes down from the canyon overlook. The falls were really rolling due to the heavy
rain in the last 24 hours. At the 8 mile point is the rest and camping area at Tiadaghton (Tie a dot in).
There the only access to the trail and campground is a primitive road from Stony Fork.  The
campground has a restroom a pitcher pump, some picnic tables a few fire rings. Camping is by
permit only and must be obtained at the district DCNR office in Wellsboro.

We stopped for a washroom break, and Ed and Pat bid us goodbye. They wanted to get back
home in time to catch up on some work on their new place before Monday. Paul, Milan and I
continued south along the trail. While the trail wasn't all that busy we did see other riders
and walkers throughout the ride.

About 2 miles down from Tiadaghton, we encountered some more wildlife of the cold blooded
variety. We were coming up on a couple MTB riders about a hundred yards ahead when they
put on the brakes hard and one of the Riders did a foot down spin around on his MTB. Well
at least that was his plan, he promptly lost balance and landed on the cinders. He got up very
quickly though, never taking his eyes off the side of the trail closest to the creek.
“I’ll bet they see a snake”. I said to Paul.
Sure enough as we got up to them they pointed to our right and there were two good sized
Timber Rattlers coiled up on the uncrushed rail ballast at the edge of the trail. We quietly
got off the bikes and soon discovered a third one a few feet away from the first two. Paul
took out his camera and took quite a few pictures, using the telephoto lens but not the macro.
The snakes entertained us for a few minutes with rattle tunes and we decided we would leave
them for others to discover. Lest you think the area is crawling with snakes, in all the years
I've lived and traveled in the area (more than 50) I've never seen a rattler in the wild, today
I would see 5 of them. We would see 2 more along the trail in much the same manner. The
canyon does have a reputation, but seriously it is has been a rare occurrence in the last 15
years or so. The Rattlesnake is on the “protected status” list here in Pennsylvania.

We arrived at the parking lot in Blackwell where we had parked the day before. It was around
11:00 a.m. and the lot was full. A large group of scouts were heading south on the trail for a bike
ride, to fulfill one of the requirements of the Cycling merit badge, and rafters and canoes were
putting in or taking out of the creek. Paul gave a little girl with MS her first opportunity to sit
on a recumbent. We talked to her father who was interested in getting her a recumbent style
trike and pointed him toward a couple recumbent shops in his area.

The trip back was uneventful, the day was heating up and the humidity was climbing. The trail
was drying out a bit and the top layer was getting a little looser than it had been previous. We
stopped briefly at Darling Run for the bathroom and then rode the last mile of the trail beyond
the parking lot. There is a small overflow parking area north of route 6 and an unmarked
entrance to the trail. Currently the trail ends here, plans are for a 6 mile continuation to the
junction of route 6 and 287, about 3 miles west of Wellsboro. It was scheduled to be completed
this year, but budgets what they are, it will probably be a ways out in the future.

Sundays ride was 35 miles in total and we completed it around 1:30 in the afternoon. The bikes
generated a bit of interest and we spent an hour or more talking to people and giving several
their first roll out on a recumbent.

We all headed back to our respective hometowns around 3 in the afternoon. As always it was
great fun to get together and ride bikes. In spite of the less than ideal weather, nobody
complained, but thank god for beer. It was my wife Sharon and my pleasure to host the
gathering. Almost everybody was well behaved.

If the group wants to add the ride to their schedule next year, I will be more than happy to
arrange for it. I have discovered a possible camping option and several other hotel/motel
arrangements. Wellsboro is becoming a very busy summer tourist destination, so planning
should start early.                   (Denny in Sayre, Pa   “Bent but not broken”)
Attended:
Ed Weiss - V-Rex
Pat Weiss - Rocket
Milan Demko - Speed Machine
Dennis Miodis - Canto
Phil Snyder - upright
Paul Bigelow - Lynx
Denny Voorhees - Giro
.