Erie, PA to Meadville, PA:

June 15, 2012

Into the teeth of the wind

The weather reporter on the news last night predicted winds from the north today. I was pretty happy because we were heading south today toward Pittsburgh. I think she got mixed up by the wind direction arrows on the maps from the US Weather Service because the strong winds we faced all day were coming from the south. In fact I could just catch a faint smell of pierogi's coming from Pittsburgh.

Right before I snapped this picture the flagpole was bent over from the force of the gale force winds.

Fighting the headwinds made it unlikely we would make it all the way to Mercer (the next lodging available after Meadville) without some exhaustion. So we decided to get a room in one of the many hotels in town. Not as easy as expected. It turns out there is a balloon festival in town and we were lucky to get a room in a hotel the guy at the Welcome Center confided "is not one if our better hotels". A balloon festival just happens to bring a crowd to town right when the Fritsch's coast in. I hope the ballooners don't listen to the same weather forecaster I did. They might launch the balloon planning for Pittsburgh only to find themselves crossing into Canada and accelerating fast.

We followed PA bicycle route "A" out of Erie, which we may follow all the way to Pittsburgh. It was remote in terms of services. The map indicated only one place to get food before Meadville and it was out of business. The scenery was nice and Rhona commented if we were in Vermont we would be stopping for pictures. So we stopped.

The balloons appeared right after dinner then we lost sight if them. They may have been tethered.

Here is a link to the project. http://ceed.allegheny.edu/A&EI/read.html

While walking to dinner we came upon this flower arrangement made from used highway signs.

Explanation about the people and groups that were involved in the project. While I was taking pictures, a guy in a passing car called out that he made the sculptures.

The artwork continued on down the block. It shielded the Highway Dept maintenance yard from view of the street.

Hot air balloons were featured in the artwork. Perhaps the balloon festival is not a one time thing.

Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 1,792 miles (2,884 km)

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