Pass the Pandemic, but keep riding
Our two-year (and counting) experience with the Pandemic has contained some silver linings amid all of the dark clouds. Rediscovering the joys of outdoor recreation is one good example.
For quite a while, sporting goods retailers had trouble keeping supplies in stock. There were shortages of equipment and related clothing across the board.
Bicycle shops, especially, endured crazed conditions. They couldn’t keep bikes in the showroom. People were filling repair shops with — ah, let’s say “classic” — bicycles that had been sitting around in garages and basements for decades and needed servicing.
Now that it’s the spring of 2022, and conditions are nearing normalcy (for the moment), don’t forget that two-wheeled companion that kept you calm and healthy at a time when both were threatened. For your bicycle is still a good sanity machine.
This is not a new concept. Plug bicycle sayings into your favorite search engine and see what pops up:
“You can’t be sad while riding a bicycle,” or this variation: “Smile more. Ride a bike,” are both unattributed. John F. Kennedy once said, “Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride.”
Being on the saddle, exerting energy and experiencing the physical world in such a direct way combine to focus the thoughts on the place and moment in a marvelous, almost mystical way. And interestingly, bicycling’s effect can be the same whether one is riding on a city street, a country lane, a rail-trail or a single-track in the woods.
Now that it’s May, we’ve reached the time of year when we can ride comfortably in any of these places. And it is also a good time to remember just how richly blessed this region is with places to ride — no matter what your preferred bicycle discipline is.
If roads are your ride, the Laurel Highlands Bicycle Club offers a helpful website, LHORBA.org, with information on routes and organized rides weekly from May through September. BlairBicycleClub.org is another good resource.
The Allegrippis Trail system at Lake Raystown is one of the most-popular mountain-bike systems in the East with 24 single-track trails covering 36 miles, plus a skills park. A family focused mountain bike festival, Allegrippis Trail Days, is coming up on May 20-22. All information can be found at Raystown.org under things to do.
The Quemahoning Trails around Quemahoning Lake in northern Somerset County is a fast-growing mountain-bike system with equally fast-growing popularity. Currently it contains more than 22 miles of finished trail with another 14-15 miles yet to be developed. Laurel Summit in Forbes State Forest, Blue Knob State Park and resort, and Highland Park in Johnstown all have extensive trail networks. Again, LHORBA.org is the place for information.
Rail-trails have exploded within the Alleghenies and are growing so fast that it is difficult to keep current on them all. The queen is the Great Allegheny Passage, which passes through our region as it runs from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland (and then on to Washington, D.C., as the C&O Canal Towpath). GapTrail.org.
The Trans Allegheny Trails are a 12-trail system that extends from Huntingdon County westward, over the Allegheny Front, through Cambria and Indiana counties, all the way to Westmoreland County. Most of these are rail-trails, but each has a distinctive personality and most have some quirks.
Information designed to help you navigate the Trans Allegheny Trails system is available at TransAlleghenyTrails.com or through an excellent new trail system map that should now be available at most trailheads, the Indiana County Tourist Bureau, and the Visit Johnstown visitors bureau. Or you can email indparks@gmail.com and request that a map be mailed to you.
As we strive to leave the pandemic behind, don’t leave your bicycle there as well. Life will always have its frustrations, and your bike will always be your sanity machine.
Your kayak can be another, but that’s a topic for another May day.
To respond to this column — or read other columns by Dave Hurst — visit www.hurstmediaworks.com.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Dave Hurst column about enjoying outdoor recreation even after pandemic ends
