I did not do anything yesterday on my rest day other than laundry, so there isn’t anything to say. There was no bike shop in Meyersdale. Someone told me there was one in Rockwood, 12 miles down the trail. My trail map also showed a bike shop there, so late this morning, I slowly made my way to Rockwood. Turns out, the bike shop is owned by a full time farmer and isn’t always open. It does not have regular hours and was not open today. The next shop was another 20 miles down the road in Confluence and got there a little after 3:00. Rather than push myself to pedal as fast as I can to get there, I relaxed and had a nice slow ride. I was able to get the cable and housing replaced at Confluence Cyclery. The owner also gave me some good information about my upcoming route. While I was at the bike shop, I ran into Eric and Joan again. They stopped by the shop briefly.

After getting my bike fixed, I realized I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, so I stopped at the local park for lunch. By the time I left the town, it was after 5:00. Since the bike was finally out of low gear, I decided to push myself a little bit and try to make it another 30 miles to Conellsville. I ran into Eric and Joan again ot Ohiopyle, where they were getting ready to stop for the day. I will be leaving the GAP soon, so I don’t think I will see them again. It has been nice to see familiar faces along the trail every few days.

With the good riding surface and slight downhill, I was able to make good time to Conellsville. The trail followed a river out of the mountains. The scenery was absolutely stunning. I wasn’t able to get any pictures because of all the trees, but my mind put everything together from the glimpses I was able to get. On the west side of Conellsville, the city has put four Adirondack shelters where cyclists or hikers traveling the GAP can camp for free on a first come, first served basis. I could see right away that three of them were taken and thought I might be too late, but the fourth was available.