ALL TRAILS LEAD TO ICE CREAM

There's a fire road over in Michaux State Forest named Dead Woman's Hollow Road.  It's tough.  I'll never forget the first time I rode up it with Mark.  It seemed impossible...but I just put my head down and pedalled. To this day...I always approach Dead Woman's Hollow with the mindset that "this hill will NEVER end."  As long as I do that...I don't get disappointed with each false horizon.  I don't hate the hill...actually, I love riding up it.  An incredible sense of accomplishment engulfs me each time I conquer that road. Taking a breather at the top of Dead Woman's Hollow Trail -- June 23, 2012 I've accomplished a number of goals and passed a lot of milestones while biking and hiking.  Most of them personal and relatively small...but each had their own special meaning to me.  Sometimes those goals are things I set out to do at the beginning of the calendar year...such as distances I want to ride or hike.  Sometimes I simply set...

Back in August, while visiting my family in my hometown of Bedford, Pennsylvania, I took a hike on the trails near the Bedford Springs Hotel ...the same trails that I use to explore as a kid.  I made a promise to myself that I would revisit the trails around the historical resort with my mountain bike as soon as possible.  The opportunity came around this past weekend when I travelled solo to Bedford to visit my dad who recently underwent knee surgery.   Pausing in front of an ice covered Davey Lewis' Cave. -- January 14, 2018 When I woke up in Bedford, PA on Saturday morning there was a fresh coat of snow on the ground and the air temperature hovered in the single digits.  Nevertheless, I pulled on the cold weather gear and headed out on my Stumpjumper for, what I estimated would be, an hour.  My ride Saturday would be a first for a number of reasons....it was my first ride of the new year, it was the first time I ever mountain biked in Bedford,...

A few months ago I was mountain biking at the Lakes with Mark, Glenn, and Mikey.  I was riding in front of the group and then, a quarter of a mile into the ride, I suddenly stopped.  When Glenn asked me what was wrong I told him that I was skittish.  I wasn't riding...I was looking for snakes.  Only three weeks into my summer and I had already seen four snakes along the trail (Mark and I would encounter the fifth...and largest snake of the summer...a couple weeks later in Tuscarora State Forest).  It's surprising to some people that, as much time as I spend in the woods, I'm seriously afraid of snakes.  When I see one I tend to do that "Scooby jumping into Shaggy's arms" thing.  For the rest of that particular ride I let Mark (the man who fears no animal) take the lead. My good friend, Mark Lentz, admiring a rattlesnake.   WHAT A DAY WE HAD in Tuscarora State Forest! -- July 6, 2017 Rattlesnake in Tuscarora State Forest. -- July 6...

For centuries, people from all over the world have traveled to the Bedford Springs for different reasons...each hoping to find their idea of treasure.  Some came for rejuvenation, others for healing, some for escape...but for me and the kids I grew with, Davey Lewis' Cave is what first lured us there.  The story of Davey Lewis fascinated me as a kid..."the Robin Hood of Pennsylvania"...who robbed from the rich to help the poor.  Some saw him as a criminal..others as an "equalizer."  Legend has it that he would hide out and escape through a series of caves located near the Bedford Springs Hotel and that part of his treasure might still be there.  What kid wouldn't want to search that cave?  On more than one occasion, I've visited Davey's cave in woods on the other side of Shober's Run with Jake, Robbie, Beau, and other neighborhood kids  hoping (but never finding) whatever it might have been that Davey Lewis left behind. Taking a break and do...