Folks on Spokes
Gulf Shores, Alabama

Rally, September 13 - 21, 2015

First Day Activities

Early arrivals for Rally visited Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water. What a beautiful creation.

First ride led us from Connellsville to Dunbar. A great warm up for things to come!

Looks like we're a little confused as to which way we are riding. However, our hosts JoAnn and Warren had things so well planned we had no trouble putting our bikes on the right trail.

The scenery of the Laurel Highlands of PA is nothing short of spectacular! Our ride from Ohiopyle to Convergence was filled with heavily wooded forests, river rapids and bridges to cross.

Stopping on the bridges gave great photo opportunities!

Trip to Pittsburgh

Our ride to Pittsburg ended at Point State Park where the Ohio, Monangahela and Allegheny Rivers converge.

Steve & Linda took the trail to Station Square in Pittsburg. Many trains pass through this huge depot.

Three Rivers Stadium was across the river.

Betty and Donna are ready for lunch....where are those FOS?

Looks like everyone finally made it to Hofbräuhaus in Pittsburg. Time for a refuel stop!

Lunch was very enjoyable at the Hofbräuhaus!

Paddling on the Youghioheny River

FOS decided to "mix it up" a little today...swapped our bikes for transportation down the Youghioheny River in kayaks. Great fun...the amount of water splashed by a FEW FOS kept us wet and cool for the paddle

Carl didn't get enough paddling going down river so he decided to turn around and paddle up river.

We even had Sabra, Becky's new puppy, join in the paddling. CJ, becky's friend from work, got to experience how much fun we have at our Rallies.

Uniontown KOA to Pioneer Park

FOS needed one last ride before departing Uniontown KOA. An early morning ride found us exploring the coke ovens (now abandoned) on the trail. Very interesting history surrounding the steel industry of the region.

We did have one mishap... A flat tire on Phyllis Mehyler's bike. But in true FOS style, she was up and running in time for today's ride.

Looks like our new campsite at Pioneer Park is going to be the perfect staging spot for the remainder of FOS Rally 2015! Happy Trails FOS!

Biking the GAP out of Pioneer Park

Warren led The Turtles (shorter distance group) from Sand Patch Crossing at Larimer, PA to Big Savage Tunnel.

We stopped at Eastern Continental Divide Tunnel for a photo.

The Fast riders stopped at Eastern Continental Divide Tunnel also.

Becky and her puppy, Sabra, making sure we are on the trail to the Eastern Continental Divide.

Riding to the Mason Dixon Line gave us a glimpse into American history.

Inside the tunnel at the Continental Divide was a graph of the elevation from Pittsburgh to where we had ridden.

The Savage Tunnel was almost 3/4 mile long. The tunnel was very chilly inside...a welcome refresher from a hot day of Riding.

Terry Kolpack had the second flat during our rally adventure, followed by Del Clubine. All is well as flats were repaired and we're ready to ride in a short time.

Just a short stop in Meyersdale and we'll finish our ride for today.

Well, maybe some of us will finish the ride...seems Del has found a comfortable place to take a snooze.

Train ride to Frostburg, Maryland

FOS rode the train with their bikes from Cumberland, MD to Frostburg. We departed from the Western MD Train Station.

Boarding our bikes on the train was an interesting process. Our anticipation of riding down the mountain on our bikes made it all worthwhile. The Cumberland Gap was another piece of history we all remember.

Seems some of our FOS were ready to go. Now where are the rest of them?

Once on board everyone was all smiles. What an adventure!

Last Day

We visited the Flight 93 Memorial National Park today. It was a somber occasion as we remembered the events of 9/11.

A mowed path led the way to a boulder marking the impact spot of the plane. It is now a beautiful memorial to those 40 Americans who lost their lives on that day.

Our final evening of Rally 2015 included a group picture.

And of course we had to change photographers so we could get everyone in the picture.

Our potluck had enough food to feed an army...but we only had a few leftovers. I guess you could say FOS live to bike and they Love to eat! A big Thank You to our hosts, Warren, JoAnn and Becky Dowling! They have provided FOS with an OUTSTANDING Rally venue. The effort in planning has made this a pleasurable event complete with scenery, challenging bike riding and many opportunities to expand our knowledge of the local area. THANK YOU Warren, JoAnne and Becky. You are the BEST!