Hi all, Cole here with my first blog post! What a day! We officially left Maryland and went through our first pass today through the Allegheny Passage. The day didn't start off well because all of our equipment was covered in dew including some of our sleeping bags and clothes. We had a slow start out of camp and started our first pass day. As I trained for this trip, I heard many stories from my brothers of the steep passes that we would bike up and this made me very anxious to attempt our first pass together today. A pass day is a long day where we go over a ridge between two mountains, usually half of the ride is spent going up while the other half is going down. We split up into 3 different groups before starting the pass, I was with Evan and Sean. At the beginning of the Allegheny Pass, we had a seemingly endless gradual uphill that made it challenging to gain any speed or momentum so my group decided to draft with each other as a team to make it easier.

Unfortunately, I was too focused on the trail and wasn't able to enjoy the magnificent views as we rode by the farms. After about 17 miles in, we were all hungry and needed some food so we stopped in Frostburg for breakfast. Special thanks to Clatter in Frostburg for an amazing breakfast that filled us up so we could crush the rest of the pass!

Our first glimmer of hope of finishing the up hill battle of the pass was when we crossed the Mason Dixon Line and made it into Pennsylvania, but we still had about 4 more miles until we would begin our down hill. My group rushed to get to the top so we could begin our down hill portion of the pass. As soon as we saw the tunnel for the top, Evan and an older gentleman raced to the top (Evan got there first). We met a great group of cyclists at the top and we were able to discuss our mission for the trip with them. The ride down hill was amazing!! We were able to relax and enjoy the beautiful forest. With help from gravity, we were easily averaging 18 mph without a sweat. We went through large, dark tunnels and crossed high viaducts with magnificent views of the Pennsylvania mountains.

As I'm sitting in my comfy room at the Falls Market Hostel in Ohiopyle, I'm thinking back over the day and I really appreciate all the kindness we've gotten from strangers. From the kind people in Frostburg to the appreciative cyclists on the pass, we can't thank them enough for listening to our mission and for their support towards the cause. Signing off for now, Cole Malinchock