You're riding along on your bike. The multiple lanes of straight paved highway are there. But so are the trees crowding in, chunks of pavement lying about. The two tunnels are dark and drips of water splatter on your head.
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And the quiet.
"It's very familiar to you. You can see it's four lanes — and very wrong," says Murray Schrotenboer, who relishes the post-apocalyptic feel of this lost portion of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Built at great human expense for a railroad that never came to be, then part of the second-oldest highway in the United States, a bypassed 8.5-mile portion of the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Bedford and Fulton counties is one of the most unique and weirdest places to bike in the U.S.
Hence this mantra from the bike trail's official Web site (
www.pike2bike.org): "Is this the past, or is it the future?"
Though it's been written up in the likes of The New York Times and biking journals, the "Pike To Bike" as it's called, is still relatively unknown. Its fans like it that way.
Bob and Perette Fasnacht, an Elizabethtown couple, drove 2½ hours to do the bike trail recently after reading about the strange trip on an outdoors blog.
"It's like being in the middle of nowhere," reports Bob. "It was quite eerie because you're thinking about history."
And what history.
This path through the mountains started as a new railroad dream for the likes of William Vanderbilt and J.P. Morgan, who were unhappy with the monopoly of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Thousands labored to carve 120 miles of railroad bed and nine tunnels through the mountains. Twenty-six workers died.
But the railroad was abandoned in 1885 and the right of way lay deserted until it became America's first superhighway on Oct. 1, 1940.
The public loved "The Road of the Future." No speed limits at first. No stopping in every burg through the mountains like the Route 30 it roughly paralleled. The tunnels were a novelty.
But the turnpike backers weren't sure when they were building it how popular it would be. Thus, they took the cost-cutting move of only building two lanes through the tunnels. Bottlenecks popped up from the beginning.
In addition, the tunnels were dark, the lanes were narrow and suddenly there was oncoming traffic, which resulted in frequent accidents. The smog built up from vehicle exhaust was terrible.
By the 1960s, the situation had become intolerable. By 1968, three tunnels were shut down and a new roadway built up and over the mountains.
An 11-mile section of the turnpike, including its longest 1.3-Sideling Hill Tunnel and .7-mile Ray's Hill Tunnel, were shut off.
But not unused.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission used the inactive highway to test varying depths for the world's first rumble strips and the visibility of reflective signs for drivers with impaired eyesight. You can still see the signs and rumble strips today.
Snowplow drivers were trained here. Raised roadbed reflectors were installed to see how they would hold up to snowplows. The Army trained troops going to Iraq on how to run a convoy and in ambush tactics.
Vehicle crash and rollover tests were conducted. Truck brakes were tested.
Schrotenboer, whose Grouseland Tours leads guided tours on the Pike To Bike, remembers the afternoon several summers ago when he approached one of the tunnels and was greeted with singing voices.
A Church of the Brethren women's choir, bonnets and all, were practicing inside.
And the otherwordly environment caught the eye of movie and music video producers.
When I read descriptions of the abandoned highway, my mind jumped immediately to Cormac McCarthy's bleak post-war novel, "The Road."
Schrotenboer laughed. Movie crews spent a week filming "The Road" on the highway to nowhere in March 2008. The film, starring Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron and Robert Duvall, is scheduled to be released in October.
The route is completely buffered by forest from state game lands and Buchanan State Forest.
A railroad history buff and a few of Pennsylvania's ardent bicyclists in search of a new route for BicyclePA Route S hit on the idea to turn the deteriorating roadway into a new bike trail.
In late 2001, 8.5 miles of the 11-mile former turnpike were turned over to the Southern Alleghenies Conservancy. Plans to develop and maintain the Pike To Bike have hit a variety of funding and political snags through the years.
Those who use the trail do so at their own risk.
However, things are coming together. In 2005, the former Turnpike bridge over Route 30 in Breezewood was torn down and a trailhead established. It remains the main point of entry, though there is a trailhead at the other end in Fulton County.
This summer, Schrotenboer expects a regional recreational authority to be established to assume liability and oversee the Pike To Bike trail.
It could be connected to other biking and hiking trails in the area. Grants will be renewed and a comprehensive plan drawn up by consultants in 2005 could then begin.
One priority is to arrest deteriorating conditions on the roadway, tunnels and the center grassy median that is used by equestrians. A minimum of light would be placed in the two tunnels.
One of the turnpike's original toll booths might be erected at the Breezewood trailhead to collect a $2 user fee donation to maintain the trail.
Future plans are to repave one lane for use by roller bladers and others. Trail planners think the draw of history and the uniqueness of the Pike To Bike could attract 200,000 to 300,000 visitors a year.
But the main use will continue to be as a unique bike path, says Schrotenboer, the Pike To Bike's trail manager.
"It's a ruin but it's a ruin that really shouldn't be. There are no signs of modern civilization. We want to preserve it as that.
"We're not going to make it pretty. We want to maintain that post-apocalyptic feel. That's its major draw."
IF YOU GO• For history, photos, directions to trailheads,etc., go to www.piketobike.org.• Mountain bikes, rather than touring bikes, are recommended.• Headlamps or flashlights are a must for the Sideling Hill Tunnel.•
Grouseland Tours (www.grouseland.com or 814-784-5000) offers bike tours of 3-4 hours. Bike rentals available. Includes behind the scenes peek at tunnel control room, above-tunnel ventilation plenum and last original Turnpike toll booth. Ad Crable can be reached at acrable@LNPnews.com or 481-6029.
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