MILEPOSTERS HISTORY
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WASHINGTON, DC 2005-
2006-
2008-
CUMBERLAND 2007-
2009-
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The Mileposters are tandem cyclists, based at St. Thomas Lutheran Church.
City kids enjoy a taste of the country and the wonders of God's creation
as they learn cycling skills and care for each other in Christian love.
Since 1997, over 60 of them have ridden the network of trails around
Pittsburgh, PA, on trips from 20 miles to over 300, three times
to Washington, DC, raising over $18,000 for St. Matthew, St. Thomas, Deaf
Mission in Western Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Lutheran Center for the Blind,
and LCMS Campus Ministry in Pittsburgh, led by Lutheran educator Mark Shields, who
has trained thirteen tandem captains; two of those have also qualified on a triplet.
The group leader, at that time a teacher at St. Matthew Lutheran School in
Pittsburgh, PA, made his first ride from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC in 1997. From
the beginning, the Youghiogheny River Trail (now a part of the Great Allegheny Passage, along
with the Allegheny Highlands Trail), which follows its namesake river in Southwestern
Pennsylvania, has been the venue of choice, although the large number of trails available
within driving distance of Pittsburgh has provided plenty of variety: other trips have been
made on the Monongahela River Trail and the Panhandle Trail in West Virginia; the C&O Canal
Towpath and the Northwest Connection (see below) in Maryland; the Conotton Creek Trail
and the Kokosing Gap Trail in Ohio; and the Montour Trail (including the Arrowhead Trail),
the Butler-Freeport Community Trail, the Eliza Furnace Trail, the Panther Hollow Trail, and the
Three Rivers Heritage Trail in Pennsylvania. (SCROLL DOWN for more history, and PICTURES.)
The Mileposters got their name from the triangular concrete mileposts which the
Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad placed beside the track between Pittsburgh and Connellsville.
This is the right-of-way used by the Youghiogheny River Trail (now part of the Great
Allegheny Passage) between Dead Man's Hollow and Connellsville. In the beginning, riders
had to regroup at each milepost; now, thanks to tandems and better-trained riders, they typically
travel four or more miles before resting. Milepost 7, pictured below, is not actually on the trail,
since the railroad track beside it (now owned by CSX) is still very busy; the trail at this point runs on
the other side of the Waterfront, an extensive commercial area built on the site of the
former Homestead Works of U. S. Steel, the largest steel mill in the world. In the background: the
former Pennsylvania Railroad station for Homestead, PA.
First camping trip, Milepost 50
By June 1999 the best riders were able to complete a 56-mile camping trip,
carrying tents and other camping gear aboard their bikes, and in August of that year
two of them set the first student record, which stood for three years, of 38 miles in
one day. That record was broken on July 6, 2002 when two students did 40 miles in one day,
one on a tandem with the group leader (who has twice done 100 miles in one day). On
September 13, 2003, the record was increased to 42 miles in a day, and on August 10, 2004,
to 45 miles in a day, from Berwyn Heights, MD, around Lake Artemesia, and to the Washington
Canoe Club and return, using the Northwest Connection, which is composed of the Indian Creek
Trail, the Northeast Branch Trail, the Northwest Branch Trail, The Sligo Creek Trail,
the Georgetown Branch Trail, and the Capital Crescent Trail. The group leader made his
second trip from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC in 2002.
In the spring of 2002 the first tandem rides were made, using a Trail-Gator bicycle tow bar
to join two bikes together. That quickly led to the purchase of a mountain tandem, and
construction of a custom tandem with a short rear seat tube was begun. A tandem allows
inexperienced riders to keep up with those who can travel faster (stopping every mile
has become a thing of the past), and teaches cooperation and caring for others. Only
the captain needs to know how to ride a bike. The stokers (one, two, three, or four riders
behind the captain) learn cycling skills while they work together and watch out for
each other.
More tandems, triplets, and an articulated quad and quint followed the first
two tandems. A triplet is for three riders, a quad for four, and a quint for five.
(A double tandem combination was used for a while, as well as a triplet/tandem, but
these have been replaced by the articulated quad and quint.) The original tandem and
the Trail-Gator are pictured below.
On June 23 and 24, 2004, a camping trip was made in preparation for longer rides. The
two-day trip covered 60 miles for our organist/captain/cook and her daughter, who managed food
acquisition, and 54 miles for the balance of the campers, including the group leader and
four other riders. The travelers started at Industry, PA, on the Yough Trail, and went
to Adelaide and Connellsville, PA and back again. While they were at the campground they
were inspired by meeting Bob Phillips of Bowie, Maryland, who was on Day 53 of a
transcontinental bicycle ride from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic. He finished his trip
in eight more days, one day before his 68th birthday, for a total of 3,541 miles.
Double tandem and other bikes on camping trip, River's Edge Family Campground
On July 21, 22, and 23, 2004, five riders made a three-day, 70-mile round trip on the Chesapeake
& Ohio
Canal Towpath from Cumberland, MD to Milepost 153, just past Sorrel Ridge. They spent the
first night at the Red Rooster Hostel (highly recommended) in Paw Paw, West Virginia and the
next day rode through Paw Paw Tunnel to Sorrel Ridge and back to Oldtown, returning
to Lock 68 (Potomac Forks), because of rain, for primitive camping the second night. The third
day they had to remove all loads and carry luggage and bare bikes over a cluster
of four trees that had fallen across the trail during the night's storm. Wildlife encountered
along the trail included 273 turtles, a dozen deer, several rabbits and squirrels,
some beavers, many fish, a snake, and hundreds of dragonflies. Multiple beaver dams and
lodges were sighted between Mileposts 170 and 180.
Especially during these two 2004 camping trips, Dorothy Frisch, a true original, who had
meant to come to St. Matthew just to be organist, defined the meaning of
"trail mom" for Mileposters. Unfortunately, since her husband took a new job in Connecticut,
she had to leave right before we began our rides to Washington, DC.
Three-day ride, Paw Paw Tunnel, Maryland
Beaver lodge
On June 14, 2005 a party of six, including four student riders and
our newest captain/trail mom, set out for Washington, DC, arriving on June 22 after nine days,
six flat tires, many raindrops, and much poison ivy. In the process the student record for
miles in a day was broken twice, ending at 47 miles in a day, on loaded bicycles, after
riding for eight days in a row previous, and one new recordholder accomplished the distance
on a solo bike, which had not been done since 2002. It is noteworthy that the youngest rider
on this trip to Washington, DC was only six years old; she also shares the loaded record of 47 miles
in one day. Bicycles which were used for the 2005 DC ride included the Biopace-equipped triplet,
a tandem graciously donated by Terry Zmrhal and Microsoft, and a solo bike.
2005 DC TRIP
PICTURES
The 2006 DC ride, with eight riders total, used the same tandem and solo bike; the triplet
was used for seven days, and for three days in the middle of the trip, it was converted to
an articulated quad. The youngest rider in 2006, who rode one day of the trip, was eight
years old. A nine-year-old went the whole distance, along with the group leader and three
other riders. Two others rode multiple days.
2006 DC TRIP
PICTURES
The long ride for 2007 was to Cumberland, Maryland. Riders from our new home at St. Thomas
Lutheran Church joined us on shorter rides, and a program began for new student captains and junior
captains. Work started on a new intermediate-frame tandem so that promising younger riders will be
able to begin training as captains; as well, a small-frame tandem was acquired. Uniform acquisition was begun.
2007 CUMBERLAND
TRIP PICTURES
The 2008 DC ride, with eight riders total, used the triplet throughout, a tandem for
four days, and a solo bike for three days. The youngest rider was eight years old, who rode only one day before he got sick. Three other riders participated
for four days, completing the segment from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, including the 2005
trail mom and her daughter, who also completed the ride that year, when she was six,
as well as the one who went the whole way in 2006, when she was nine. A second set of
three riders joined the trip on the sixth, seventh, and eighth days, including two
who made the whole trip in 2005. The group leader rode all ten days. Uniform acquisition continued, and uniforms were used for the first time on a major ride.
2008 DC TRIP
PICTURES
In 2009, trip planning was difficult, and we almost didn't do a long ride, but
the G-20 summit saved the day, enabling us to get four days off from school
at the end of September.
Our tail gunner, however, turned up with a 102-degree fever the night before the ride,
so we had only two people on the triplet for the first day, and the next three the
group leader was alone, finding the ascent to the Divide to be surprisingly easy.
When we went to Cumberland to pick up the triplet from storage a week later, the
tail gunner came along for a 20-mile extension on the Canal towpath, giving us a
total of 150 miles for our campaign to raise funds for the Pittsburgh Campus Ministry
of the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod.
2009 CUMBERLAND
TRIP PICTURES
Jim and Lula Shields, the group leader's parents, Asheville, NC
Son with parents and triplet, Asheville, summer 2008
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CAPTAINS-
WASHINGTON, DC 2005-
2006-
2008-
CUMBERLAND 2007-
2009-
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The Allegheny Trail Alliance Web site has maps
and many links to information on trails in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, and West Virginia.
Messages: mjshields AT totalusa DOT net