Allegheny Trail Alliance Cyclists on the Great Allegheny Passage pause to read a new sign about the former Western Maryland Railway in Meyersdale, Somerset County. Click photo for larger image.

The Allegheny Highlands Trail, one of the longest segments of the Great Allegheny Passage, extends from Confluence to the Maryland border.

Although 31 continuous miles are open from Confluence to Meyersdale, the remaining 11 miles are still a work in progress and closed to the public.

And it is those 11 miles that bicyclists have been looking forward to pedaling for years.

That section, which might open later this year, crosses the Keystone Viaduct, a 910-foot-long span with a curved concrete deck that rises about 100 feet over Flaugherty Creek, and several miles later goes through the 3,300 foot long Big Savage Tunnel. The Maryland border is about a mile south of the tunnel.

To emphasize that those 11 miles are off-limits, the following warning is posted in Meyersdale and on the Allegheny Trail Alliance Web site (www.atatrail.org):

"The County of Somerset would like to remind the public that trespassing is prohibited during construction and violators will be prosecuted. The closing is done in the interest of public safety and everyone's patience and cooperation is appreciated."

Until the work is completed, the county invites bicyclists to sample the towns, scenery and bridges that connect Confluence to Meyersdale by way of Fort Hill, Markleton, Rockwood and Garrett. Parking is available at the trailheads in each town. Restaurants and a variety of overnight accommodations are available in Confluence, Rockwood and Meyersdale.

In those 31 miles, bicyclists will cross the Casselman River on wood-decked bridges in Confluence, Harnedsville and two others between Fort Hill and Markleton. The latter, known as the Pinkerton High Bridge and the Pinkerton Low Bridge, are on either side of the Pinkerton Tunnel, which is closed. The detour, known as the Pinkerton Horn, is about a mile long.

The 1.5-mile section of the trail from the Salisbury Viaduct to Meyersdale was finally completed last month. The parking lot at the renovated Western Maryland Railway station in Meyersdale has been doubled in size and half of it has been paved. The station is maintained by the local historical society and is usually open on weekends.

The formerly yellow Chesapeake & Ohio caboose outside the station has been repainted Chessie blue with yellow trim and is awaiting new windows.

Watch the trail as you complete that last 1.5 miles to the station. My rear tire found one of the five jagged edges of the bottom of a broken beer bottle that had placed in the center of a shaded part of the trail and covered with a thin layer of trail gravel. One of two young children standing above the trail said a neighbor boy had been breaking bottles along the trail.

After finding the cause of my flat tire, which turned a 31-mile ride into a 0.3-mile ride, I scoured the trail looking for other pieces of glass. I didn't find any. I told my companions that I'd try to get a new tire in Rockwood, walked my bike back to my pickup at the station and warned new arrivals in the parking lot to watch out for similar traps.

Although a bike rental and repair shop might soon open in Rockwood, it wasn't open on Memorial Day. Fortunately, the small wooden clothing and souvenir shop adjacent to the parking lot was open and it gave me a chance to catch up with its volunteer caretaker, Maynard Sembower.

Sembower, 96, a retired land management/law enforcement employee of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, saw the Western Maryland Railway come and go. It was being built when he was born Dec. 24, 1906, and made its last passenger run five months after his 66th birthday.

Sembower, who uses an electric golf cart to get to and from his home near the trail, showed me a collection of lost and found items trail users have dropped off at the shop.

They include a pink Barbie girl's bike with white pedals and white tires, a red Bell helmet found in the parking lot, a bike seat cover, a kick stand, two bike pumps, bike gloves, two women's watches, a couple sets of keys, a baby doll and golf balls.

Improvements are being made to the parking lot, but a few also need to be made to Sembower's shop. He needs electricity, an air-conditioner and a telephone. He had to borrow a phone several years ago when a rain storm stranded a group of riders in Markleton. Their bus was waiting in Confluence, about 12 miles away. Sembower linked them up.

For more information on the Allegheny Trail Alliance, the organization of seven rail-trail groups building and/or maintaining the Great Allegheny Passage, go to www.atatrail.org or call 1-888-282-2453.

Tour de Cure

The American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure, a fund-raising event to find a cure for the disease, will be June 26 at Seneca Valley High School in Harmony, about 25 miles north of Pittsburgh.

The tour, "a ride not a race" for riders of all abilities, offers route lengths of 10, 20, 30, 50 and 100 miles. Veteran cyclist Dave Porterfield of Jackson, Butler County, who will be 80 next month, will lead the 10-mile Family Fun Ride.

The entry fee is $20 today, but will increase to $25 tomorrow. Each participant must raise at least $100. Children 12 and younger are exempt from the fund-raising minimum. Rest stop and sag wagon support will be provided. Register online at www.diabetes.org/tour or call toll-free at 1-888-342-2383. For more information, call the association at 412-824-1181.