While many folks in the Pittsburgh area were enjoying a Pittsburgh Pirates game or relaxing in a pool over the past weekend, Upper St. Clair resident Mike Lloyd and his friend, Mark Coulson, were biking 350 miles from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh. The trip followed the C&O Canal and Allegheny Passage.

It was the second leg of Lloyd’s personal Visionquest—a three-part challenge he has made to himself all to raise money for the South Hills YMCA Camp Aim. He started his journey last month when he hiked the Rachel Carson Trails Challenge, a 35-miles-in-one-day hike. Lloyd hopes to raise more than $2,000.

Despite the incredible heat, storms and reoccurring injury of Lloyd’s right leg, the two successfully completed their journey and pulled into their parking garage approximately 5 p.m. on Sunday evening.

“We left an hour earlier than we had planned on Friday morning to try to beat the heat—the first part of Friday was uneventful except that it was hot—really hot,” said Lloyd. They left at 5:30 a.m. on Friday.

The two would stop every five miles at the hand pumps located on the canal and pump water on their heads to cool off.

Lloyd and Coulson, of Fox Chapel, were supported throughout the trip by Lloyd’s brother-in-law Jerry Tucker, of Herdon, Virginia, who Lloyd jokingly referred to as “the smart one in the family."

“We couldn’t have done it without Jerry. He met us with water and ice and carried our heavy packs,” Lloyd said.

Lloyd said that just when they didn’t think it could get any hotter on Friday, they were hit with rain. As the two took an on-road detour, the rains turned into a “micro-burst of torrential rains and very high winds,”  said Lloyd, but the detour proved to be a blessing as when they returned to the bike trail, they discovered numerous downed trees.

“We felt the hand of divine intervention because if we had been on the trail, those trees could have fallen on us,” he said.

But the storm also presented other challenges.

“Our remaining task was made much more difficult though as we had to complete our last 35 miles for the day by crossing trees and branches that littered the entire trail,” Lloyd said. “The C&O is a rough and difficult trail in the best of times and we were seeing it at its worst.”

Lloyd was also bothered by a reoccurring problem that he has with his knee, an injury that usually only bothers him while running. 

“It can feel like a knife in the side of my knee,” he said, “The last 30 miles were my longest.”

The two stopped the first night in Hancock, Maryland where they grabbed a quick meal and a “much needed night of rest.”

Saturday presented its own challenges—more heat and more pain for Lloyd. Fortunately, the three adjusted Lloyd’s pedal and the pain in his knee was reduced enough for him to continue his quest.

At noon, they reached the Allegheny Passage, a trail in much better shape, according to Lloyd, but they faced a 22-mile hill in the heat of an already hot day.

“That hill nearly did us in, but after reaching the summit, we had a gentle decline to Confluence. We concluded our second day on the trail by 8 p.m.,” he said.

He continued, “Jerry had pizza and beer waiting for us in Confluence—what a guy.”

Sunday’s schedule was 90 miles. “Though it seemed like it would be a walk in the park since it was 35 miles shorter than our previous days and mostly downhill,” said Lloyd. "It was still 90 miles and we were still pretty beat up from the past two days.”

The trip did get easier and they enjoyed the first 55 miles of “beautiful scenery,” then met up with friends for the final ride into Pittsburgh.

"Our last 35 miles were awesome with great friends and a great trail.  We completed our trip and arrived at the Point at about 5 p.m.,” he said.

Lloyd’s third leg of his Visionquest will be Aug. 20 when he takes on the half-marathon at Pike Peak in Colorado. He started training for the event Monday.