Robert Johnson – "Hellhound on My Trail" (1937)

Blues fallin’ down like hail

Blues fallin’ down like hail . . .

There’s a hellhound on my trail

[NOTE: What follows is an account of my recent group bicycle trip.  If you were on that trip with me, you may question the accuracy of what I’ve written because you were there and saw things differently.  So who are you going to believe – me, or your lying eyes?]

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Wilderness Voyageurs was founded in 1964 to offer whitewater rafting adventures on the scenic Youghiogheny River in southwestern Pennsylvania.  Today the company also offers several dozen different escorted bicycle tours.  

Earlier this month, I went on my fourth Wilderness tour – a three-day group trip along the Great Allegheny Passage, a 150-mile rail trail that runs from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Cumberland, Maryland.

I was accompanied on the tour by my sister Terri and my sister-in-law Julie.  While they don’t spend much time on bicycles, both of them are former college athletes who are still in great shape.  So I wasn’t worried that they wouldn’t be able to keep up with the other members of our group.

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My previous Wilderness Voyageurs trips have been terrific, and so was this one.  The route was very scenic, the weather was perfect, and the tour group consisted of nine women and two men.  (Ten and one would have been even better – I much prefer spending time with women than with men – but I try not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.)

The Great Allegheny Passage

But most importantly, the trip was also a wonderful opportunity for me to spend time with my sister and sister-in-law, who live far away from me.  They thoroughly enjoyed themselves, which made me very happy.

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Wilderness sends riders detailed written information about its bike tours.  Here’s an excerpt from its FAQs:

This is a ride not a race.  Every tour will have riders of varying abilities and interests, that means folks are all traversing the same route throughout the day but at their own pace, stopping to take pictures, read historical markers, or just plain relax. 

 

Later, the Wilderness FAQs reiterate this point: 

This is your vacation, not a race.

Terri and Julie must have skipped over those FAQs because they rode each day like there were hellhounds on their trail.

Did they stop during the three days of rides to take pictures?  Or to read historical markers?  Or to “just plain relax”?  No siree Bob!

Approaching a tunnel on the GAP trail

As soon as our guides had completed our mandatory safety briefings each day, the two of them took off lickety-split and didn’t stop until it was time for the trailside luncheons that the guides prepared for us each day.  They scarfed down modest portions of green salad, fruit, and gluten-free bread and were back in the saddle quicker than you can say Jack Robinson.

When I asked my sister-in-law why she was riding like her hair was on fire, she claimed to have thought that the riders on the tour were charged by the hour – so the sooner you got to the finish line each day, the more money you would save.

My sister explained her fast pace by saying she just wanted to get a good workout.  “I was only trying to get my heart rate up,” she said when we were driving back from our trip.

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If there was a test for competitiveness, I’m pretty sure Terri (who is the only two-sport athlete in her college’s athletic hall of fame) and Julie (who is one of the winningest college volleyball coaches of all time) would score in the 99th percentile.  

I’m not sure whether they were motivated more by a desire to beat each other to the end of each day’s ride, or to beat me.

I suspect the latter.  In any event, it didn’t work – I finished ahead of them two of the three days, despite the fact that I am significantly older and have become a one-legged bike rider due to nerve problem in my left leg that resulted from a herniated disk.  

A visit to the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed
 Fallingwater was a highlight of our trip

One of the other riders in the group told me that Terri and Julie had told her that they had let me finish first just to be nice.  

But I don’t let that kind of thing bother me.  I’ve been an object of envy all my life.

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As noted above, this was my fourth Wilderness trip but Terri and Julie’s first.

I was a little worried when they were nowhere to be seen when our group assembled for breakfast on day two of our trip.  (“Punctuality” is my middle name – when I tell someone that I will pick them up between 2:30 and 3:00, you can best believe I will be there at precisely 3:05 – but my sister didn’t inherit that gene.)  It would have been quite embarrassing for me if they had been late that morning and delayed the group’s departure.

When I texted her and asked where she was, she responded that she and Julie had gone to the hotel gym for a 40-minute cardio workout but would be down to join the group momentarily.

Think about that.  We had ridden 39 miles on the first day of the trip.  But they felt the need for a brisk 40-minute session on an elliptical trainer before heading out on the second day’s 36-mile ride.

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“Hellhound on My Trail” was recorded by the legendary Delta blues musician Robert Johnson in 1937.  A number of music historians consider it to be Johnson’s masterpiece, and one of the greatest blues records ever.

Click here to listen to “Hellhound on My Trail.”

Click here to buy the recording from Amazon.