The Forbidden Turnpike

In preparation for our upcoming show, Jen and I decided to bike the "forbidden turnpike."

Okay...so there really wasn't that much "preparation" involved... and, well, the turnpike isn't really..."forbidden." It IS abandoned, however, and can I say just how cool it was to be biking along a very deserted stretch of road with no other humans in sight? We did encounter two people from Philly walking along as we rode. They informed us that the other two people we saw were the "mole people." We never actually saw their faces...just two little bright pinpoints of light, which brings me to....

Did I mention there were 2 tunnels??? Yup. 2 long, dark, tunnels close to a mile long each! There was a sign at the entrance to the forbidden turnpike (we're still going to call it that anyway, okay?) that said helmets and lights were required for bikers. Once Jen and I started in the first tunnel I said, "Look! you can see a tiny light at the end. Cool. We can just ride right towards that!" I then proceeded to pick up speed and say, "Hey, we don't need our lights. Let's just keep our eye on the prize." Faster still.

Then...

The light from the entrance began to fade and the light from the exit was still...um....far away. The pinpoint of light stayed just that and now we were barrelling through the tunnel with no lights. Strange and a little bit freaky.

We used our lights for the other tunnel and for both tunnels on the way back.

The FT entrance is located in Breezewood, PA and you can do a search for abandoned highway PA or something like that to find out more information. It was a really interesting day and I think we would both recommend it to anyone. Heck, we should get a group to go together. At least that way we could outnumber the mole people.
written by tim