HARPERS FERRY, WV – Pleasant Valley resident Melissa Lawlor took a solo bicycle ride from Pittsburgh, PA to Harpers Ferry using the Great Allegheny Passage and the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Tow Path to complete a ride designed to encourage women to expand their goals. The trip was 280 miles one-way.
Ms. Lawlor spoke with Mid Hudson News at the end of her trek recently.
Lawlor is a resident of Pleasant Valley. In her personal life, she is a wife and mother. Professionally, Lawlor is a midwife. As a member of the Pleasant Valley community, Lawlor serves as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), a firefighter in the Pleasant Valley fire department, and also serves as a Commissioner for the Pleasant Valley Fire District.
Lawlor’s solo journey began when she arrived in Pittsburgh on June 30 to rest and prepare for a solo journey that began the following day, July 1. “I was the only solo female traveler that I encountered along the route,” Lawlor exclaimed. All of the other cyclists encountered along the ride were riding in pairs or groups. Lawlor was riding between 30 and 60 miles each day and staying in independent bed and breakfasts each night. “There were long stretches where I was the only person on the trail,” Lawlor explained as she sat in a Harpers Ferry bed and breakfast, recovering from the trip.
The energetic Lawlor said the ride was planned to encourage other women to set goals like this that are normally reserved for men. “Women can do this and so much more,” she said, adding that the trip allowed for quality mental health time after a stressful 17-month pandemic. “Mental clarity is important and this journey allowed me to clear my mind of a lot of stress.” Lawlor’s only major stress along the trip was the difficulty in finding food. “COVID closed several of the cafes along the route, making it necessary to stock up on power bars and water each night. Fortunately, there was an abundance of wild raspberries along the trail, so I was able to enjoy those.”
Lawlor’s 10-pound bike was tuned up by the Pleasant Valley Bike Shop and saddled with a pannier pack filled with 40 pounds of gear, including food, clothing, and an iPad to send and receive emails. The cyclist carried a cell phone but noted that service along the route was routinely non-existent in some areas.
The non-stop pedaling was not the only thing that the ambitious rider did along the trip. Relying on her experiences as a first responder, Lawlor was recruited to serve as a correspondent for National Fire Radio, a podcast dedicated to the fire service. In the role, Lawlor visited fire departments along the route to conduct interviews and send them back to the office for publication.
Lawlor was picked up by her youngest son Shane, and his friend who drove down to West Virginia on the eighth and final day of the bike ride to spend time in town before all three returned to Pleasant Valley. “I just want to say one more time that women can do anything they set their mind to and I encourage them to do so.”
