100-Mile Bike Rides Through Happy Valley

Are you taking a century journey bike trip? There are plenty of 100-mile long routes or century rides in Happy Valley to take you through the scenic views and steep hills. But 100 miles is hungry and thirsty work! Check out Happy Valley’s list of century loops and some places to stop along the way.

Local cyclists enjoy a traditional endurance event called a century ride, a 100-mile journey designed to test riders’ mettle while providing stunning panoramic views of the Happy Valley scenery along the way.

Of course, riding a century also provides a great reason to consume enormous amounts of food and drink. Especially as you grind up challenging hills with names like Rattlesnake Pike and Pine Grove Mountain, or glide along the rolling meadows of route 192, which links Oak Hall to Centre Hall to Penns Cave and beyond.

Because a century ride entails at least six hours of pedaling, cyclists are bound to get hungry along the way. HappyValley.com is delighted to offer a few pointers to help riders find their ideal feeding and refueling station.


Happy Valley has many possible centuryloops, but today we are only going to review two, so we will need to choose carefully. Let's check in with our friends at the area's hottest new eatery, the Happy Valley Brewing Company, to gather ideas. It just so happens the Davies family, Josh and Melissa, are avid cyclists. Melissa rides on the roads, while Josh prefers taking a mountain bike up the switchbacks of Rothrock State Forest.

HVBP offers a sinful appetizer of short-rib nachos smothered in local cheeses and a generous heaping of banana peppers, which pairs well with an assortment of hand-crafted beer like Phyrst Phamily Irish Stout, Nitwit Belgian White, Tailgater Pale Ale and Stratus Loftbier.

Obviously, nachos plus beer makes for better nap planning than road cycling, so choose the order of your events carefully or select from HVBC’s lighter fare, such as the tangy Johnny Appleseed salad or The Mason Jar, a selection of house-pickled seasonal vegetable served with Gemelli crackers.


Happy Valley’s Hottest Century Loops
Loop One: Go West, Young Legs

The Western loop from State College offers a lot of challenging climbs up through coniferous forest roads. The 106-mile loop takes riders up Pine Grove Mountain and southwest before circling north through Lake Raystown in Huntingdon County and back home along Redstone Ridge. The ride entails 7,555 feet of climbing. Be sure to bring along some cash for a stop at the Edgewater Inn & Riverside Grill or Memories Sports Bar and Grill, or my favorite, Boxer’s Cafe, in downtown Huntingdon. Nothing like a turkey Reuben sandwich to refuel!
Loop Two: A Journey for the Eastern Oriented

For cyclists who want to follow the daily path of the sun, start at the Boalsburg Military Museum, head north through Houserville and then up and along Rock Road, where you may encounter fly fishermen wading in the gently gurgling waters of Spring Creek in search of trout and you are likely to see white tail deer frolicking in the woods. Once you reach route 550 past University Park Airport, grind your way up Fillmore Road, which becomes Perdue Mountain Road, a challenging category-three climb that turns east and offers a gently rolling terrain for a few miles with beautiful vistas of the Central Pennsylvania Tussey Ridge. Perdue Mountain Road then provides a winding, high-speed descent into Bellefonte.

In Bellefonte, recharge your batteries with some carb and caffeine loading at Cool Beans Café on Allegheny Street. So good it ought to be illegal, it’s located just a short walk from the historic Centre County Courthouse. If you like iced coffee, you’ll love the Cool Beans’ coffee iced cubes. Brilliant!

From Bellefonte, we continue our journey east to Mill Hall before heading south to the warmer climes (and climbs) of Aaronsburg and Millheim where cyclists can interact with Amish families clopping along the roads and working on their farms. The Amish folks move slowly in their horse-drawn buggies, but they are always quick with a wave and a smile.

By the time you reach Millheim, your journey has exceeded the 80-mile mark, so you will need more fuel. May we recommend the Elk Creek Café? Famous for its organically-sourced food, handcrafted beers, and live music, the cafe is a true Happy Valley gem.

To finish our eastern loop, head back home through Centre Hall, home of the Grange Fair, and return safely to Boalsburg, having traveled just over 100 miles and climbed 6,600 feet. Time for a nap on the grounds of the Pennsylvania Military Museum, then we might just glide over to Kelly’s for another snack.
Gear Up for a Long Ride

And now, if I can turn your attention from your taste buds back to the road, it’s important to remember a long bike ride always goes more smoothly when your equipment is tuned up. For this job, I turn to the Bicycle Shop in State College. Trends come and go in State College, but the Bicycle Shop has been selling and servicing bikes since 1946. Their dedicated staff is here to serve you in a friendly and professional manner.

With over 500 bikes in stock, the shop has the largest inventory in the region. Their staff specializes in most aspects of cycling: mountain biking, road cycling, BMX, triathlon and Cyclocross, and they service all makes and models of bicycles, usually within 24 hours.

Join State College Cycling or the Nittany Mountain Bike Association and connect with neighbors experienced at pedaling their way to the tastiest spots for food and drink, or log onto Mapmyride and discover or create your own routes. It’s a new century for exploration.

Marty Bradley lives in State College and is much better at eating than cycling.
On the Cycling Scene

You never know who you may bump into when you’re on your bike in Happy Valley. Just one of the local cycling enthusiasts includes…

Joe Lundberg, AccuWeather meteorologist, is co-founder of the State College Cycling Club. At the young age of 52, Joe finished his first full-length triathlon in 2014. Joe is a proud supporter of breast cancer awareness and is probably most famous for organizing the annual Fry Ride, in which cyclists roll west from State College and descend upon beautiful Spruce Creek to gorge themselves on delicious food produced by the Spruce Creek Tavern and Spruce Creek Bakery. For reasons that should be obvious, the Spruce Creek Tavern is renowned for its trays of fries. The Spruce Creek Bakery is cozy and sweet and provides those carbs your legs need to keep churning.

Learn more about the State College Cycling Club at groups.yahoo.com/group/statecollegecycling.

Dropbox CEO Comes to Penn State

Dropbox, a cloud based storage system useful for both students and businesses, visited Penn State last week. For IST Startup Week, the CEO of Dropbox, Drew Houston spoke to students about how he got started in the entrepreneurial world. He encouraged students to band together with others who were like-minded. For the rest of the story head to Onward State.

In a week brimming with historical university initiatives and industry-leading speakers in an effort to foster an entrepreneurial culture on campus, Penn State may have saved its most famous presenter for last by closing the annual IST Startup week on Friday with the CEO of the popular file-hosting service Dropbox, Drew Houston.

Houston, an MIT computer science graduate, met his future business partner while in school, and attributes much of his success to his time spent at college, not from corporate experiences. Hardly 15 years later, experts now estimate Dropbox to be worth roughly $10 billion, and Forbes estimated Houston’s net worth at $1.2 billion in 2014. Dropbox was built from Houston’s entrepreneurial spirit and startup mentality in which he wasn’t afraid to pursue a passion in an effort to solve a problem. It’s the same sort of spirit that Penn State has sought to foster through its annual IST Startup Week.

Houston’s beginnings stemmed from a love of computer gaming, and an interest in the mechanics behind them. His curiosity led him to make his own discoveries about the engineering behind computers, but more importantly created a lifelong passion for programming.

“I signed up to test a game, and started poking around under the hood,” he said in a small room in the HUB, just hours before his on-campus presentation to conclude the week’s events.

After journeying to MIT, Houston knew he wanted to study computer science as it fell right in line with his interests. He worked hard in the classroom and joined a fraternity, where he found himself learning lessons that went far beyond academics or his computer.

“I took a bunch of offices. I had no idea at the time but those were my first courses in management, trying to get 35 unpaid volunteers to do anything,” he said, recalling a struggle familiar to the officers of any student organization.

Eventually, Houston felt that the time was right to create his own company.

The 6 Best Plants to Keep Bugs Out of Your Home

With over 10 quintillion insects in the world, it’s no surprise that some of them find their way into our homes. If you find them crawling in corners and shacking up in your pantry it’s time to do something about them! If you’re looking for ways to keep them out without expensive bug sprays and traps, you can try these much more aesthetically pleasing options. Head here for more info on the best plants for keeping critters out of your home.

Feverfew

Feverfew is great for repelling mosquitoes and other flying biting insects. It is ideal for planting around outdoor seating areas, pathways and close to doorways and windows; for maximum benefit, plant in conjunction with citronella grass and lavender (see below).

In addition to its insect repellent qualities, feverfew also has many medicinal uses. It is historically used to help treat nervous disorders, headaches and it also works as a laxative and helps ease bloating.


Pyrethrum also known as Chrysanthemum

Pyrethrum helps to repel a whole host of insects and bugs, including: aphids, leafhoppers, spider mites, harlequin bugs and ticks.

Pyrethrum is best used as a ‘companion plant’ to protect other plants with its insect repellent properties. It is planted close to plants which are affected by the insects above.

Additionally a natural pesticide can be made with pyrethrum flowers. The flowers need to be dried and crushed and mixed with water. It is beyond the scope of this article to give specific instructions on potency etc., so please carry out further research before trying this, as even though the pesticide is completely natural, it can still be harmful to humans in certain situations.

Pennyroyal

Pennyroyal helps to repel mosquitoes, gnats and also ticks and fleas!

Pennyroyal is often used in commercial natural insect repellent creams and sprays. Pennyroyal is great to plant in the garden, but it is best utilized as a topical insect repellent applied to the skin.

If you crush pennyroyal leaves and rub them onto your skin, this acts as an effective insect repellent. Additionally, you can also crush the stems and put them in pockets, bags and hats.

Crushed pennyroyal leaves and stems can also be rubbed on dogs to help repel ticks and fleas. Actually you will often see dogs rubbing in pennyroyal patches when outdoors.

Lavender

Lavender is most useful for repelling mosquitoes and gnats when planted in the garden; it can also be planted in pots and placed by doorways and windows. As with feverfew and citronella grass; lavender is best planted in the garden around seated and eating areas and also around windows and doors.

Cut and or dried lavender can also be placed on windowsills to stop mosquitoes entering the house. Additionally, dried lavender flowers can also be used in wardrobes to repel moths and keep clothes smelling fresh.

Lavender also smells amazing and has many medicinal properties, it aids relaxation and helps promote restful sleep.

Marigolds

As with pyrethrum, marigolds are best used as a ‘companion plant’ to help protect other plants; however, marigolds do also have some mosquito repellent properties, so it’s a bit of an all-rounder.

Marigolds contain a chemical compound called thiopenes in the roots. This plant repels aphids, cabbage maggots, white flies and many other pests. Marigolds are particularly good at protecting tomato plants.


Citronella grass

Citronella grass is an old favourite; everyone knows it is commonly used as an insect repellent in outdoor candles, which are used around outdoor eating and seating areas. Citronella grass is a great mosquito repellent and it can be planted and used in a similar way as citronella candles, to keep flying insects away.

For best results, plant citronella grass in the garden and use in conjunction with feverfew and lavender.

Additionally, citronella grass has also been found to have a calming effect on barking dogs, which is worth considering if you have a dog which barks excessively day and night. Your neighbours might thank you for at least giving it a try!

Spring Cleaning Checklist

Spring is finally crawling out from under the rock it’s been hiding under since September. That means it’s time to clean your home and pretend like you haven’t been hiding under a rock all winter. Make your way through this spring checklist from Premeditated Leftovers to really scrub the winter gloom out of every nook of your home.

Family Room

1. Remove all décor from shelves and dust thoroughly.

2. Dust and clean the glass on all hanging pictures and picture frames.

3. Remove all sofa cushions and vacuum, fluff and replace pillows and vacuum as well. If your cushion covers are removable, remove and wash before replacing. If not, you may spot treat them for stains.

4. Dust all appliances, remove any you are no longer using and store away.

5. Remove all area rugs and shake out. Vacuum all carpets, moving furniture so you can access under all of the pieces.

6. Wipe down all base board. Wash walls with a simple mixture of warm water and Murphey’s Soap.

7. Dust all plants.

8. Dust all ceiling fan blades. Remove and wash light covers if needed.

9. Dust all light fixtures, replace bulbs if needed, and wipe down light switches.

Kitchen

1. Remove all items from cabinets and wipe down the inside with warm water and vinegar. Allow the cabinets to air out. Reconsider items as you return them to the cabinet. Donate what you no longer use.

2. Wipe down the outside of cabinets to remove grease and grime. Pay special attention to the handles.

3. Dust light fixtures. Remove and wash light covering if you need to.

4. Pull large appliances away from the wall if possible to thoroughly sweep and mop the floor. Scrub well in between tiles to clean the grout.

5. Remove all items from the refrigerator. Discard what is no longer edible. Wipe down the entire inside with hot water and soap. Wipe clean and replace the items. Repeat on the outside of the fridge.

6. Run the self cleaning option on the oven or clean yourself. Pay special attention to the outside as well, by removing the knobs to give it a good scrub as well as giving some attention to the grates.

7. Clean the microwave inside and out.

8. Wash all base boards and wall areas thoroughly.

9. Remove silverware and other small items from drawers. Wipe out and return items to area.


Bedrooms

1. Dust all furniture pieces thoroughly.

2. Move bed (now is a great time to flip your mattresses as well) and vacuum under it. Return bed to its place and vacuum over the mattresses as well.

3. Wash pillows and duvets base. Replace sheets and pillowcases.

4. Wash all base boards as well as walls with a hot water and soap solution.

5. Dust ceiling fans and remove light coverings so you can thoroughly clean them.

6. Remove clothing items from closet. Donate what you no longer need. Clean out the closet well removing any dust and debris. Return clothing.

7. Do the same with drawers. Remove items, donate what you no longer need, wipe out drawers, and replace.

8. Dust and clean all hanging pictures and décor.

9. Deep clean or spot clean carpets as needed.

Bathrooms

1. Deep clean the shower with appropriate cleaners for your tile. Get in between tiles with a toothbrush to really clean the grout. Don’t neglect the shower ceiling.

2. Remove shower head and soak in a lime away product. Clean other shower fixtures with an appropriate cleaning product until they are nice and shiny.

3. Remove shower curtain and launder. Replace the shower liner if needed.

4. Discard any old or empty bath product containers. Wipe down any bath tub storage fixtures with bleach.

5. Remove toilet lid so you can thoroughly clean all the way around the bowl. Clean down to the base of the bowl and don’t forget the handle and back of bowl as well. Let some solution soak in the bowl before scrubbing the entire inside. Replace any automatic bowl cleaner you may have added.

6. Remove all toiletries from vanity drawers and cabinets. Wipe clean and replace. Discard any unused or empty containers.

7. Wash all storage containers out.

8. Clean all mirrors and light fixtures. Replace any bulbs as needed.

9. Launder all bath mats or toilet coverings.

10. Mop floors and wipe clean base boards.

…


In all rooms

1. Wash windows thoroughly. Remove windows if possible to clean the inside of the window well.

2. Remove and clean all blinds and curtains. Curtains can be laundered while blinds can be dusted and wiped clean.

3. Spot treat any upholstered items that can’t be laundered.

4. Spot treat any wall chips with matching paint.

5. Replace air fresheners or sachets in all rooms with fresh ones.

6. Wipe vents clean and sanitize commonly touched areas such as handles and switches.

Jeff Gordon Coming to Penn State

Fans of the 24: don’t miss your chance to meet Jeff Gordon himself this month when he visits campus to talk about the brand new partnership between Penn State and Axalta. On April 14, Gordon will arrive and plans to unveil his paint scheme for the June 7th race at Pocono Raceway. Read more at the Collegian.

Penn State announced its partnership with Axalta Coating Systems, a global manufacturer of liquid and powder coatings, on Tuesday, according to a press release.

The partnership will include a program that will drive awareness and support for science, technology, engineering and math education and business education, with the focus on students studying engineering and business, according to the release.

“The relationship between Penn State and Axalta offers our students the opportunity to learn about careers in business and engineering fields from the leaders of a global player based right here in Pennsylvania,” Penn State President Eric Barron said in the release.

Details of the program will be revealed April 14 at an on-campus event featuring Gordon and his team at Pocono Raceway , as well as a pep rally, according to the release.

At the pep rally, Gordon will reveal the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet SS paint scheme he will drive at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race June 7, named the “Axalta ‘We Paint Winners’ 400,” according to the release.

Gordon is a four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and a three-time Daytona 500 winner.

“It is crucial to many industries, including Axalta’s, to have access to skilled engineers and business leaders, and Penn State is providing the specialized programs needed to prepare them for the future,” Axalta Chairman and CEO Charlie Shaver said in the release.

The program will be similar to one Axalta has with Texas A & M University , Axalta Global Brand Director Danielle Ruess-Saltz said.

“We thought, what a greater way to utilize our relationship with Hendricks Motorsports and Jeff Gordon than to put the focus back on education,” Ruess-Saltz said.