Philly to Pittsburgh

 1. I just finished my fulltime gig at MNN, and havent yet started working in Troy.  So... free time!  2. a personal retreat.  people seem to think that I am unstable because i actually wanted to be alone on my bike for 4 days.  I didnt feel unstable at all.  and I intentionally left my iPod at home. 3.  The BikeBike conference was in Pittsburgh last weekend, and I have been planning to attend for a few months.  I dont have a car anymore, and given #'s 1 & 2, it seemed fairly logical that I should ride

On Monday night I took the Chinatown bus from NYC to Philly.  (they just let you put your packed bike underneath.- nice!).  The busride was stinky, but once in Philly the journey began.  I crashed at my sisters and her husband's place in Old City, ate spaghetti, and spread my maps on the floor.  In the morning, I headed for Valley Forge where the PA Bike Route S crosses the Schuykill River Trail.  I made a stupid mistake early on and lost about an hour pedaling on the wrong trail into Ikea/Target hell, but figured it out and got back on track.  In thinking about this mistake later on in the ride, I kept singing the Queensryche song 'Silent Lucidity' with the words "...my own stupidity".  If Weird Al cranks that one out, we know he read this blogpost.  By the end of the day, I was deep into Amish Country, passing horses and carrieages, people on scooters and bikes cruisin the rolling hills.  the ride that day was truly great terrain.... but dang was it hot!!!!  I have to admit that I found myself questioning the whole adventure about midday.  (i was just hungry, though)  I came upon a campground when I was super tired and the evening was approaching quickly.  but they said $37 for a tent site!!!  I laughed at them and kept riding.  I told myself that the first person who I saw on their property near the road, I would ask to set up camp...  thats how I ended up in the yard of a very kind Amish family and met David and Amos and the two youngsters who didnt speak a word of English - only the German dialect know as Pennsylvania Dutch.  they were really nice folks and even though I turned down much of their offered hospitality on account of being pooped, I did camp on their front lawn.  I did eat fresh raw lima beans with Amos and the kids and talked for a while.

I was on the road by 8:30 am, rolling up and down hills into the town of Lancaster, then on through York and down to the banks of the Susquenhanna.  It was another reeeaaallly hot day.  Being that I was on a mission to get to Pittsburgh by Friday, I was racing myself, essentially.  This was not really a good thing.  It kept me from enjoying some sites, I think and generally kicked my ass more than necessary.  By the end of the day, the hills had begun.  I was in the PA Appalachians, and feelin it.  At the top of one big hill I was sitting and taking a short break, when a guy rolls up in a car and says, " I got a present for ya".  He tossed me a ziploc full of icecubes!  I was so grateful.  He said he and his wife had passed me a ways back and he came back out to give me the ice because he felt bad.  I thanked him as I was sucking on ice cubes and rubbing my face and putting them in my bike shorts.  I camped at Caledonia State Park that night.  I love camping at state parks.  but I LOVE bike touring more. No rain that night.

I knew I was in for it, cause my folks (SE of Pbgh) said that they had gotten a lot of storms one right after the other.  The weather was also making my knees hurt a bit. Hammering for 8-9 hours a day, just contributed to that, and by this day, I was kind of in bad shape.  I shouldnt have been riding as hard as I was.  I left the campground by 8AM. Around 11, I was in Chambersburg, and the western sky was black.  I found a 'Mexican Store' that served food and had bean tacos (for breakfast).  The stormed rolled in fast and hard the rain was torrential.  After about 20-30 minutes, I had had time to wrap all my gear in garbage bags under an awning and brace myself for a rainy ride.  It was still raining but I took off west.  Soon enough it was sunny and hot again. It wouldnt last though.  I had wanted to make it to Bedford... but as I rolled down a big hill into Breezewood, a striptown, I have only ever known as a car-stop on the turnpike, another black storm rolled in identically.  I was flying down the hill in the rain, just trying to make it to some sort of cover - already soaked.  But the rain and wind were so hard I couldnt even see.  I just pulled over and curled up and sat on the side of the road.  There was no cover, but I really had no choice.  After I was there for about 5 minutes a mini-van pulled up and invited me in!!  They sat there with me for another 20 minutes until the rain got a little lighter.  Thank You Thank You Thank You!!  The folks in the car were two women who worked at Taco Bell and were on there way home when they saw me culred up  and turned around.  There are some nice people around after all, or else I have got some decent karma.  Soaked to the bone, I stood at a gas station, as evening approached.  My spirits were low and the fact that I thought it would be a good idea to get a motel room was proof of that.... a motel room!?!?  this was a camping trip! o well.  I found a sleezy-ass motel that reminded me of George Kuchar's weather diary videos - by now the whole trip was reminding me of those (awesome) vids - checked in and went to the best restaurant I could find out of a truly lousy selection - Pizza Hut.

At the sleezy motel wth my maps laid out on the bed, I actually believed that I could make Pittsburgh the next day.  That was not going to be the case.  I left the motel early and pedalled hard despite what was now a really painful knee situation.  My whole pace was slow and this normally wouldn't mattter except I had imposed this deadline on myself.  bad idea.  By 12, I was still 10 miles outside of Somerset, and the hills just kept coming one right after the other... and big ones!  I  called for support which came in the form of my grandparents who lovingly gave me a 45-minute ride back to my parents farm where I then got another ride to the conference just in time for the opening events!! 

All in all it was a great trip.  The injuries sucked, as did the fact that I didnt make my initial goal... but the real lesson is that goals suck.  mental note:  next bike trip - do it for the ride & dont kill yrself.   ride on!

(and i cant wait for my next tour - this time I hope to bring along a companion... personal retreat, or not... it's just more fun.)