Day 44 Confluence, PA to Bedford , PA

Day 44 Confluence, PA to Bedford, PA

Essence: It feels good to feel good again.

Today is a day to ride. While many people say tomorrow is the "Final Exam" with a hilly century, I consider today to be the Senior Project, with multiple climbs and the alternate route up 3213' Mt. Davis, Pennsylania's highest point.

Today will be the 1st of the final 2 back to back days of hard riding. I am ready, I am prepped. Let's see what I've got left.

The air is thick and the light from the sodium vapor lights still casts cones of solidness through the air. Other than these glowing solids, it is still pitch dark... and time ot get up. It only finally got cold enough for the sleeping bag about 90 minutes ago and my body surely begs to be able to sleep in a little longer.

Breakig cap down is slow. I am still tryingot manage my wet clothes. It's all wet.

Finally I am packed and ready for breakfast. Not much breakfast choice though. Low on milk. No Juice. :(

I get the road route directions for up and over Mt. Davis. I am going to do it. Stephen and Lambert take off alone and tell me I will catch up. SO I am left to start last and alone.

I am pushing and it finally feels good to ride hard. I have chosen to wear teh McGowan jersey today in honor of Dr. Brack and Jeananne, as I a strong climber and going for the tough climbs today. I remind myself to pace for all day and tomorrow's century as well. I here my traing partner Grant's voice telling to pace.

The valley has a chill and the trees are just starting to change colors.


I can imagine how pretty this will be in the full fall colors.
Ah autumn... Football... back to school... fall leaves... those things aren't far off for these people.

At the bottom of the Mt. climb I catch Sean, Liz and Kari. With Stephen, Lambert and I we are the only 6 to be taking the alternate mountain route. It shaves 10 miles, but adds several thousand feet of elevation gain so it should end up about the the same. I am glad to have caught the other three and no longer be bringing up the rear. I pass them and climb up on e of the steepest grades we ever encounter. Lowest gear, standing in the pedals I wear out and go back to my old reliable sit in the saddle and spin it out. Spinning it out I finally break 8 mph, then 9 then 10 and I am up over the first hump.

The climbs are tough! Steep, shorts bursts where you can't develop a rhythm. Just all out exertion. I hear the words from one of my letter in my last mail stop, "Use your granny gear. That's why itis there." I shift into granny gear and smile at the wisdom. I also work on my hill sprints for Grant and push hard up and over every hill.

Near the top of one fo the hills I chat with a guy about an old rock quarry, mine.

The air is stale coming out of the shaft and I think back tot he West Virginia mine disaster last year. He tells me about taking his kids in the mine to collect fossils when they were small, some 40 years ago. He has a ventriloquist dummy's laugh.

The air around us is thick with fog and he tells me this isn't normal weather.

I ride off into the foggy clearings. I know there is a top, but I surely can't make it our or even guess at my progress. More Climbs and even a few descents =, that just have to be reclimbed.

Final Climb and I catch Lambert as the turn off to the actual Mt. Davis Peak. We head up the peak road for the 1 mile to the actual peak.

We are alone when we get there. We see the path to the peak and folow it around but don't see a peak. Finally we see a boulder and some signs.



Not in good rock climbing shoes I shimmy up to get a good picture of the benchmark plaque.

Dave climbs the lookout tower and I get a shot of him.



Summoning all my courage, I overcome my primal fear of manmande heights and climb the 4 stories of the lookout tower to join Dave take in the great view.

Our visibility is about 1/2 a mile into the fog.



Yes I am holding on for dear life...

because it makes me feel better.

Having climbed, and seen we head down and are back on the bikes. Back on the main road we turn right and 200 yards up the hill we find Pollie and Mark huddle in their car waiting for us but avoiding the biting flies in the meantime.



A quick picture, a water fill up and Dave Lambert and I are shooting off down the hill. Mark advised us to try to keep it under 40!

Once again we are pushing the limits of speed and our tires and we crash through the 40mph advice easily. I top out at 46.6mph. We pass a dumptruck on a screaming downhill only for him to catch us back on the uphill. We shoot down another hill 40mph and bend around a corn field to a BLIND CORNER STOP SIGN. Panic is all I can do. There is now stopping for this. All I can manage to shout at Dave behind me is, "WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!" We come to a stop 30' the other side of the stop sign and breathe a collective sigh of relief that is was acountry road with no traffic.

We carry on down the mountain, and looking back can't see the top, where we have just been.

At the bottom we rejoin the route. What with the detours and the extra miles up to the boulder, this route has only saved us 2 miles but it was totally worth it. We see the water stop for the riders who took the trail, however since we are refilled from the mountain, we head on.

All across the country we have been seeing the silhouette of a cowboy leaning up against a post. Since as early as Washington we have seen this image. Occasionally we have see teh cowgirl version. This OLD MAN version makes me turn around and come back for a picture.


From here it is hard climbing and riding for everyone else, but those of us that have conquered Mt. Davis, have alreday done the toughest part of our day.

I start riding hard and really pushing hte pace and pull away from Lambert. I don't see another rider for miles. Eventually I see David Latner climbing rollers into another cute little town. As I cath him and ride along with him, he says that according to Kathy, only Stephen is ahead of us. Holy cow from starting out near dead last, I have moved to 2nd rider. I guess I am riding fast today. I stop at the turn in town for an impromptu lunch and seemingly create the spot. It is an auto repair that is closed, but has a big parking lot and shares with an.. what else... but and Ice Cream trailer. Ice cream isn't open yet, but during hte 30 minutes we sit there and eat lunch, the ice cream trailer opens up a tad early (mostly due to our begging) and milkshakes are the order of the day.

During our stop, Kari and Dimmitts have also rolled up and passed us. Latner has already left and is rolling. I change out my rose lenses for my Dark gray sun lenses and return to my hunt. Inow have "rabbits" out in front of me to catch and I can really push the pace, by focussing on catching them and not on how my body feels.

Latner, the Dimmits and eventually Kari, are all riders that I pass. Stephen is like an apparition out ther ahead of me.

AT a sharp turn we hang a right and start attacking some low hills straight on ans we haed to the United flight 93 memorial site. Coming over the last hill the top 20 feet are a sheer wall that seems virtually straight up. Lowest gear, standing it takes every muscle fiber to keep the bike upright and climb these 20'.

Over the crest we coast downhill a few hundred yards and are at the site of the 9/11 Flight 93 crash site and impromptu memorial. Kathy is there waiting for us with a water break and we take the time to go throughthe memorial.

As we all do, I remember the day of 9/11/2001 and of the events that took place. I remember at the time that flight 93 seemed so forgotten and secondary to the twin towers collapse and even the Pentagon crash. Out here in a corn field, what had they done. Therefore the chainlink fence section that had been erected as impromptu memorial, that is covered in flags, and fireman jackets and buttons and the like. In that impromptu style that has become so popular since the death of Lady Diana, this memorial onthe spot seemd so perfect. The only official monument were a set of benches each with 2 names ofthe passengers and crew who perished on the flight. In all there are about 35 or 40 benches arranged to look att he crash site and it is very solemn and truly peaceful. Everyman heroes that gave up everything for an untold rest of us to be protected.









I don't know how long I stopped at the memorial. For the first time all day, I wasn't in a rush and time passing had no significance at the memorial.

Finally it felt time to roll on.

To be continued.

Day 43 Washington to Confluence

Day 43 Washington, PA to Confluence, PA

Heavy rain soaked us last night. The humidity keeps stuff from drying. Hanging it up, just makes it more damp as it collects moisture form the air.

As a result tonight we are all trying to balance clothing needs for the next few days. By now I have my outifts prioritized for the distance, the terrain, the weather etc. I know which shorts and which jersey I like for the centuries and then which for the hills. Looking ahead at our upcoming days I am doing hte calculus of drying time and when I need clothes for what days.

Not only are our wet clothes a concern. The rest of our wet gear is a problem. My stuff got absolutely soaked and got packed soaked so it sat wet in my luggage and made sure to get everything else damp. My pillow is sour. My duffel bags actually have a sour odor. My tools are rusty and even the brand new spare chain is showing some exposure.

In addition, my cell phone seems to have given up as well. Won't hold a charge. Won't stay on even when iti s plugged in. I can't even get the numbers out of my phone book and I only have Mom and Dad's home memorized. What to do? what to do?



Today was okay. Lots of roller hills. It looked like it might rain so I dressed in arm warmers and tights to be at least warm if not dry while riding. I also swapped out my sunglass lenses for pink/rose lenses for better vision.

Mist and hanging moisture are backdrops in all my pictures.


As I get roling with Steve and the Kids, the weather felt like Seattle. As we climbed the hills in town it felt like the Downtown Seattle Hills and as we passed near an old college it definitely reminded us Pill Hill in Seattle. The old architecture is really fun to pay attention and one of the joys for me as we work our way east and into colonial areas.


Here I am in my leggings and wamr clothing just to give a sense of the day.


Leaving the college we cruise through this great old neighborhood where the houses are just so scenic.


Leaving these periphiral edges of Pittsburgh we get into a valleys and a state park where the fog is beautiful. Here is what it looked like to the normal eye.



Here is how it looks to me through my rose sunglasses.


The rosey colors gives the fog a very surreal and fairy tale feeling. It makes everything so much more beautiful which lifts my mood and sweeps away my worries of being wet.


This little covered bridge looks like it belongs in in a jigsaw puzzle.


I love it as one of the atractions during our serenely non-traffic ride through the state park.

Coming out of the state park we are into another large industiral town. One thing that strikes me about all these larger towns is how all the churches are lined up along a a given road. With each denomination showing off and trying ot out build the one next to it. This develops into one of my favorite mental games from the ride which I think of as a "Church find" sort of liek a word find. How it works is as you ride down the street you see a church and check it off on the mental checklist and then see how many churches you get.

sort of like this... Oh there are the Methodist on the Left, oh 2nd on the right are the presbysterians, oh and 3rd are the Baptists. A.M.E. is 4th. Catholics on the Left. Calvary chapel and even a Mormon church. Hey a sinagogue. Have we seen the Lutherans? Where are the Lutherans. By now we are getting tot he end of hte road and need to turn. I am starting to worry about the Lutherans when just as we make the turn left onto a bridge I see see the Lutherans have the corner lot. Okay, we seem to have everyone here.

As we cross the bridge over the Ohio river we stop to watch the barge traffic and catch some water.


Major barge/river shipping traffic remains a novelty to me. SInce we are excited about just having a stream in our river beds, having enough water to reliably float a barge is unbelievable.

We climb out of the river valley and for the downhills we relish, we grind out the uphill climbs like this.



A bit down the road, I don't get a picture of it but in this little valley there is a wrecking yard and graveyard for dead cars. Piled 4 and 5 high there are thousands of dead cars in this salvage valley and it really is both remarkable and distrubing how many there are. The environmental impact of al those cars rusting and leaking is all I can think of as we ride past. Somewhere in all the wreckages I ride through some glass and get a flat.

Steve pulls over with me and we fix the flat. I reallize I am out of tubes and borrow one from Steve. Fortunately he has a tube. I get it changed, put the wheel in the bike, spint he wheel and BANG. The tube blows. I had pinched teh tube and not seated the tire properly. Fortunately, God told Steve to bring 2 tubes today and so I take the other tube and with more care we change the tire again and are rolling eventually.

So far the first 25 miles of hte day have gone quickly. The subsequent miles draw on. We get to a bike trail that we will follow for 15 miles. Fortunately there is a bike shop there and I can buy tubes to replace Steve's and get a spare for myself.

15 miles down the bike trail and we expect lunch to be provided by a past rider. Marty goes and gets a humongous sandwich and offers to share it. I comtemlate this as we only have 15 miles but I am hungry now. Indeed I indulge and share half of Marty's hero sandwich and it is SOOO good.

Heading down the trail it is an old rail line,


recovered into a bike trail so the grad is VERY flat. The surface is packed gravel, much like kitty litter. Not great for ourtires, but we actually do better than I expect. I pull ahead and ride solo and just fall into the lull of the trail and following hte tire tracks ahead of me. A few miles into the the trail, there is a fallen tree all the way across the trail. A path has been worn to climb over it. I stop and wait for Steve. Steve comes quickly with his head down. He doesn't see the tree. I yell at him to stop and he pulls to a skid at the last moment. Another 2 feet and he would have been launched headfirst over the bike and neither one of us want to thinkn about the outcome.

We climb over and had the bikes over and now use this as a warning to not let the trail lull us out to much.

Riding along we are seeing animals again. A yearling doe. It had to be a doe. It just moved in that graceful feminine way. Then her mother and another yearling dart across the trail. An unidentifiable creature runs across the trail. Smaller than a marmot, but much larger than squirrel or possum. We don't know what it could be. Finally at a picnic clearing I see another.

Our mystery creature turns out to be one of these...



A GROUNDHOG

Riding along, Steve and I separate into solo riding and our own little worlds. The trail goes on...




and on...


and on.


This riding wears me down and I hate it. There is a river to our left, that we can only hear. There are also train tracks because again we can hear the trains but not see them. All we can se is the natural tunnel of plants and gravel trail.
It is straight.
It is flat.
It is a constant width.
It is uniformly lit.
It is uninterupted.
And you have now concept that youa re getting anywhere near your destination. As the 15 mile marked comes and goes, there is not lunch or even a lunch stopping place. Just more trail. This becomes so defeating as I have mentally prepared and paced myself for this stip. I give it the benefit of the doubt. 17 miles no lunch. 20 miles no lunch. 22 miles no lunch. Now I am getting hungry and fuel is becoming and issue and there is no sense of lunch anywhere around.

And being stiuck in this trail it seems pseudo clostophobic. It isn't so close that I feel like it is closing is on me, but I get the sense that I am trapped in a forever maze and will never exit it. Of course that is not rational, but primal fears are innately irrational and it is all I do to not have a panic attack in the saddle.

AT 25 miles, finally there is lunch and an outlet and other riders and such a sense of relief. Fred and Marilyn provide a wonderful lunch and their welcome is so appreciated. I have survived the trap!

Good old Lambert is at the lunch stop and it is soothing to have lunch with him and let the negative feelings of the trail fall away.


Dave and I finally get a look at the river that has been flowing next to us. WE lay down on benches and actually get about a 60 minute nap.

Leaving I stop to ponder this sign to Washington, D.C.


My brain can't quite comprehend the reality. This sign is on a bike trail. Obviously other people have biked from this spot to D.C. This is the first sign we have seen for Washington and the task now seems to be in our hand. Only 280 miles over the next 4 days. How very doable is that. Can I really be this close?

We ride off and continue on the trail.

We are riding the trail fast now, mostly at my urging just to get off of it,

but the scenery is now changing.



Side streams cut across the trail and the bridges over them provide great photo locations.


Old train tressles give us a birds eye view of valleys beneath and also a scenic element to focus on.


We meet "the kids", where Ben is changing a flat at a beautiful overlook.


Tired of riding fast, Lambert hangs with the kids which suits us fine as I really just want to hammer these reaming miles out.
At another train tressel I stop and watch white water rafters and kayaks navigate a tricky section of the river.



Finally another 7 or 8 miles and I into camp. Camp is in a commercial campground at the bass of an earthen dam. We are leary of the dam, but if it goes, we decide there really isn't much we can do and try to put it out of our minds. Dinner is excellent and we hear resloution on the drama from several days ago. Fortunately the compromise solution that had been suggested and that we all hoped for was indeed agreed upon.

Kathy tries to take me for an emergency laundry run to wash and dry my now 2 day damp and soggy clothes. No luck. The laundromat has closed and the next closest laundromat is 3 towns away and still closed at now 8pm. Kathy buys me ice cream instead and uses me as an excuse to get herself some as well... just like when my dad would offer to get me a cookie as kid and would always manage to get himself one as well. I smill at the gesture and we return to camp with still wet luandry.

The day has been exhausting. The air has been heavy and thick and all day and now at the bass of a dam in camp, the air actually takes the oppressive presense of a solid mass. The parking lights beam through the trees and you can see the air as if it were an object. As you walk along you instinctively duck your head so as not to hit it on the object that you see out of the corner of your eye. It is hot heavy air and sleeping is not even an option. How I will get to sleep have no idea. but I must for tomorrow is Mt. Davis, The highest point in Pennsylvania.

Day 42 New Waterford, OH to Washington, PA

Day 42 New Waterford, OH to Washington, PA

It is hard to remember the beginning of today. It was dark in Ohio. We started at 5:40 a.m. It was still in the dark of night when we got up. Wakeup needs to be later, as we can't see what is going on, what we are doing and can't find anything or see in the truck to load it, etc.

As I write this I am sitting in my tent and the rain is coming down.



It is the end the end of our day in Washington, PA. The rain is coming down hard. The tapping on rain fly has a soothing quality however the interanl humidity in quite high and very uncomfortable. The downside of the rain fly is the amount of moisture it traps underneath and thus around me. Ickkkk.


I have drips from my rain fly coming through the mesh of the tent and I get a bit damp now and then. I have tried many creative measure to stop the drips. A plastic bag over the mesh as middle waterproof layer, hanging a stuff sack in the door way zipper as a pseudo gutter. By and large I am good and dry. This 4' x7' space is certainly not palatial but I am dry enough and comfortable enough in my tent. I am glad the wind is not blowing the tent around.

These are natural light viewsin the tent.

All of my clothes and cotton gear are wet. My pillow is soaked. I have my sleeping bag out, however it is so hot, that I may try to use my rain coat as my dry blanket instead. Right now I am super thankful for my thermarest chair. I am sitting it in right now and with my head lamp this is reasonably comfortable.


Working backwards through my day-

I played Euchre under the canopy with Mechanic Dave, Mary and Sean. We also dicsussed books along with ane and Liz. Dinner was catered with chicken and scalloped potatoes and pie. Yumm!!! The call for dinner is what got me out of thetap after a nap. I noticed Jodi had made camp under the box of the truck. Hope she doesn't sit her up quickly and smash her head on the chassis. AFter last night's limited dinner, I got in line much earlier and made a point to eat more.

This afternoon during the end of the ride I just looked forward to getting into camp setting up my tent, some dry clothes and taking a nap to the sounds of hte rain. The nap was good and by and large I stayed dry despite my wet clothes and gear.

Setting up my tent I found several stow aways from last night. 3 Super daddy longggggggg legs spiders., I don't love spiders but I don't mind these so I grab them by a leg one by one and remove them from inside my tent to outside of my tent. The spiders that are creeping me out are the tiny little albino-ey fluoroescent ones that look like tailless scorpions. These totally creep me out and I kill each one I see in the tent.

Suddenly the rain in harder and I have a drip right above the flashlight that will drive me crazy all night. Like some sort of natural chinese water torture.

Anyway today's ride-
AFter getting up late and in the dark, I was excited to have church da. We set off, Stephen, Bob, Lambert and I withthe intent of finding a church alonthe way and joining in the worship. Well first the cue sheets were wrong. When we go tthat figured out our 75 mile day became a 55 mile day. WHOOPPEEEEEE!!!! Like early dismissal in school.

We rode along through the country. It is rolling hills which are hard for me to get a rhythm on. For that fact, I don't care for the big rollers. But we rode. And soone we were in Pennsylvania. We heard of several riders taking another route which actually was more direct route and also took them through a bonus state of WEst Virginia. Back on our normal route we saw this sign.


It took me a few moments to see the word J O Y in it. but I loved it as this so simply stated my boiled down faith.


With a downhill following this sign and view I rode with my legs spread out as Stephen took a picture of me enjoying and relishing in the feelings of being a kid again and having fun again on the big ride.



Then suddenly hard rain and thunder, lightning! Flash............. Rumble. The ride returned to serious business. After a crazy wet downhill where I hit 42.4 mph without pedalling we followed the Dan Henry's .

Oops I have a leak in the tent. An already wet sock will be used as a make shift sponge. It can't get any wetter!

So riding through town, Kathy was marking Dan Henry's and I noticed her car was backing up ... in traffic... without a driver!

She had parked to mark the Dan Henry's but the car had gotten in to neutral and began to roll.

WE raced over to stop it. I tried to park my bike at the side of the road and race over to it. Lambert just shot right through traffic and dumped his bike at the car. I got there just after him. He was already getting in and I yelled I had his bike and pulled it out of the way. Lambert stopped the car and then drove it over to safety. The lady in traffic behind Kathy was all paniched and had eyes the size of saucers. When she saw us heard of cyclists ride up and abandon our bikes she got it and was cool and didn't hit anyone thankfully.


David Lambert was our Hero.

After that frazzling moment we all had to take a moment. What with the drams from last night, the rain for this morning and then the runaway car, we were all right on edge and needed a moment to just laugh at it all and let some tension go. As a joke that really did relieve the stress, the 7 or so of us actually held hands while standing in a circle and sang "Kum Baya". We all had a big laugh and the tension evaporated. The Big Ride was fun again.

From there we did not find a church but the gray morning had us ready for a break. On through town we shot pics of town with the nuclear cooling towers in the background.




Then we saw a cop who told us not to stop on the upcoming bridge and certainly not to take any pics of the nuclear plant. New homeland security laws had been put in place that made such activity illegal and would resultin the confiscation of our cameras and film. He didn't want to see us lose a summer's worth of picutres so he gave us the heads up.

Oh another suggestion from the Officer we went to the breakfast at the Mid City Cafe.


Breakfast inside the Mid City Cafe

3 Blueberry pancakes made from scratch really weighed me down as we rode across the aforewarned bridge and passed the huge cooling towers. Climbing the rollers out of the river valley we found Mark's waterstop and I laid down on a bench for a brief rest.


With the misty morning, I felt like I was out near Snoqualmie falls just outside of Seattle and was having flashbacks.

Starting back up again, the rain was heavy and I was cold and miserable. Steve and I waited for Bob and Lambert at the Presbyterian church until I realized I had a flat and then I changed the flat while I waitied. Just as I finished, Bob and Dave rolled up and we headed down the orad a short mile when we decided to duck in to BAD DOG Cafe for lunch, warmth and mostly a respite from the rain.

10 miles of hard rain got us into camp and thus I was into my nap.


The riders are highly charged and politicized over the drama. I feel like I have lost friendships witheh Scott Train for reasons I don't know and drama makes camp seem tense and uncomfortable for me. I am saddened to see it ending this way.

For now it is time to sleep. Only a few hundred miles left in left than a week.

Day 41 Burton to New Waterford

Day 41 Burton to New Waterford

Essence - Peripheral encroachment by Reality

5:15 and yes once again we are up and at it. There is a change to the morning ritual however. Polly has started a $5 breakfast plan which is similar in concept to the $10 dinner night. However since this is really the first go around she has just arranged for us al to eat at Cogan's Restaurant and she will just pay the bill instead of giving us each $5 to pay our own bills.


I sit with Lambert and Lisa G and Toronto Dave (Latner). Breakfasts takes a while to get served and so we are starting out later thatn we usually would. Since today is a shorter (only 59 miles) day I am notas concerned about the later start. This start delay does cause Latner some stress as he worries about the increased traffic congestion and such on this lovely Saturday morning in the country. I suppose we all have our worries and concerns in life, mine are just obvioiusly not the same as Latner's.

The tongue and cheek humor of Cogans and the proprietor ultimately make Cogan's a favorite eatery from the ride and many riders get T-shirts.




Finally breakfast is served and eaten and we head out, Lambert, Lisa and I. Leaving Burton head south through Ohio just inside the stateline with Pennsylvania and pass through beautiful amish farms. The roadside fresh produce stands from these amish farms is something to behold. As a rule they request not to be photographed so I can only describe tomatoes as big as grapefruits and such a vibrant color of red as to define "Tomato Red". Simply amazing.

These signs always made me laugh.


Leaving the amish farms we come into more modern family farms. And then standing out like a sore thumb come this iron
fence and this really large, elaborate house.
It has the design look of money but it is obvious that it is totally unkept. This owner obviously doesn't care for this house anymore. I wonder who would be so pompous to have such an estate and then let it fall to the gutter in this way. Then I notice all the security cameras on every pole, building and structure. And even the additional poles errected in the middle of the yard so cameras can see the blind spots of buildings.


Who is so grand and yet so paranoid?
Then I get my answer as I pass the front gate.




As the name int he iron work over the gate says, "Mike Tyson". Yeah that makes sense. Crazy fool would be so brash as to build this huge place that is off the map yet has his name in the gate, and has the security to fit his paranoia, yet has fallen into disrepair as a matter of the end of his boxing career and prison sentence. Yeah that profile fits. Many of hte riders don't believe it at first and many don't even take notice of the residence at all. We debate that whether it is or is not. In the end I am convinced it is. As a follow-up once back in Phoenix I showed this to one of the boxing fans at work and he confirmed that yes indeed it was Tyson's home and was often highlighted during ESPN sports center and on other shows.)

Heading down the road we start getting into to industrial Ohio. Within a bicycling hour of the amish farms we are now at the doorstep of industrial america and the Steel and "Coke" Coal plants of Ohio and Pennsylvania.


The transition back to modern society and industry is ugly. The smells and the noise of the steel plant along with the coal dust covering the trucks and the roads just forms an afront on my senses after all the beauty of the country.





The steel plant looks interesting and in the spirit of the ride, Lambert andI walk up to the guard shck to see if we can get a tour. Just like the creamery and teh sawmill that were so open to share and let us see, we hope the Steel plant will be and intersting tour. We find the security officer though asleep with his chin down on his chest and upon further consideration we agree that we shouldn't poke and or wake the bear, so we ride on down the street to the coke plant.



Again we attempt a tour. The security guard says there are no tours today. However he does gives us some overview information on the plant. 50-70 trucks a day / 7 days a week come in and out, truckers starting at 4a.m. and running until midnight and most of the trucks are headed to Cleveland.



The basic info is good. We thank him for his patience and head off on our merry little way.

This sign to New York strikes something in me. I have never been close enough to New York to see a road sign for it. To think that I have almost ridden there on my bike seem s unfathomable.




On down the road we find the rest check point waterstop and the Scott Train tells us of a War Vet museum just aroudn the corner with an elaborate train room. they recommend it highly and so Lambert and I go as we are smelling the roses and stretching these 60 miles out as far as we can.


The museum is all donated articles and is separated by the conflict they were used in. Uniforms, newsreels, dioramas weaponry. Everything has been donated and it is a 4 story house crammed with stuff from as early as the civil war. Int he basemnt they have a train room. Using several different scales of model trains they are recreating scenes of the American Hopmefront War Machine in action. They are maticulous in their care the museum is almost as valuable as a model railroad museum as of a war museum.



Leaving the Vet museum Lambert and I head down the road only to find a dog show at the county fairgrounds as another diversion. I go in search of pugs, but I am too late. Pugs were shown earliy in the morning. We do see way too many dogs that are way too pampered. Many of the small one look like they have been thrown in a dryer and put on th "FRIZ" cycle. One lady with immacuately manicured red acrylic nails and perfectly applied makeup is now coming and brushing her lapdog just so and arranging the bow in its hair.

Dave and I ride around looking at all the dogs but are more amazed at the people. And the amount of money they have spent on highend motorcoaches and paraphenalia to show their dogs. These dogs are treated better than many children in this country and it starts to turn your stomach. 30 minutes later of gobsmacked dumbness we leave with the same expression we would have if we left a campground of alien spaceships. Totally surreal.

With 20 miles left to go I see a few fresh fruit stands and devise a plan that the next stand we see, we will get a fresh pie and a drink and then head down the road and invite ourselves to the comfort of one of the awesome porches that we are passing on both the left and the right. Of course we will be polite and have our manners with us, but the porches look so inviting and I would love to meet some of the people that live in these houses.

This plan never materializes.

As we reach the last town before camp, I spy a sidewalk bake sale and we look there for pies. Sadly no pies just breads and other sweets are part of a bake sale fundraiser from the mothers and wives of a church as they are raising money to send their husband on a mission trip to Jamaica.



The bake sale ladies are tremendously sweet and ask all kinds of questions about our journey. Even as they are raising money, one lady donates to our cause for the Lung Associaiton. Another lady worried about our personal needs, gives Lambert and I money and specifically directs me that is it is for Dave and I to use for food or other needs and not for the association.
They won't let us leave until we take some coffee cakes and muffins. So grateful for their kinds ness and with our packs laden down with what we can carry Lambert and I head off for our final few miles.

WE chat about the bake sale ladies as we continue in our still unsuccessful Pie and Porch plan. We turn and head 1/2 mile off the route to a cider mill hopefully for a sample and tour. They are closed and thus we return to the route. We are close now and desparate for a treat and only 1 mile from camp. We head on, and ride past camp to what we think is the next town. At the crest of a hill, we stop and examine the hill and determinet that comoing back up it is nothing worth the reward of pushingon. We double back passed camp yet again to an ice cream place we had spied earlier.

As we get there, we find Steve enjoying a "peach boat" on recommedation from the Dimmitts. I use the church ladies money and Dave and I indulge in peach boats ourselves and our long awaited treat.


Dave Lambert and a "Peach Boat."

Not being a peach fan, I hesitate on the "peach boat" but when in Rome...
Actually it is delicous and even turns my tastes bit toward peaches. Who knew.

After the peach boats we ride in the bicycle equivalent of a mosey, into camp and set up our tents.

Dinnertiem winds up being the low point of the day. It is catered by Boston Market, which I love, but by the time I get up to the front, they have run out of several of the foods and there really isn't enough for the last 1/3 of the group.

After dnner there is an all rider meeting. I don't care to discuss the private issues of that meeting here. I would just like to say that this is the first divisive and contentious event to come up that polarizes the group into 2 sides and threatens to disrupt the harmony. That tension and polarizing is very disturbing to many of us and certainly gives me new insight to group politics and on several levels.

Ultimately we all go to bed, some folks licking wounds, others fuming and many of us trying to keep our heads down and just focus on the task of tomorrows ride.

Alas Drama has befallen the ride and we have re-encountered the first worries of re-entry, end of ride issues etc.

Day 40 Day off in Burton

Day 40 Day off in Burton, OH

Essence - Leisure

After a bit of a sleep in at the county fairgrounds, laundry is the priority of the day. That is after breakfast of course. With computer and laundry bag over my shoulder I am ready for the whole day. Stephen and I head to breakfast in the town square.

While my expectations of Burton were extremely low it reaaly turns out to be a super cute and quaint little township. I remembered talking with my mom when she was prepping hte maps to follow our trip and discusisng the fact that Burton didn't show up on the AAA maps. So like I say with that thought in mind I wasn't expecting much, however it may be the best rest day of the trip.

Stephen and I had breakfast at Belle's Grille.
In this part of Ohio that actually have natural pure maple syrup which is a great treat on our pancakes. Runnier that regular maple syrup it just tastes different. Mmmmm.

From there I head to the laundromat where I catch up with Liz and bust out the computers to start our blogging. What makes this significant to me is the amish girls reaction to our computers. She is doing the ironing at the cleaners and starts to come into to the laundry to do this or that. However as soon as she glances over and sees Liz's computer, the amish girl does and about face and heads back into her ironing room. Her reaction was so blatant it just made me wonder what they must say behind closed doors about our computer aided/internet infiltrated modern society.

To be polite we put the computers away and 4 of us played Euchre instead. In the end I don't know which was more devilish in the amish girls eyes, either out computers or playing cards.

In the laundry, this horse for sale sign makes me laugh. Read it carefully. Exactly what makes a horse "Bomb-proof."

Once the laundry was done, we moved over to the local library to get our blogging done. I ultimately can't connect to the internet which is frustrating so I write off line until lunch.

See how cute the town is?

The Kids and I head back to Belle's for lunch where helyn joins us. Lunch is great and then we get the fresh berry pie, that is just to die for.



Still carrying my laundry we head to the cafe, where I do get some blogging done and the kids go inside and take naps on the sofas. The sitting outside on the streetside table, I look around and see what could easily be a Norman Rockwell scene.



A few more hands of euchre and the afternoon wears on late.



Lambert and I finally head back to camp and just catch some practice carriage racing on the track.


We decide go sit in the empty grandstands and watch the practice racing and chat about the brilliance of life. We stay deep past evening's dusk and into the darkness. Finally it is time that we head to be and get ready to ride. We start our final long week of riding tomorrow.

Day 39 Sandusky to Burton

Day 39 Sandusky to Burton

Essence - All the People we meet.

Getting up is not nearly as hard as I thought it would considering how late we were up, being out at the amusements park and all.

David Lambert and I are man the Breakfast table, since the rest of our team covered lunch making last night and allowed us to go to Cedar Point. So the we get off to a later start. Stephen asks to ride, which catches me as strangely polite.

We are all so used to riding with each other that we often just assume we are riding with one another. To be asked, and thus show the respect of personal space catches me off-guard but is actually quite appreciated.

Rolling out we also catch up with Bob Dumke and Jodi and cruise along Lake Erie. The ride along the lake is beautiful. It is smooth and flat so it feels good to our legs and only one row of shireside houses separates us from the lake. By and large the houses/ cottages are nice, but aren't magnificent mansions. Just nice weekend getaway type places.

Finally we get a view to take pictures.



Stephen, taking a picture on the bluff.

Continuing on, we have plans to go to the CLevelenad Indians baseball game and our pace is good so we stop for a coffee and a treat. WE happen to stop at Granny Joe's Read the Picture for an explanation.





Granny Joe's "Creamatorium with ice cream good enough to die for", just makes me laugh. I think this is my favorite establishment so far. Itis too early in the day for me to indulge, but I love the puns.

Sitting on the porch of the Creamatorium we meet a wonderful family who ask lots of questions of our adventure. Again, i am glad to have been forced to slow down and take time to visit with some locals. Jsut as we are ready to leave, Jo comes bakc with a report that the mayor and a welcoming group are at the next block to cheer on one of their sons who is also riding across the country but for another organization. He is part of the Pi Kappa Fraternity's Ride for Hope from San Francisco to D.C.

As our two rides converge on the same route here in Harbour, OH the overall support for all the riders of both groups is truly amazing. All the friends and families know what all the riders have gone through regardless of which group and the sharing of water stops and support to form one larger community is so inspiring.



After mingling a few minutes and waiting to cheer on their riders, we are back on our road.

At this huge Easter Basket,



Steve determines he needs to stop fnad take a picture of it for Pollie. As I turn around to stop and take a picture I clip out on the wrong side and wind up falling over on my bike. Fortunately I lnad on the grass and just layout and play it off as if I were just taking a bit of a nap. ... Yeah right. Steve and Bob don't buy it and Steve actually has the picutre of this less that graceful ending. Hey you need to fall over, every now and again just to keep the humility level up.

Finally we get to Cleveland and are stil on time for our ball game. Cleveland is a our first Big City since... since I don't remember. Probably since Billings.

The roads are terrible. Totally potholed and rutted. We have to ride in the center lane of traffic because the curb lane is unridable.




A few pictures from the bridge and we head right for the game, where we meet a great security guard. All the other security folks said there was nowhere to park bikes except some bike racks. Knowing they had a stadium, I knew they had some space somewhere. And then we met Aaron who understood our situation and came up with a solution.



And viola!!! we had secure bike parking at the game. Thanks Aaron.



In the game we have a blast and are a bit of a tourist attraction.




We chat with all the folks around us and cheer for the home team.



Lots of people want to know about our trip and this family even buys some drinks. What awesome people.



I even catch a nap during a few innings, which Steve gets a picture of. All part of the Baseball experience, right?

After the game we head out and the real fun begins. See the next post for the storm story.

A thunderstorm has crept up on us and as we are leaving it starts to sprinkle super sized rain drops.


See the Raindrops? They are the streaks in the picture. Huge, huh?

We take shelter under these Air show planes. As you can see the raindrops are big enough to leaves streaks in the picture. We think it lets up after a few minutes, and so we ride on. We shortly realize how wrong we are. I call uncle and head towards a bathroom shelter that is at a Lake Shore Park. No one else sees it through the rain and thinking that I am crazy they ride on another few hundred yards nad then are eventually stopped themselves.

At this point I am soaked to the bone, shivering and taking refuge in the bathroom. The wind is whipping and I am cold but I am at least not in the rain anymore. Standing there shivering and trying to figure out what to do, I watch the wind blow whirlpools in the deepening puddles outside. While this bathroom is great temporary shelter, it will not do for long term/possible overnight accomodations. Some guy runs in to use the bathroom and we chat for a minute when he is done. He is Bob and he just got out of hte baseball game and was going go fishing with his partner Matt. They are painters and are having a bit of an afternoon off. Now that the weather has changed, their plans are changing. Since they have a van, I bum a lift from them to a Motel 6 or a convenience sotre or anywhere other than this bathroom on the shores of a very mad Lake Erie. I tell them where I am going and Bob actually knows exactly where to go, since he lives across the street. So with my bike in the back and a paint bucket to sit on, and a drop cloth as a towel, Bob and Matt rescue me and around what winds up being a record breaking storm in Cleveland.

The storm winds up dumping 4.75" of rain in 90 minutes centered right where we were riding and as I get a ride around the the flooding we encounter up to 6" of running water on the freeway and in the streets. Between the hazards of high winds, filled or covered up potholes and erractic drivers there was no way we could have ridden through this storm.

As it turned out though, Bob and Matt did know exactly where my next road was and dropped me off at a hotel lobby that was great spot to dryout and reorient myself and come up with a plan of action.

From here the storm had mostly passed and after regrouping and leaving the phone messages with my fellow riders that I was separated but okay, I headed out to tackle the last 20 miles of riding.

I only made it 50 yards when I realized I was still unprepared. At the convenience store, I was shivering so much I couldn't hold the map still long enough to find where I was. So my first purchase was a cup of hot chocolate. From there I warmed up and got out first a state map and narrowed it down to counties and then using a county map I created a new reroute.
With map in plastic bag in hand I was back at it. A major challenge overcome. Riding along, the weather improved and I was makng progress toward camp and my spirits were lifting. Feeling that I surely must be ahead of the other, because of the lift in the van, my thoughts worried about them but I was glad to believe they were all still together and I was the only separated one.

Finally at the tiniest of town halls, in Russell, OH I stopped to take a picture and call the others and leave them a message that I was okay and give a favorable scouting report.

In the parking lot there in Russell, a lady pulled into the parking lot.
Asking if she could confirm my directions, I met Lynee.

Lynee is an amazing woman who holds your gaze when she talks to you and smiles when she speaks. Lynee struck a chord with me. Christian, well spoken, great sense of humor and conversation, selfless, courageous, intelligent, beautiful and a U of A Wildcat. Lynee didn't know the area because she is from Arizona. As it turns out she is from Mesa, but is attending school at the U of Arizona in Tucson, "Go Wildcats" and is out in Ohio selling children's books as a summer intern to pay for college. After joking with Lambert the night before about "who would I meet out here in Ohio", Lynee was a gift from God to show He has it under control.

I thoroughly enjoyed the 40 minutes we stood chatting and could have chatted a greater while still, but that would have been rude. We went our ways and I rode my last 10 miles going over and over the day and all the things that had brought me to that point. It was too perfect. It felt like it had to be a God thing. What kind of God thing, I don't know and I know better than to try to predict. I have been shown though how God has put believers in my life for a purpose.

Considering the weather delay, and the lift from Bob and Matt and then the delay at eh convenience store and now my timing of my cycling to put me at a place, and for Lynee to be between apointments and to put her in the same place for us to meet as Christians during a summer adventure, with Bible verses as motivators and both from Arizona all the way out in Russell, OH. Call me crazy if you like, but I have been shown differently that I don't take this chance encounter lightly. As I say meeting Lynee truly is a gift from God. I don't know the purpose or pretend to guess what that purpose is. But I feel it is part of God's purpose and for that I will be diligent to follow the Lord and let Him reveal the purpose to me, in His time.

These were the thoughts running through my head as I cycled in those last 10 miles and all I wanted to do was ride up to Lambert and tell him, "Guess what God did to me today?" Riding with such excitement I made it to camp relatively quickly and found Lambert and relayed my story. As a believe, he knew my feeling and at least made me not feel crazy even if he thought I was.

I appreciated that and we headed off to dinner and started our day off chuckling about his rain adventures as well as mine.

Day 38 Evening in Sandusky

Day 38 Evening in Sandusky

Cedar Point and world class roller coasters is the destiantion. Lunch duty is in the hindrance. Dave and trade lunch prep duty in exchange for Breakfast duty. That hurdle out of the way,

Dave and I grab the shuttle and head for Cedar Point. $25 gets us in from 5pm to 10pm. That is a fair trade.

Ultiamtely it winds up being very hot and muggy. Iti s the amusement park experience. Standing in lines for 45 minutes or an hour to ride a 2 minute roller coaster. but we ride some of the best in the country.

I get my first taste of a real professional thrill rideroller coaster. This isn’t Disney’s Thunder Mountain Railroad, this is corkscrews, loops, and super drops. We get off and my stumach is definitely on its side. My knees are wobbly and I realize I am not cut out to be a professional roller coaster, rider or designer. I don’t have the stomach for it.

We go for another. I hope the 45 minute wait with give me time to settle my stomach.

It does. This ride is more drops and banking turns withour the corkscrew. My stomach can deal with this and I like this ride. We are waiting for another rider so we get dinner. Dave bust’s me for chatting up the cute Bulgarian behind the counter.

Now the ride longs are getting very long and we have to watch our time to make sure we catch the last shuttle.

We do the longest wooden coaster in the worla nd then head out. Dave and Lisa ride another ride as I start shooting picstures in the low light. The Amusement park is great for such shots.

We see Scott, Alison and Tom at the Ben & Jerrys Ice Cream on the way out. They rode 150 miles yesterday and stayed in a hotel to be able to come here and been at the park all day. It is 9:45pm and they are just leaving.

We catch the shuttle back to the campsite and I am happy to have spent the 5 hours at the park, and I am especially glad to not have ridden 150 miles yesterday jsut to be at the Cedar Point all day today. I am glad it was worth it for them. I am also glad for my choices.


Again another good day in the last 2 weeks of the ride.

Check out these Cedar Point Pictures.