Jonathan DyerUgh! 😳 We’re in Barto PA with the RV doing a dog agility event, I have a bike carrier on the back, headed home Monday. Happy to give you a ride… Nobody has to know 🙊 Reply to this comment 10 months ago
Critters were fighting over the garbage in the over-full waste bins at the campground last night. At the campground that I stayed at in Geneva, critters got into my panniers and stole almost a whole loaf of bread and two bananas. Yesterday morning, before departing from Cleveland, Willie bought me a loaf of bread from his favorite bakery, and I didn't want that stolen, so I put all of the food into one of the kitty litter boxes and sealed it tight. Nonetheless, I was glad that the critters had plenty of food to fight over without exploring my campsite.
My progress today was slowed by a conspiracy of Helios, Hills, and Headwinds. Headwinds took a back seat to the hills and the sun which were pretty brutal. I hit the worst hill around mile 55, a long walk. That late in the day, there's not a lot of energy left for climbing. And walking isn't that much slower than pedaling in the lowest gear.
I saw lots of these signs. They are an interesting optical illusion. Sometimes when I look at them they appear to be in some oriental language, and then a second later they say JESUS.
The other thing that slowed me down today was gravel roads. There are a lot of gravel roads in rural Pennsylvania, and Google maps knows every single one. Back in the day, when Colin and I rode across PA, we had only AAA paper maps to plan and follow our routes. A big advantage to that sort of planning is that the gravel roads aren't on the maps. We could locate the major hills by looking at the rivers and railroads on the maps, and we managed pretty well. Google maps doesn't care how much you suffer.
I was running low on water again, and there was a woman outside of this house. I told her my predicament and she went inside and grabbed a half dozen bottles of water. She said she hoped that I had some way to carry them all, then got in her car and drove away. People are so nice.
My lodgings for the night were in the town of Tidioute, in an Airbnb shack right on the Allegheny. It cost $20 less than the campground I was in last night, and had all the creature comforts one could ask for. Shower, toilet, stove, microwave, etc.
10 months ago