Head for the hills

July 12, 2016

We have started making our slow, torturous way from Pittsburgh to the shores of Lake Erie. According to Google maps Pittsburgh to Erie PA is a 2h 1m ride by car or a 12h 38m ride on a bike. According to our schedule, today was day 2 of a 4 day slog from Pittsburgh to Erie.

We often follow an Adventure Cycling route, although we frequently need to stray from the AC route to find a hotel. Oddly, there seems to be more adventure off of the AC route than on the AC route. For example when we left this morning we encountered this fence across our path within the first mile.

This locked gate was at the bottom of a hill. If we hadn't hit the brakes, perhaps we could have sailed right through.

The reason for our reduced pace is that Northwest Pennsylvania is unrelentingly hilly. In South Florida we have never shifted out of the big chain ring, today we were using all of the gears. Here's a picture of a particularly effective gear for steep climbs.

Previous states used numbers for bike routes. Pennsylvania uses letters. We think the V is for very steep.

The temperature was in the 80s. Quite pleasant, at least when we were not working hard to climb a hill, but warm enough to encourage us to take lots of breaks. At one roadside stop we took a look around a cemetery. Many of th stones were from the 1800s. All of the graves of people who had served in wars were marked with American flags. Some were from 20th century conflicts such as WW I or WW II, but there were also many civil war veterans. A marker that caught my attention was for a veteran of the war of 1812. After more than 200 years his service to his country is still being recognized - no expiration date on that.

War of 1812 veteran marker adjacent to the stone.

Our route today took us through Amish country. I am impressed that a single horse is able to pull a buggy up hills that left us exhausted. We saw a family working together to gather hay using tools and techniques that have changed little over the lifetime of our country.

We are not fast descenders on our bikes, but as I hit 25 mph going down a hill I wondered if I was traveling faster than some of the Amish farmers in that hay field had traveled. Would I by further from that field after a couple more days of cycling than they might travel in their lifetimes?

Kerry, who hails from Ohio and is much more familiar with Amish customs informed me that while Amish farmers may not own cars, they have no problem with taking rides in planes, trains and automobiles. Their transportation "rules" are certainly no more arbitrary than our choice to take ferries on our bike trip. In fact we would love all hills with grades over 10% to offer ferry service.

After less than 40 miles we arrived at our destination in Mercer PA. Since the heat of the day had not yet passed, we though it would be advisable to hydrate as soon as possible.

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