SEA.....HAWKS! SEA.....HAWKS! SEA........HAWKS!

Do we have expectations for our children that are too low? Last night, my solitude on the second floor of the B&B was disrupted with the arrival of two bicyclers, a young man and his 14 year old daughter. They finished their first day of riding out of Washington, DC,  by completing 80 miles! That is a lot of miles for anyone, let alone a 14 year old. They were going to do 85 miles today, then ride the 150 mile GAP in two days. Of course, they are sacrificing enjoyment, instead opting for a sense of accomplishment.

They are impressive, but today I decided to focus more on the side of enjoyment. The miles were, again, going to be on the lower side, 45-50 miles or so, and I wanted to examine some of the trail structures today.

Once on the trail a cadence is developed, creating 9-10 mph average speeds. The mud puddles were small to non-existent. The trail is between the Potomac River and the Canal. Most of the canal does not have water in it. Instead, it has trees. It is clear where the sides and bottom of the canal were, but nature is slowing trying to reclaim the land.

Then suddenly I ride past a long stretch where there are no trees, just mowed lawn. Here you can get a clear idea of what it must have looked like in the 1830-1850s, with, of course, water instead of grass. A couple of horses or mules would walk along the tow path, towing 60-90 foot barges that were pointed at the bow. At any given time there were hundreds and hundreds of barges going either east or west. I do not know how they passed each other on the towpath.

At one point, the rock cliffs abutting the river precluded the canal from going further, and, apparently, tunneling was not a viable option. So those clever civil engineers opened the canal into the river. However, in order to make it feasible, they first had to build a small dam that would bring the river water level to that of the canal. Then a towpath was hewed into the rock cliffs  for several miles until the canal could be recommenced. It was fun riding on the reconstructed towpath which now is concrete sheets.

There were many bicyclers and hikers on the trail, including several separate groups of boys, and several groups of girls. I stopped and chatted with two of the groups of boys. They were both Boy Scouts troops, working on their bicycling merit badges. The group today were getting ready to depart, I teased them about not going too fast when they passed me down the road. They would make me look slow, I said.

Before long, here they came. One of the boys saw my Seattle Seahawks banner and said " Yea, Seahawks!" Seeing some potential here, I replied in kind. Then I yelled SEA..." And the boy said "HAWKS!"  I said it again, and this time three or four joined in. On my third time, I had most of the dozen kids cheering on the Seahawks. Take that, you Steeler/Redskins/Ravens bicycler fans! It made me miss home.

A group of hikers stepped to one side when I announced I was approaching. Soon after I stopped to talk to a couple who had questions about the logistics of a trip like this. I opened one of the panniers and shared my itinerary, and gave him a bicycling map that  I no longer needed. I also gave him my card and directed him to Amazon.com to find my book about my cross country trip in 2008. It is called "Crossing America: Bicycling Through the Heartland". It would be super helpful for him as well as a good read.

Right about then the hikers caught up with us. I volunteered to take their picture. They get together several times a month and hike different trails together. They were from a town just two miles down the path, called Shephardstown. They said I should have lunch there. My stomach (and the rest of me) agreed.

 I crossed a bridge over the Potomac into West Virginia, to the wonderful town of Shephardstown. Riding in I saw a sign advertising their Rotary club, which meets at noon, but I was a day late. In town, looking for a restaurant, a woman asked to take a picture of my bike. She has, also, a recumbent, and photographs all the recumbents she sees in town. She invited me to join her and a friend for lunch, which I did.

Late in the afternoon, I reached Brunswick, where I planned to stay the night.

Tomorrow, I am taking a small ferry across the river into Virginia. The only other state remaining is North Carolina.

Praise Him, all creatures here below..... 

The C&O Canal---a walk through history

What yesterday proved was that this towpath is not nearly as arduous as I had been told. Today's ride will likely be the easiest of my three and one half days on it.

The purpose of this canal was to transport commerce from the east coast to the Ohio Valley and back. What I do not understand is how it got built. George Washington got the ball rolling in 1785, when he got a company to build a number of locks around previously unnavigable parts of the Potomac River. In 1828, the Chesapeake and Ohio Company decided to make a canal, connecting the locks, and adding some between Cumberland and Washington, DC.

The result is this absolutely amazing engineering feat, much of which still survives today. The canal is plenty wide, and, in places  wide enough for two or more rows of barges, some going east, some going west. It took 35,000 workers to build the canal. The locks, dams, spillways, and pumphouses are still there, in good shape, after nearly two centuries. Much of the canal still has water in it. It is just stunning to think of all the planning, logistics and labor that took place in the wilderness, all because George Washington had a vision of opening up trade to the frontier.

One spot, which I went through yesterday, was a 3,100 foot long tunnel, still with canal and towpath. It took 14 years and 6 million bricks to build. I stopped and walked the bike through, with my headlight and a head lamp on. 

As one rides the towpath, the canal is on the left (going east), and the Potomac River is on the right side. This is a far more beautiful path than I expected.

This morning, I was to ride the trail for five miles, then there would be a paved rail-trail trail paralleling the C&O for 22 miles. Before I pedaled the five miles, I counted 9 deer. The asphalt trail enabled an extra 4 miles per hour.

At the end of the paved rail trail was Fort Frederick, a relic from the French Indian war. It had thick masonry walls that were 12-14 feet high. The enclosed area was also quite large. Obviously, much of the stonework was re-constructed, but it was pretty cool.

I arrived, today, in Williamsport in mid-afternoon. Words cannot express how smelly my bicycling clothes and footwear are. The nice lady who runs this B&B is laundering them for me. I have also been able to dry out my panniers from yesterday's puddles.   All in all, I am feeling good, but the light daily mileage has helped.

Physical ailments are common, but rarely serious. I developed another chafing on a different part of the upper, inner thigh. A large bandage stopped it from getting worse. My wrenched knee is doing fine. My major concern is the swollen area around the Achilles tendon. It was very swollen two nights ago. I put a large bandage and a heavy mid-ankle wool sock over it yesterday morning. The bandage stayed in place, but it became tender late in the day, and slightly swollen. Today, I stopped in a pharmacy in the first small town I came  to, and purchased some moleskin, which seemed to do a good job. Any ailment that is affected by hours of repetitive motion has potentially bad consequences.

The Lord has been good to me, and more generous than I deserve. It is far easier to keep Him foremost in my thoughts and mind, when I am bicycling alone for hours. I hope I will be able continue when I get home.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow..... 

Day #1 on the C&O Canal towpath.
The beauty of this trip is that I am neither an athlete nor a bicycler. I am just an ordinary guy, blessed to not have any serious infirmities, who got himself into decent shape, and have been able to bicycle most of the way across the country.

The credit for the success starts with my firm faith in God. He had me put a plan together, with daily objectives, then He granted me the perseverance to get it done. Of course, it is not done yet, but my final destination, Raleigh, North Carolina, is not far off. In two weeks I should pulling up to the house of my brother, Jim, in Raleigh.

There have been a number of times during this trip when, upon waking up, I have not wanted to face what the day had to offer. There have been nights when I have woke up, and had difficulty getting back to sleep as I pondered difficult riding ahead.

So it was this morning. I have talked with number of people about the C&O trail, and they almost universally felt it was a difficult, tedious grind. The reason is because the towpath is dirt which becomes mud when it rains, and especially muddy when it rains hard like it did two days ago. It is similar to old country roads with two worn tracks with grass in the middle. It is full of all sorts of unpleasant surprises, from tree roots to rocks, mud puddles to ruts. I was told that it was constant vigilance, far exceeding what is normal. Needless to say, I was not excited about today, and especiaļy when I heard the rolling thunder around 4 AM.

Duty calls, however, so I was able to have devotions and packing, a good breakfast and was off to the trailhead by 7:30 AM.

The majority of people I chatted with, advised not to exceed 40 miles per day, so that is my approach. The trail was very good heading out of Cumberland. Since I was the first east bound rider of the day, there were still lots of deer on the trail (I counted 16 for the day). There were, indeed lots of puddles and stuff, but not nearly as bad as I imagined. There was no rain all day. Vigilance was important, but there were still long periods of time when the trail was pretty good.

I was making good time until I pulled up to a large tree that had fallen across the trail. As I attempted to ease the bike over the trunk, I discovered that one of my pannier's rain covers had fallen off. I had to have it, and knew where I last saw it, so I turned back to find it. It was 3.4 miles back, the stick that had pulled it off the panniers was still attached. Putting it back on, I headed back to the downed tree.

Before long I was at the town of Little Orleans. Calling it a town may be a bit of embellishment, since it was only one building that served food, alcohol and a few sundries. I got there two hours before the posted closing time, and they were already closing it up. They stayed to fix me a sandwich, then locked the doors.

My accommodations for the evening, were 1/2 mile away, and the place defies description. I was the only guest that night. All the other possible guests had better judgment, I reckon. I suppose it could have been worse.

Around 8:30PM, I started doing homiletics of some scripture in the book of John, but could not stay awake. At 9 PM, I turned off the light and drifted off to sleep.

Blessings.

Finally, the end of the GAP.

For some reason, I slept little last night. I was in a hostel, so maybe it was the other men around me. Maybe it was that I was only given a sheet, which was insufficient. For whatever reason, I still rose at 5:20 AM. By 7 AM, I was on the GAP.

I had switched my itinerary again. Instead of staying in Frostburg, a distance of 47 miles, I opted to go all the way into Cumberland, MD, an extra 15 miles, because those last miles would be all downhill. Thus it would make Monday's ride less than originally planned.

My knee was slightly swollen but seemed fully capable of pedalling. There were some scratches on my Achilles tendon, as a result of yesterday's fall, so I put a bandage over it. 

This is a heavily traveled trail, but I did not see anyone for the first hour and fifteen minutes of pedalling. I did see something suprising, a mother turkey with her two baby chicks. 

After 18 miles, I stopped for a snack in Rosewood. I discovered that a church service was just starting, so I decided to attend, once the train finished passing through town.

I have wondered about the wisdom and need of a railroad in this area. Is there enough business to support it. Well, two more trains passed through town in the 45 minutes that the service lasted. 

The sermon was titled "Den of iniquity". One point the pastor made was how when our sins become habitual we no longer see our sinful acts as sinful acts. They become a normal part of our lives.

After the service was over, I began to look for a place to have lunch, and found one in Meyersdale, PA., just 10 miles down the road. The road bed was wet but not slushy, so a 8-9 mph pace was achievable.

There were a few tunnels, which were interesting. As I approached one, I saw above the entrance, the words Eastern Continental Divide. Some other bicyclers were waiting for one of their companions to fix a flat, and one of them said to me "It's all downhill from here to Cumberland." Sure enough, the last 20 miles were little more than light pedalling, to achieve a consistent 15 mph pace.

I had noticed that the bandage on my Achilles tendon was gone, and it was feeling quite tender. Upon taking off my shoe and sock, in the hotel room, it was swollen out 1/2 inch. Not a good sign. I will have to baby it before it becomes a bigger problem.

Tomorrow begins a completely different day than I have experienced so far. It will be on the C&O Canal towpath, a canal designed and installed during George Washington's presidency. It will be level, and is reputed to be very pretty, however, the path is dirt. Which means it will be mud tomorrow, along will lots of trees roots and potholes. The pace will decrease to 5-6 mph. One will have to be alert all the time. I am not looking forward to it. It should be a tiring day, especially if it rains as has been predicted.

I  can hardly keep my eyes open. May God be active in your lives.

It has been 60 days, and no accidents.....splat!

It has been a long time since I have ridden without sunscreen, but with a solid cloud cover, and rain in the forecast, it did not seem necessary. 

The rain started soon after departure, and it rained hard for a while, but after a half hour or so, it started easing up. Within an hour my rain jacket and pants were back behind my seat. Thinking that having rain gear will keep one dry would be a misguided train of thought. It is far better than no rain gear, but one still gets completely soaked eventually. The trail absorbed the rain nicely.

This trail, the GAP, is very picturesque, with lots of wonderful views of the river. There are lots of benches and covered seating areas. The river provides plenty of sporting opportunities, with many groups of canoers, kayakers, rafters and fishermen out today.

There were hundreds of bicyclers heading back towards Pittsburgh. It was surprising to see people walking the trail.

One couple that I chatted with, over breakfast, are walking the whole GAP (150miles) at a clip of about 10 miles per day. They were using this time to reflect on the Lord, and what He has in store for them. It was interesting to ask the blessing on our meal, then have the husband continue the prayer, then the B&B host entering the prayer and finishing it.

Despite the rain, I was making decent time....until I came to a section of new, non-compacted gravel. It was very difficult to pedal through, and several times my bike couldn't continue. I would get off walk it 10-20 feet, then mount the bike again. All of a sudden I went from 10 mph to 5 mph or less. It was sort of like trying to run in a swimming pool. The trouble is that one wonders how long the repair section will go on. After a few miles, the trail finally got back to normal.

By lunch, I was still less than half way to my destination for the evening, a town called Confluence. Yet a pace of 8-10 mph would get me there by mid afternoon, or so I thought.

Then it really started to rain, and rain hard, but this time it did not stop for an hour and a half, dropping at least 2 inches. Now a number of bicyclers were under covered shelter. I just wanted to get done. The brakes started acting funny, and eventually were gone altogether.

The trail is a good width but not set up for three people to ride abreast. So when two oncoming women bicyclers were riding side by side, they pushed me over to the trail edge. Unfortunately, a tree limb, of maybe a 1" diameter was at an angle in front of me. When I got to it, instead of rolling over the limb, the tire slid right up it, tipping the bike over, and threw me into a shallow ditch. As I was tumbling, I felt my right knee wrench, and my first thought was whether I would be able to continue the ride.

In these situations, I feel it best to move slowly, and check all body parts before getting up.  The girls had returned, and several more showed up. They got the bike off me and asked if I was okay. Slowly standing up, I gingerly walked around. The knee seemed fine.  I thanked them for their concern, and started pedalling. One of my panniers was dragging because the bike rack got pushed out of plumb.

Within a few miles I entered the town of Confluence. First thing first, I headed for the bike shop. The owner gently washed off the bike (it was coated with grit from the trail), then he adjusted the brakes, checked the gearing and shifting. He oiled the chain and fixed the rack. Total charge: $17.00

Tonight I am staying in a hostel. A Canadian family just arrived after a long ride.

Tomorrow, I will be at the end of the Great Allegheny Passage, in Cumberland, Maryland. From there, I will be on the C&O Canal, a dirt towpath. It will not be fun.

But I am getting closer to completion, and being with Karen.

Blessings. 

Day #1 on the Great Allegheny Passage trail
This turn of events in Pittsburgh has been most remarkable. It started two days ago when I was heading into town, with no motel reservations for that night. Meeting two couples at lunch, their curiosity turned to helping me by allowing me to stay in an empty apartment below one couple's home.

The other couple invited me to breakfast yesterday morning. We would get there by bike. It was delicious. Then they asked if I would like to see the trailhead, in downtown Pittsburgh,to the Great Allegheny Passage, on which I was to embark today. I assured them that I would.

So they took me to the trailhead, then showed me the route out of town, until it became obvious where the trail was. Jerry and Donna Green were so helpful, that I became hopeful that could make it out of town unscathed. They also shared a bunch of books and pamphlets on the GAP.

One of the more helpful items was a little book written by friends of theirs, which I used to make lodging reservations for the next 5 or 6 days. I felt ready for tomorrow, but in need of another restful night's sleep. And a restful night sleep, I got.

This morning, I left Richard and Adel's house about 8:15 AM. I was fine on the route towards the trailhead for the first 6-7 blocks, then asked someone for help. The next thing you know, I was crossing the bridge on the pedestrian walkway, and pulled into the park in which the trailhead was located.

A Park Ranger was there and I wanted clarification as to the exact way out of the park, and the trail route. He gave some instructions and a little map, then took a photo of me by the trailhead, with a beautiful fountain as a backdrop.

I must not have listened to him or to Donna or Jerry well enough, because quickly, I knew I was off the trail, in downtown traffic. Seeing some familiar streets from the Park Ranger's map, and, voila, I was rolling down the trail.

Because of my fatigue and uncertainty of the speed I could attain on the crushed rock surface, my first night was only 36 miles up the trail. I was doing pretty well, but decided not to push things. Tomorrow will be 52 miles.

This trail is very nice and very beautiful. It follows the river, so for the first 135 miles or so, the trail is on a slight grade upwards. In fact at 135 miles, the trail elevation will be at 2,500 feet above sea level.

Along the trail, in the town where I am staying, is an information center. I wanted to know more about the C&O Canal portion of the route. Three people were talking in a office.I asked their advice. The lady behind the desk said the couple across from her were the real experts. They even wrote a book about it, which she held up for me to see.

The couple were the friends of Donna and Jerry whose book I was using last night to make reservations! I plied them for information for quite a while, and they willingly gave me answers which have proved helpful.

These kinds of happenings are not coincidences. They are Providential. The Lord is placing these wonderful people, with huge hearts, in my path. What an awesome God.

Now that I am nestled in to my room, I am glad that I stopped here in West Newton, PA. My legs are still feeling weak, but certainly up to the modest demands that this trail presents.

Blessings.

Does trusting in the Lord work?

The ride into Pittsburgh was scheduled to be about 40 miles or so. (Which likely means closer to 50) This means that an early start was not critical. What was critical was that I find an affordable place to stay, preferably close to the GAP (Great Alleghany Passage) trailhead. I wanted to take a rest day tomorrow. Working with the front desk staff at my motel, they found a Hyatt close by the trailhead that was expensive, just much less expensive than the others.

I called for reservations. They were fully booked tonight, but had a room available for tomorrow night. I made the reservation for tomorrow night. The new plan was to ride into Pittsburgh, find a reasonably priced motel room on the periphery of the city, then ride to the Hyatt tomorrow morning. I prayed long and hard for the Lord to direct me to the place He wanted me for the night. I trusted that He would work it out.

Leaving the motel around 8:30 AM, the way to get onto my scheduled route was to keep climbing up the hill this motel was located on, then take a side street across, and descend to the other bridge on the other side of town. My itinerary said to walk the bike across on the pedestrian walkway, and I could see why. This bridge was very old and had the open metal grate flooring, the kind where you can see right through it. I pulled up to the start of the walkway, and saw that I had to climb 21 steps to get to it. So I removed the panniers, and carried them up. Then I lugged the bike up, one step at a time. Reattaching the panniers, I rode to the other side. Once there, I had to get everything over a guard rail, using the same process used on the stairs.

Across the bridge was a sign that said "Welcome to West Virginia." What? Where did West Virginia come from? This is one of those areas where a tiny sliver of a state juts out. From now on I will be able to say, I rode my bicycle all the way across West Virginia. 

In six tenths of a mile, I was to turn on Archer Hill Road, and from the look of it, there was a lot of climbing in store. Climbing doesn't do it justice. This was the first time I have been in the bottom gear since I left Everett. Even then, I was not sure I would make it. Once to the top, I discovered it was not the top. There much more climbing, then a few descents, then climbing again. It was excruciatingly awful. There is no turning back, but I hated the grind, and not knowing whether I would be able to make it to the top of the slope.

 Finally I was on the other side of the hill, and found my goal: the Panhandle Trail. It was 24 miles long, and would take me into the outskirts of Pittsburgh. Somewhere between the end of this trail and downtown Pittsburgh, I would find a place to stay tonight.

The trail was more like a country road, two rows of packed gravel, with a strip of grass between them. After a while it became asphalt. It was getting close to noon, and I was hungry, so I stopped at a restaurant beside the trail. When the server found out that I was bicycling cross country, she announced that my lunch was free if I would sign her guest book. 

When finished, a gentleman from another table asked if I was the bicycler going to North Carolina (a sticker on the bike says 'North Carolina or bust!). He , his wife, and another couple had ridden their bikes up the trail just to have lunch at this restaurant. Finding out that they were from Pittsburgh, I asked for some guidance as to where I could find a reasonably priced hotel room, showing them my Google maps route itinerary.  They discussed it for a while involving the server, also, in the conversation.

Finally one of the women said "We were expecting company this weekend, but they just cancelled for health reasons. You could stay at our house if you want. We have a guest apartment and a full refrigerator." I said that I appreciated their get generosity, but I needed to be near the trailhead to the Great Allegheny Passage. She replied "We are less than a mile from the trailhead." I enthusiastically agreed to accept their gracious offer.

I am just amazed how God works. One moment I am blindly trusting Him to help me find the right place for tonight. The next moment He has me meeting these couples, one of whom just had the downstairs apartment become available. Scoffers will say "That was a coincidence." But I know that this was God's hand at work.

I am continually amazed at the Lord's presence in this trip. All because at one point in my life, I opened my heart to Him and have tried to live faithfully in His Spirit. But none of His presence is because I deserve it. It is His gift to me, and to anyone willing to seek His forgiveness through repentance.

Blessings to you all. 

 

What is typical when on the road?

Yesterday took a toll on me. My legs were very weak at the end of the day. Believe or not, at 8 PM, it was still 95 degrees outside. Because of all the events at the end of the day, I went to bed and hour later than normal. 

Yet today's route to Steubenville was shorter than yesterday's 70 miles. Today's mileage was to be in the low 50s. I am expecting more hills, but not necessarily like the ones I came across in the Amish area. We'll see how the body holds up.

With lesser mileage, I took my time getting ready, leaving New Philadelphia a little after 8 AM. Within 10 minutes I had already missed my turn, not noticing until I was a mile past. But soon, I was cruising, feeling good. Two hours later I missed another turn, but went into town for a snack. When I left, I started out of town but things just did not look right. I stopped a fellow in a garbage truck, asking for help. He looked at my instructions, and informed me that I was going the wrong direction out of town. So I turned around and got back onto my route. Within an hour, I entered a bike trail, and stayed on it for 11 miles. 

It ended in a small town, and it was noon, so I had lunch. Two men in the restaurant were very friendly, and came over to talk before they left. When they asked about my route to Steubenville, I gave them my Google maps itinerary. They were talking with each other. "Oh, they are sending him this way." "This is a good route." "Uh oh, don't they know the bridge is out?"

The conversation ended with the idea to ignore the bicycle route, and just follow the main highways. That is exactly what I did. The hills became more frequent, some of them steep and long. They were not as steep as several of yesterday's hills, but were challenging, nonetheless.

Traffic was starting to pick up on my highway as it approached Steubenville, and I realized I needed to exit before I became a problem for vehicles, and for myself. Ironically, the next exit was the one that I wanted! The only problem was that my motel was 3/4 of a mile up a very steep road. I must have been a sight, checking in at the motel. I asked the staff if they had a washer/dryer. No, they replied, but I could use the w/d at the motel next door. I mused about whether I really needed to clean my clothes. They assured me that I did!

Well, off to dinner and clothes cleaning. Tomorrow, I should arrive in Pittsburgh. Then another day of rest.

God bless. 

How many strikes before I am out?

Today looked to be interesting. A wind advisory in the afternoon had been given two days ago, so I wanted to try to be in a town called New Philadelphia by 3 PM. I did not come close.

Rising at 5 AM, I was able to have prayer and devotions, breakfast, and get all packed and on the road by 6:45 AM. The weatherman decided that the heat advisory was being extended for one more day. The heat index was projected to be over 100. Fortunately, i had bought more sunblock last night. I loaded up the panniers with extra water and Gstorade.

A little after 7 AM, I was on a really good rail trail, averaging 12-13 mph. It was already warming up, but the trail was shaded. After 17 miles I reached a small town which had a different trail leaving it. The trail seemed to have a lot of bicycle tracks on it, then it dawned on me. These were not bike tracks, but buggy tracks. The Amish used this trail to get into town. They face the same risks I do when they use the main roads.

This trail was actually to be two separate, but connected trails, the first of 4 miles, the second for 7 miles. I was making such good time that I had visions of having 45-50 miles by lunch. Then the first strike hit.

The second trail was not paved. In fact it was terrible. So you might ask, "why did I continue?" I guess I thought it would change, but it didn't. Because of recent rains, it was muddy and slippery. Finally, I decided that if an opportunity came, I would try something else. The trail got narrower and narrower until I questioned if I was on the trail at all. Google maps said "Yes, this is the trail." It had lots of wildlife, almost anything you could imagine. I could not appreciate the animals as I was slogging away at 5-6 mph. Finally a crossroad appeared, and I climbed up to it. A sign said that the trail was closed up  ahead anyway.

Strike two was that I had no idea where I was. An Amish man on a bicycle zipped past me before I could ask him for directions. I gave chase, knowing I would never catch him. At least it gave a sense of doing something. He topped the hill that I had started up. When I reached the top, shortly, he was gone. But some type of Amish manufacturing plant was there with a half dozen bikes parked out front. The bicycler must work here. 

I went into the office, and got directions out to the main road. It led to a main town, where I hoped to have lunch. I was not sure of the distance, so I stopped to hydrate and snack. I must have looked curious because a pickup slowed, and asked if I was okay. Upon my reply that I was, he said the town was 12 miles up the road.

By now I am getting tired, but felt refreshed after eating. By golly I found a road across from the restaurant that was on my directions so I hydrated and hydrated, and got back on my route. By this time, I was 45 miles into the day, but not all of it was on the route. 

 The countryside was beautiful, but I only saw one buggy. A bicyclist I talked yesterday said she saw more buggies than cars, but that must been because it was Sunday.

 This area was not only very hilly, but several of the hills were more than I could manage. The first hill was so steep and so long, that I got off to push the bike up the hill. When biking, the movement forward brings a flow of air past me, so it it does not feel as hot as it really is, sort of like having a fan on me. This, however, was the opposite. The temperature was in the  mid-nineties, and I was sweating so hard that a constant flow of perspiration was dripping onto the bike which I was pushing uphill. It ended being a loooong hill, so I was a little concerned about my body fluid levels, and was I hydrating enough. I have not perspired that much outside in years.

Strike four happened shortly after I heard thunder, and felt a light rain on my face. Within a minute it was a powerful deluge, to the point that I thought it potentially dangerous to ride in. I pulled over under a tree, put my rain jacket on, and waited. All the coat did was delay the inevitable soaking I was to get. It was a little better against the tree trunk, but when the rain next let up, and I moved toward my bike, my feet slipped on the slope to the dtch, and before you know it, I was sliding to the ditch. Digging my fingers into the mud I was able stop. A sideways flip, and the ditch was no longer a problem. As I observed all the mud on me, I realized that was strike five.

 Finally, only 12-13 miles to my destination. Then something happened that has not happened before: I had a flat tire. Strike six.  I carried a spare tube with me, just in case, but must have, inadvertantly, shipped it back to Karen while in Minnesota. Fortunately, i had a repair kit, but I was chastising myself for not having a tube. Finally I patched the tube, pulled the offending staple out of the tire, and started to air it up. It continued to leak. Nuts. Now what to do? I was doing this in front of an Antique business which was up the drive in a barn. My thought was to get permission to store the bike there, then hitch hike to town (assuming there was a bike store).

I walked up the driveway to the barn, where this older generation the man sat behind his cash register. I explained my situation, and asked if I could store the bike there. He, instead offered to drive me into town to get the tube. I had the bright idea to take the whole tire in and let the bike shop fix it. When the gentleman pulled up with his pickup, I asked if I could load up the bike and my gear. That way he could drop me off, then go home unencumbered. 

It worked great! The shop took care of me, fixed the flat, sold me an extra tube, gave me clear directions to my motel. What could possibly go wrong?

On the way to the motel, only a mile or two away, I felt an uncomfortable thumping. Stopping the bike, I checked the back tire. It was flat again. Is that strike seven? I'm getting so tired that I don't care.

As I write this the bike shop is taking care of the flat.

There are several thoughts about today: First of all, God may have been testing me, but I always felt He was there. Secondly, I was startled by my inability to climb steep hills. This may make me reconsider my route in Pennsylvania.

Before I forget, I passed the 3,000 mile mark today!

Blessings to you all. 

Less mileage--more fatigue.

It makes no sense to me that a day with less mileage would be more tiring than a longer day, assuming that the terrain is comparable. Yet today's 61 miles, seven miles less than yesterday, resulted in my being more tired.

There are a couple of possible reasons. It could be because I did not sleep soundly last night. Finally falling asleep around 11 PM (I went to bed at 9:30 PM), I woke around 1:30 AM, and never got back into a deep sleep. Or it could be that the heat zapped me more than I thought. Frankly, I did not feel overheated at all, but it may have snuck up on me. Or it could be theory #3: I have been drinking a lot of sweet tea (4 glasses at dinner last night). Maybe the caffeine is keeping me awake. Tonight I drank only water. Theory #4 revolves around accumulated fatigue. Theory #5 is that it could be, and probably is, a combination of the above.

If you have ever read the print out of Google maps, it is somewhat non-sensible. Yet last night I pulled up Google maps on my tablet, and, using a print out of today's trip, went through every turn. Suddenly, it all made sense. And the day went smoother because of that exercise. It is funny how we all have different learning styles, and that one worked for me. When today's journal is completed, I will be doing the same thing for tomorrow's route.

The weatherman extended the heat advisory to include today. Temperatures were projected to be in the low 90's, with higher than normal humidity. I figure that an early departure would help. I wanted to worship somewhere along the way, and the possibility of a thunderstorm in the late afternoon/early evening gave added incentive to an early start. A few minutes after 7 AM, I was on the road.

The roads I was on were very quiet. In the first 90 minutes, I was only passed by four vehicles. The route took me into the town of Delaware, home to Ohio Wesleyan University. I had heard of the school but was unaware of its location until I rode by it today.

A few minutes after 9 AM, I noted a number of cars in the parking lot of a Methodist Church in town. Apparently their service had just started. Not seeing the main door, I entered through the handicapped entrance, and found myself standing in the front of the sanctuary, as a hymn was being sung. I quickly found a pew. (Speaking of pew, I was really stinky. My shirt, shorts arms and legs were soaking wet from perspiration.)

The service was good. The title of the sermon was "Is that your final answer?" The disciple John said that Jesus came to take away our sins, destroy the works of Satan, and to show the love of God. What was the final answer? That every day we should pursue a life worthy of Jesus.

The church was very welcoming and friendly, despite my appearance and smell. They asked me to stay for Sunday School, but I had to get some food in the belly, and move on. So far that morning, I had ridden 20 miles, and had a long way to go.

This part of the country is picturesque. Unlike much of the three previous staes, in which most bicycling roads were either north/south or east/west, these roads were seldom straight for very long. There were lots of trees and wildlife. I saw a couple of ground hogs, and a doe with two fawns.

The last portion of the day was a dozen miles on the Heart of Ohio Trail. It was a nice bike trail: clean, paved, cool from the shade trees, and little bike or pedestrian traffic. I was surprised to see another touring bicyclist on the trail. I am far from any established bicycling routes so I did not expect to meet another tourer. It was a young lady, probably in her mid 20s, who was riding solo from Boston to the west coast, exact location to be determined. She was camping along the way. 

As I pulled into Mt. Vernon, Ohio, the clouds were beginning to look ominous, and it smelled like it was going to rain. And it did. Not hard, but not lightly either. I did not put my rain gear on. Why should i? I was already soaking wet from perspiration, what harm could the rain do. In fact, it felt great!

 Tomorrow will be the longest ride of this stretch to Pittsburgh, somewhere in the 70 mile range. It will take me directly into Amish country, where the horses and buggies will outnumber the cars. It should be interesting. Rain was previously forecast. We will see if that still holds true. 

Did I live my day worthy of Jesus? I certainly hope so.