- Day 1 -1 Week
- Day 1 -12 Hours
- Day 1
- Day 2
- Day 3
- Day 4
- Day 5
- Day 6
- Day 7
- Day 8
- Day 9
- Day 10
- Day 11
- Day 12
- Day 13
- Day 14
- Day 15
- Day 16
- Day 17
- Day 18
- Day 19
- Day 20
- Day 21
- Day 22
- Day 23
- Day 24
- Day 25
- Day 26
- Day 27
- Day 28
- Day 29
- Day 30
- Day 31
- Day 32
- Day 33
- Day 34
- Day 35
- Day 36
- Day 37
- Day 38
- Day 39
- Day 40
- Day 41
- Day 42
- Day 43
- Day 44
- Day 45
- Day 46
- Day 47
- Day 48
- Day 49
- Day 50
- Day 51
- Day 52
- Day 53
- Day 54
- Day 55
- The End
- Retrospective
We left at a good time. Our hotel wasn’t the best, the AC didn’t work, there were people setting off fire works right out side our window, the cleanliness of the room wasn’t great but I could have forgiven but with the first two…
But turn that frown upside down, we left early. We started out riding past a golf corse. It was a very nice way to start the day. A few ups and downs and a way we went. After about ten or so miles we came across a town. As we were exiting the town we talked about the lack of food options and what that would mean for the rest of the day. And just like that we rounded the corner to find a gas station with a restaurant attached. The door listed a help wanted for a cook 3-8. I wondered if that was am or pm. Either way a five hour day… pm could be the dinner rush… was this gas station restaurant have that big of a dinner rush? Less questions then the help wanted for chief and cook we saw yesterday or the day the before. No matter. We went in to sit down.
It was a quite place with lots of different folk all sitting down for some breakfast. Pennsylvia doesn’t come first in my mind of diversity but I guess we all got to eat, and there wasn’t ANYTHING else in town. I ordered a banana pancake. He remarked that no one has ever asked for such a thing. I point out its on the menu, why I thought to ask for it. He said he knew it was on the menu but no one had ever asked for it. It seams partly pointless to even talk about it now while still blowing my mind that something like banana pancake is the one thing on the menu you have never heard anyone ask for? Breakfast was nice enough and we head out again.
In the parking lot two guys who had been discussing flammability and increased combustion through their breakfast stopped to say hello. It is kind of nice. I mean most of the time one goes any where any one they see can just say just another day for both of us, no need to talk at all. However when you’re clearly doing a long distance bike ride people want to chat about it. Of course like most things some chats are nice and some… These guys didn’t ask if we were married (to others or each other) or say what were doing is crazy. So I guess I appreciated that. The one guy though did share of his adventures on a bike, Cairo, Tasmania, New Zealand and Australia were the few that stuck out to me. We shared a few tips and tricks of the road, and made a joke or two. Bikes just seam to make people happy. Pushing up some steep incline in the heat might not be too fun but at the end of the day, who doesn’t like to ride a bike? They suggest taking route 6, and head on their way.
Now, so you all know, I have been Google Mapping and Yelping my way through all of this. I understand there maybe better ways. Jerry and I both ride in Manhattan often (especially him). Traffic isn’t the best but it isn’t something that really scares us away either. When we rode to Miami we got the Adventure Cycles map. It was very nice to have and I did learn lot from having it. However there were many time when we could ride down Route 1 for ten miles or make twenty turns traveling fifteen or twenty miles to end in the same place… more bike friendly. People who don’t deal with cabs and delivery guys and pedestrians who don’t look every day might not be ok with many of the streets we ride on. However when facing a 1400 mile trip from his apartment to mine, well ride in traffic and safe five here and ten there.
This leads me to feel I must say two things
1) Always be safe. I will never tell you not to jump out of a plane, but wear a parachute, no?
2) This might not be the perfect system.
Day one hurt. I mean not even really my legs but my spirt. I know I went in pretty negative but there one hundred percent has to have been a better way to go but flying by the seat of my pants and choosing smaller miles over most anything else… we climbed a lot, we did not get very far, and I felt it. Planning is key in most of life but saying were gonna basically have the same first day except head more north isn’t the best plan.
Bernie Buffone told us about the trials and tribulations of Route 15. Though he was talking about going south, even though we very specifically asked about northern routes. So I started to think about about Route 6. The guys we met this morning said Route 6 was real nice but we should take the time to check out the ice farm. These are the men of fire and ice. It sounds wild, a natural phenomenon making ice in spring and summer but not in winter. However I don’t know that either of us are looking for road side attractions along this journey.
As Jerry just heard, “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.”
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