Welcomed Changes All Around

The rapture came and went, I awoke this morning expecting to hear silence, and weaving my way through stalled cars, dodging zombies along the way, but in fact – it was life as usual. The only thing that did come out of it is that my boot was filled with insects and spiders as I packed everything up in a small little grove just outside of York, Pennsylvania. I later on found out during the day that it wasn’t supposed to happen till 6pm EST, so I planned my day, stocked up on food, anxiously checking the clock counting down the minutes. Somewhere in the last 30 minutes I had a lapse of judgement and totally forgot, not realizing until 6:45pm that still, everything was OK. Doomsday prophecies, ha.

I’ve made it onto Route S, the horizontal-ish bike route that stretches all the way across the state of Pennsylvania and having the time of my life on it. This was exactly what I needed and I’m delighted that I made it out of the crazy cities. Sure, there are still towns and cities along this route, but nothing like the concrete jungle of the entire east coast. There are even dangers at the side of the road, but these consist of mostly quick reflex dodging of mounds of horse poop from the buggies that cart around the Amish folk.

It was a nice sunny day leaving Philadelphia, and I pedaled away from a last minute bail out by my friend Danica’s friend Alex – He was as cool as I was told he was, and we got along well with conversation about all sorts of different types of absurdity going on in the world. I mucked about the city for a while snapping some photos, and taking a few left-right-left wrong turns along the way, but not caring. I needed a a break from planning and was heading wherever my bike pointed me. I knew I was going to get onto the Bike Route S eventually in the next day or two so headed west and tried to find routes that didn’t deal with massive amounts of traffic from drones coming in/leaving from the big city. It’s monsoon season in the east, and the weather has been fairly erratic. Cloudy skies with sun poking through with a reasonable temperature in the mid 20’s quickly change to small showers, lightning storms, or full on downpours. When it started spitting the first time I found a gas station to hide out at and sat under the awning watching a spectacular light show, before being approached by a woman who insisted that I’d be going to hell for eternity if I didn’t follow her instructions on becoming “born again”. Now, I don’t feel I have the need to spend my efforts focusing on an unknown being who apparently is looking over me for my well being. I politely spoke to the woman my thoughts about the whole ordeal, countering the comments of that my life could be terminated in the next 15 minutes from a driver at a red light with questions as to why I wasn’t looked after in this lifetime, and why would I want to look forward to the future when all I’m interested in was today? Whatever floats your boat, and if you feel the need to cherish something go for it, but I don’t appreciate the up front, matter of fact, in your face aggression to make people think the way you do. She ended it by coming back with two booklets for me, and trying to force me to repeat some words after her, which I politely refused again and commended her on her memorization skills.

Wooo  boy, let’s see – we’ve talked politics and we’ve talked religion in the past 2 weeks on this site, the two things I don’t ever want to discuss with others – Glad yer still reading.

I rode off in the rain weaving in and out of rush hour traffic, laughing out loud as a large SUV passed me with the window down. “This isn’t Egypt! Get a fucking car” was hurled at me as some sort of insult intended on hurting my feelings, but kept me smiling for the remainder of the day at some of the nonsensical things people can come up with when people don’t follow the status quo. I do believe people all over the world ride bicycles, yup – even in the United States, perhaps it was his big day out of the little box he lived in. I didn’t make much distance that day as the rain kept coming and going and I sought solace inside a coffee shop, again where I was told everything and everything I needed to know about whatever by a man who could barely get off the couch he was sitting on. Everything I said to him came back as a suggestion, a tip, and a way that I should do things. One thing I did find in Philadelphia and obviously its surrounding areas was the tendency to try to 1-up someone in conversation, showing that you understand what a person is saying, but more so by explaining that you have already been there and done it better. This isn’t the case for the rest of Pennsylvania thankfully – and you know, maybe I just had a string of bad encounters, or perhaps I was bringing it on myself with my growly attitude of days past.

Best town name ever, wonder if they sell I (heart) Tshirts?

I told myself I was to ride 75km that day and noticed all sorts of burned out barns, secluded busy areas and other unique areas that one could pitch a tent for some stealth camping for the night at the 73km mark. Even though it was 2km I told myself that I wanted to meet my target and ended up eating my words as I landed smack dab in a city centre of Coatesville, urban, busy, and impossible to not be discovered that night. I continued riding, looking for spots and ended up on a windy back road with beautiful greenery, shrubs and creeks near by. Old stone houses that had long since been abandoned peppered my vision yet due to the houses all being on steep embankments and any pathways long since let go I had to continue riding, while the drops of rain started to fall again. It wasn’t long that I found a graveyard, one of the better spots to go undetected for a night. It’s too bad there was a car there so I had to duck in through the bushes, and in fact ran smack dab into the person on the way. He was visiting his uncles plot, after burying him 3 weeks earlier with a tall can in a beer cozy. We talked for a while, about taking advantage of what you have now, why I choose to sleep in graveyards, and the standard default ‘weather’ formalities. I had to go at him with a few different angles to make sure he wasn’t going to give me up later on in the night for camping illegally on someone else’s land. He didn’t after all, and I enjoyed a fairly reasonable sleep being awoken to the sounds of light rain throughout the night, giving me the opportunity to wake up and reinflate my air mattress as it was starting to become uncomfortable with a rock jabbing into my spine. Thanks to my awesome readers who managed to set me up with a mail drop in Pittsburgh where I can get a replacement sent so avoid this from happening for the remainder of the tour. I’ve also managed to secure a mail drop location in West Virginia, and Austin, Texas where I will be in the next 6 weeks – for anything that needs long shipping times. Contact me if you want the address.

More of the same rainy weather came at me in the morning, but I rode forward with a small pain in my left knee climbing small hills, passing horses and buggies while waving at the riders. I was in full on Amish country and they were everywhere. Even though gas stations were plenty they all had seperate parking areas for them to park, and speaking to a few of the Amish folk showed that they are pleasant people to be around. The big news of the area was a house auction down the road and many were eager to pick up household gems. It wasn’t long after this that the small towns started appearing and the advertisements for buggy rides, the Amish ‘experience’, Amish furniture and the whole nine yards of taking advantage of a culture for tourism purposes. I skipped all of it and headed into the town of Lancaster where I found a coffee shop with a grassy area to cook some food and chatted with a few passer-by’s. One man named Tom came back after our brief conversation with a few goodies from the bakery wanting to make sure that I was well on the rest of my days journey, and I thanked him repeatedly. I don’t entirely need the offerings that people continuously pass forth, but I do accept them gladly, as most of the time they are things that I normally couldn’t / wouldn’t afford, and are a nice treat – further fortifying my thoughts that people everywhere are good. Right on Humanity!  The weather started clearing up and I took off quickly to get some miles in before the end of the day as I really hadn’t made it too far whatsoever. Unfortunately I left prematurely as the rain came down in full on sheets, and the horse poo that I was regularly dodging turned into thick sludge that slid down the hills – thank goodness I opted for fenders, otherwise I wouldn’t be a happy boy. I dried off quickly thanks to the Merino Wool and pants I wear when the sun came out and I continued west, finally hopping on Route S up and down hills and small villages. I noticed a moving dot way ahead of me coming in my direction and I was quite happy to meet Jordan, another touring cyclist who’s been on the road for the past few months from Florida who shares many of my views, and reasons for touring. He wants a life change, he has generally no idea where he needs to be, and he is searching for something he hasn’t quite figured out  yet. Unfortunately he hasn’t had some of the same experiences I have, whether it be the fact that he hasn’t built up enough courage to approach people yet or dealt the lucky strokes of coincidence. Regardless, he’s having a great time, and looking back I should have accepted his offer of going to find a place to camp out together, as I could have used the company. I figured I would go another 15 miles down the road before stopping but ended up crashing out in a grove just outside of York. Bugs everywhere I spent the night holed up in the tent writing and reading in a great headspace.

I seem to wake up at least once throughout the night lately, which is likely due to the part of poor sleep patterns from the past 3 years of constant insomnia, muted by sleeping pill intake which I’m happy to report I kicked the consumption of them the day before I arrived in St. John’s Newfoundland. I generally wake up, have to have a pee (this is usually a pelvic thrust outside of the tent in the dark that more often than not turns into a catastrophe – last nights involved me peeing all over my boot). I couldn’t get back to sleep at 4am and tossed and turned for an hour, but eventually managed to nail a few more hours of shut eye before the birds woke me up with their chattering. It was hot, and the sunbeams shooting through the branches fired me up for a day of riding, quickly eating 6 packets of Oatmeal and taking my coffee for the road. I guess I left the birds my loaf of bread as when I went to reach back on my trunk bag to fish out a few pieces one handedly holding onto the bars keeping balance I came up with nothing. York was a neat city to ride through, tonnes of placards outlining the history of the town, and its part in various wars throughout the years. It also let me know that I was riding on the Lincoln Highway, the first cross country highway to be built across America. It’s been repaved many times and parts of it have been repurposed, but added a whole new layer to my ride trying to understand the history of this state. After York the people disappeared and it soon transformed into some of the most beautiful riding areas I’ve ever been on so far, fields that stretched for miles with low lying hills covered with bright green trees. Farmers placed signs in front of their property advertising their wares consisting of eggs, strawberries, asparagus, and melons. The hills came fast and steady too, however even at a grade of 10% were easy enough to ascend in a short time with an even faster descent, pushing you halfway up the next hill. I found a gas station and spent 2 hours outside charging my components, catching up on the happenings of the world on the computer and chatting to the massive amounts of people out in full force on their motorcycles, classic cars, and domestic offerings filling their trunks with ice and other confections for a great day in the sun. I must have been passed by 300 motorcycles today, one pack took almost a minute to get by me, with most giving a nod of awareness, the two fingered peace sign, or a full on wave.

It was getting hotter than I could handle at some points and I slowed myself down to a turtles pace, yet managed to not suffer the fate of the many large dinner plate sized shells that were flattened on the sides of the roads. I could hear rustling of the bushes beside me and noticed many strange animals I’ve yet to encounter on tour scurrying away at the strange wheeled moving object that was coming their way. Apple orchards started appearing and I noticed a beautiful building, a Round Barn. This was a store that offered handmade soaps, crafts, and all sorts of offerings from their 10,000 acre farm. It was a beautiful spot and I caught some shut eye in the grass to the sound of two people getting married on the same space. Pygmy goats and Donkeys woke me up trying to get my attention to feed them, but I’m running on a cashless situation right now until I get to Philadelphia and didn’t want to feed them any of my food based on the owners posted request. Full with food I set forth once again making the final push to see if I could hit 100km by days end – Once I turned the corner I was met with a huge climb, and while it wasn’t difficult to get through, it took along time, at a slow but steady pace in 2nd gear all the way up. I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw the reward at the top, a Gentleman’s Club that didn’t have a liquor license and allowed you to B.Y.O.B. – I tried to imagine what it would be like inside as it almost looked like the basement of someone’s residence as I shot down the other side of the hill for many miles heading nearly taking a tumble on some loose gravel that was on the side of the road. I noted a few state parks coming up and opted to check out to see what they had to offer and didn’t make it more than a minute before being approached by a friendly family who were wandering around in their bare feet, who had just come from a swimming area. I asked about the water, and while they said it was cold they were heading over to a creek with a waterfall, and wanted to know if I would join them. Their little boy, Leo asked a lot of questions and had a great curiosity and adventurist attitude and we talked about the general area we were in, what was to come next on my ride in the next 100 miles, and about the father, Mike’s time in Iraq in 163 degree weather while I got over the initial chill of the very cold water and gave in and dunked my entire body in it. We parted ways and I cycled the remaining 10km to a location just off the highway in the trees. it’s a bit loud, but once the stores close nearby the only thing I should have to contend with is the odd muffler from a souped up cruiser.

I decided to sneak a peek at what was coming next on the road – I’m in for some serious climbs in the next day – 2 10% grades of 7km a piece will be coming soon after I start my ride – I’m in the southern tip of the Appalachian Mountains, and these are just a small taste of what they would be like if I was cycling through Vermont. They do look beautiful from a far, and one day if I ever decide to take up hiking I will make a point to check them out. For now I’m just being blown away at the beauty while riding a bike.  Highly recommended for someone who has 7-10 days and wants to experience a cycle tour that won’t entirely take them out of their comfort zone, offer breathtaking scenery, and to witness different cultures of those who tend to live life the simpler way. It’s be a great first trip for someone who didn’t want to commit to a month long odyssey down a coastline, and for someone who wanted to experience great eating from roadside stands, restaurants, and farmhouses. Unless of course the remaining part of the route is the pits, which I’ll let you know next post!e life the simpler way. It’s be a great first trip for someone who didn’t want to commit to a month long odyssey down a coastline, and for someone who wanted to experience great eating from roadside stands, restaurants, and farmhouses. Unless of course the remaining part of the route is the pits, which I’ll let you know next post!

We seem to be making good progress with the Cranklisted Awards for Best Bike Travel Blog! If you like what I’m doing spend the time to vote for me every day until June 1st!

20100521-post