Day 21,22,23,24,26

You Can Find me in St Louis!

Miles Biked: Alot

Hello from the gateway to the west....St Louis Missouri! Since the last time I've written in here we've gone through three states in 6 days! The hills are behind us, and a whole crap load of corn is in front. Welcome to the Midwest!

Louisville Kentucky almost seemed like day off. After a quick 40 mile bike ride (that Miriam said would be 20) I tried my luck with several HBC-ers at Churchhill Downs...the horse racing track home to the kentucky derby. I lost $6 on two races, but it was worth the $2 price of admission just to see horse jockeys up close in person. I am convinced there is a jockey farm somewhere in South America that produces these amazing small creatures. At night we all partied in club 113.....which is not a club, but a dorm room at the University of Louisville. I relived my days of living in the dorms and then it was time to leave the bluegrass state and hit up Indiana.

So no one told me.....but Indiana has hills. Not mountains, but I was surprised that I was rising and falling. We biked through the rolling hills of Indiana to our destination of Saint Meinrad. The town has a population of 800, but the Abbey was the size of Westminster Abbey. The day brought on our first bit of hard rain. So our wet shammy's (butt padding) were ecstatic to reach something with a roof. I'm not sure if I saw any monks, but I did see lots of old people. I keep asking myself if organized religion will be around in 40 years. Everyone seems to be 60 or above in these churches.

From Meinrad we biked through torrential down pours to the town of New Harmony. The rain took out my cell phone (although it seems to be breathing life today). New Harmony lies in the middle of no where, yet holds millions of dollars worth of fine art. We were given a tour of the town by the 93 year old widow of one of the towns earliest decedents. She is solely responsible for bringing in the kinds of art work the town has......and will talk you ear off about anything and everything seen in the town. Although New Harmony was beautiful, it creeped me out. I passed through several poor farming towns before reaching it, and it was out of place. So I was happy to move on to Thompsonville, Illinois.......population under 800.

Thompsonville sits also in the middle of nowhere......and thanks to Miriams route......we ended up on gravel roads for 10-15 miles. Gravel roads and road bikes don't go well together. The terrain was so rough I lost my brand new camera and passport (only form on ID) somewhere along the route. Corey put it best while biking when he said "I feel like I'm in a third world country! The roads were littered with stray dogs and even an angry hawk! Upon arrival the pastor took us all out to eat at a BBQ place on his bill.....I don't even want to know what he spent.

From Thompsonville we were supposed to go camping.......however a nasty thunderstorm broke out, and Beth talked to a local police department, who apparently called a church, which is why we apparently stayed in a gym in Chester Illinois. Chester.....as I'm sure you know......is home to the creator of "Popeye" the cartoon. Corey traveled down to the Popeye museum in his time off, bought a hat, took off his shirt, and played the roll of Popeye (minus the spinach) for the rest of the day. The town was small and contained the worst smelling Dairy Queen in the country. It smelled of a mix between sweat, ash tray, and human feces. I passed on the ice cream.

That leads us to today! The ride took us through more corn fields to the banks of the Mississippi. I passed over well behind most of the group due to my 11 mile detour (took a wrong turn) and now I am hours away from giving my first HBC slide show! Sam, Colin, and Andy decided to bike across the Mississippi naked. I'm not sure how they avoided arrest. I on the the other hand prefer to bike fully clothed. Well I am being summoned to leave.....I hope all is well with everyone! Time to go explore ST LOUIS!!!!!!!!

Day 20

Explosive

Good morning from Shelbyville Kentucky! For all of your Simpsons fans out there, there is a Springfield in Kentucky but I am not sure where it is. I have some memory of my brother once telling me Kentucky is the only state with a Shelbyville and a Springfield but I'm not sure if that is true. Our ride took us through Bourbon County which means it was time to STOP AND SEE HOW BOURBON IS MADE.

After 30 miles we all stopped for a quick tour at the Woodford Reserve. The place was a little overwhelmed when we all walked in shouting "I want Bourbon!". The tour guide showed us around the small facility. Afterwords during our free taste, it occur ed to me as excited as everyone was to go to a Bourbon distillery, no one actually likes Bourbon. I guess the thought of alcohol while biking just sounds exciting.

After lunch Pat and Corey decided to teach me a lesson in how slow I am. While biking in a small group with 5 or so riders I glanced to my left to see Corey flying by me at 30 MPH. Francis picked up his wing and I heard Pat saying "I'm getting on this" as he jumped in the back and picked up the draft to light speed. Unfortunately for me I am a pretty unexplosive person and couldn't get off the line and couldn't keep the pace. Pat swears he will teach me the power of exploding!

I continued the afternoon by swimming in a river with clay banks. While sticking my feet in the banks it reminded me of 6th grade art class. Lisa and I took a detour to the state capitol where we frolicked in the grass and sprinklers. While biking through the capitol both Lisa and I knew we were in the capitol on Kentucky.....but we had both forgotten the name of the town. It was not until we approached the capitol building when I finally realized the name was FRANKFORT. Mr. Duke my 5th grade teacher would be so upset.

We ended in the small town of Shelbysville. Instead of sticking around and going to the county fair across the street.....we packed as many legal drinkers in the van and headed to the big city of Louisville!

Louisville is only 25 miles away, which is our biking destination today (which is awesome), and Pat spent a summer here.......so he took us to the hottest party in town......4th Street live. 4th street live is a part of the city they shut down at night to allow of drinking in the streets. It is almost like a mall where you can carry alcohol around. The bars and drinks were only a warm up for our return to the church where Pat and Bertoli had figured our the lighting system and microphones to the STAGE in the church we were sleeping. Upon our return, Francis and Pat ran on stage and started singing classic favorites like "Kung Foo Fighting" and the theme to the Ghostbusters. Lisa and Bertoli danced the night away deep into the night and now we are off for one of the shortest rides of the trip into Louisville!

It still has yet to really rain on us, although that may happen today with a chance of thunderstorms! I hope all is well in everyone's lives. Keep the commenting up and let me know how you are doing.

-Ben

Day 14,15,16,17,18,19

Getting unlucky in Kentucky (and West Virginia)

Miles Biked:70
65
70
65
81
0

Since the last time I have written on this blog 7 people on this trip have been involved in accidents. Two involved hospital visits, one a car, and HBC blood can be found on state highways from West Virginia to Kentucky. But don't worry......I am having a blast......and I have both my legs!

So Long West Virginia

Before leaving for this trip I tried as best I could to stereotype every state I would be traveling through so I could be as insulting as possible when I arrived in churches and communities......well I didn't try to stereotype, it just happens. As I biked through Spencer and Hurricane (pronounced Hur-uh-kuhn) I realized that all of my visualizations were coming true. On our ride through the hills of WV to Hurricane we headed into country roads, and some of us thought we would never make it out alive. The first sign of trouble was early in the day when we took a turn and a pit bull with 3 of his closest dog friends were waiting for us around the bend. These weren't dogs barking in the side yard.....no, these dogs had seen a couple bikers pass and knew fresh meat was on its way. They positioned themselves in the middle of the road, and made quick moves for my ankles! Luckily, my speed and girly screaming helped me pass this first attack........first being the most important word in that sentence. It appears there are nifty tricks to fend off attacking dogs:
1) Andy Wagner Approach- squirt water bottle in face
2)Steven Approach-Scream at the top of your lungs at the dog, obscenities help
3) Ben Handelman Approach- Scream like a girl and bike as fast as you can

Late in the day when I thought the worst of the dogs had passed I was biking by myself......I heard a loud breathing to my left.....when I turned my head to look, a black dog was half way in the air going straight for my bike.....I soiled my bike shorts and biked to Hurricane as fast as I could. However dogs were not the only problem in West Virginia.....we had hit windy roads.

Andy was the first victim of what would become a week of mishaps on the road. He spaced out.....and went off the road over his handle bars as he fell into the gutter on the side of the road. The next day Reuben took a windy turn behind me too fast, skidded out and stopped just in time for the pick up truck going the other way to miss his head. At lunch that same day Chris and Andrea tangled as Andrea got excited to eat, turned, and Chris rammed into the back of her causing him to go over his handle bars. Everyone was fine minus some battle wounds.....until the next day. Miriam had trouble handling a nasty curvy downhill that cost her a large portion of skin by her elbow and a prize of 8 stitches. Alex bonked 1 mile from Hurricane, fell going up a hill and lost some skin (although it was not that bad of an injury) of his own. The last accident was the scariest in Kentucky. Ali was coming down a hill when a 17 year old decided it would be a smart idea to pass, then turn without a blinker into a gas station directly in front of her. Ali then proceeded to slam into the side of the car grasping onto the open back seat window. As a portion of her upper body went into the car the rest of her body bounced off the metal......and she managed to limp away with no scratches, just one hell of a bruised side. The Olive Hill police officer decided that since she was from CA....the 17 year old driver was not at fault for anything. Apparently it is OK to have bikers slam into the side of your car in Eastern Kentucky. In the end, everyone is fine, just maybe a little sore and shook up from those fun country hill roads.

While early in the trip I was ecstatic for a middle finger, nothing could prepare for the joy I experienced in West Virginia! As Ali, Lisa, Nick and I biked after lunch a car zoomed by us and threw a can of Budweiser out the window back at us. As it spun in the air beer spilled out like a water fall display at a Las Vegas Hotel. The can crashed to the pavement pretty close to Ali in the front and we all has quite the laugh when we realized the can had been thrown from the DRIVER SIDE! Oh West Virginia....I miss you.

We had a short stay in Louisa Kentucky with a church whose pastor was pro abortion and pro gay marriage. I'm not sure how he is going to explain that to God when he retires....Just before going to sleep the pastor told us how his church was used in the revolutionary war as a hospital, and while recently redoing the carpet they found old blood stains. He concluded by telling us that the church was haunted and strange noises could be heard at night......what a great night's sleep I had!

From Louisa we biked to Morehead, home of Morehead State Univeristy, where we found Phil Simms' jersey hanging. Pat and I tried to explain just how neat a fact that was to everyone but while doing so I noticed the 16 enormous trophies to the right of the jersey. It appears Moorehead State is also home of 16 of the last 19 Co-Ed Division 1 cheerleading National Champions. NOW THAT is impressive.

THE CAVES
My bike had been giving me some trouble which caused me to leave a little late the morning of the ride to Morehead. That put me in a riding group near the back of the pack, but I knew people were heading to some Caves that apparently were not too far from the route. As Steven and I arrived at the state park we saw about 8 HBC lined in the parking lot. I looked at the surrounding area and listened.......no HBC. So we headed down to the trails. At the head of the trail was some stairs that lead down to a door......but caves don't have doors....and this door was locked.....so I told Steven "they must be on the loop trail". The loop trail was about a mile loop that headed to a very cool ridge with rock formation.....but there were no caves......and no HBC riders. Along the route we found out the caves cost money to see and a tour left at 1pm (way too late for any HBC-ers to wait around for) When I got back to the parking lot, everyone was there along with tourists gathering for the tour.
"Hey, where were you guys?"
Corey: "Nowhere, we just walked around"
"You just walked around? Did you see that cool ridge on the trail"
Pat: "No."

As the weird behavior continued between my question and answer question we decided to head out. 5 seconds out of the park Lisa explained to me they hadn't just walked "around". Instead they ran into a local guide "Rawley" (that is spelled wrong) who decided that he would SHOW THEM THE CAVES FOR FREE. It appears while I was walking around in the 95 degree heat my fellow riders were several feet below me in a 65 degree cave. I was almost more in shock that caves in fact have doors! Either way, I missed out.....until we hit Morehead.

Rawley, who happened to be from Morehead decided to meet us in town and show us a bar with $1 bottles. The place was very nice.....and somehow we bought them out of beer. The night was spent talking about rocks, caves, Phil Simms, Cheerleading, and biking. The one fact that really had me under the table however was Morehead's leading industry is "hard wood". According to Rawley you know you are no longer a local when you can say the name of the town with a straight face. I'm not sure I had such a dirty perception of the town name until after talking with our local cave guide. Anywho, Rawley rules and I am now in Lexington Kentucky trying to keep my eyes open.

We have been staying in amazing home stays set up by Francis. Francis is from Lexington and seems pretty excited to be home for a couple days. I received my credit card and debit card so I am officially off the Bank of Pat Muha. Mr and Mrs. Morenz even sent me homemade goodies from Thomaston! They would be happy to know their son single handedly powered me through the last few days to get here! Today we did a habitat build and visited a really awesome horse farm called Taylor Made. We looked at some studs and some horses that I felt I did not deserve to be petting. Well......off to Shelbyville and Louisville. I apologize for poor grammar and spelling due to the lateness! Currently I'm seeing double. I'm looking forward to the rolling hill of the Blue grass state! I love reading the comments!

-Ben

Day 11, 12, 13

I'm From CT!!!!

Miles Biked: 0
0
74

Hello from Smithburg, West Virginia! You may know it is east bumble crap USA. We are staying are staying at "Family Services" that used to be an elementary school. Now all I know is that it is used as a "computer learning center" and I get free Internet! We've had a few days off, unintended and intended....

Day 11 started with the intentions to bike a WHOLE 24 miles.....while college Ben a few weeks ago would be impressed with a 24 mile ride to anywhere, HBC South Ben laughs at the face of 24 miles and demands it better be a mountain. Our first adventure before biking was to shuttle over to Frank Lloyd Wright's "Falling Water". The house is pretty amazing. A river basically runs through the middle. Our Tour guide "Emma" showed us the sites and sounds and said the word "cantilever" about 40,000 times. Pat and I decided that if we were to own the house, we would add several slides and ladders, and rename the house "Chutes and Ladders". By the time we had finished the tour, it was very late for biking. A decision was made to drive to Morgantown instead of bike so as not to upset the church. In the mean-time there was time for an intense volleyball game between Sam, Lisa Nick and Myself VS Pat, Francis Beth, and Chris. My team lost in a close three setter. Beth's quick serve while we talked out dinner plans was too much.

Upon arrival in Morgan town we ate a Delicious meal and talked about West Virginian Stereotypes. After dinner we brought in large matresses to the church to sleep on later in the night. After placing them in the room we were sleeping in it was realized it resembled a WWE fighting ring. But of course our good Samaritan group would quietly go to bed early......or not. Shirts were ripped off, bodies flew, choke holds were choked?....even the girls got in the fight. After we left the church stinking of sweat and pain...it was time to go out for a night on the town (in the same town that holds WVU). Our spot of choice.....KEGLERS.
Keglers is West Virginian for Hooters. The waitresses decided to wear nothing and even better it was Karaoke Night. Pat and I have a history of singing Karaoke that dates back to Naples Pizza at Yale last year. The song we decided to sing to rise the crowd.....Take me Home, Country Road by John Denver......that is of course until you add in the Ben Handelman factor.

Our names were called......we walked up to the stage (corner of the bar).....the HBC crew stood on their feet....the crowd simmered......and the first note was sung. Everything seemed to be going great. Our voices were in perfect harmony, the locals raised their ears and just before the climax of the song......I changed the lyrics.
"Country Road....
Take me Home....
To the place....
I belong.......
........
........

I thought in my head....there is one place I call home and belong......Connecticut..so I yelled
"I'm from CONNECTICUT!!!" instead of West Virginia.........

The Boos poured down like the a spring frost of a record snowfall year in the Rockies. Not only had I changed the lyrics of their state Anthem......but I added in the name of a state that happens to be arch rivals in Basketball and Football....the two biggest sports in West Virginia. Pat had to survive the next two and a half minutes. The DJ pleaded with the crowd to stop booing based off our charitable ride. It didn't help. A police escort was needed to get us out of the place (well....maybe just a few HBC-ers) and no one talked to us the rest of the night. What a way to end day 11.

Day 12 brought back my identity as my passport arrived in the mail(thank you parents). I spent most of the morning at a Habitat build doing landscaping. After the build we headed to downtown for lunch. I walked to a bike shop and purchased a new seat. Apparently it is not normal to not feel the lower half of my body while biking. Day 12 was pretty boring but it was needed to recover for the West Virginian experiences I felt on lucky day 13......

Day 13.....Welcome to Deliverance
Back to the bike, as we headed out of Morgantown on our journey to my current location...Smithburg. The first 30 miles winded along a bike path where the pavement ended about 10 miles in. The last 20 miles was biked on fine gravel. Pat was having a hard time thinking of songs about 15 miles in and decided to bring out one of his old classics.....99 bottles of beer on the wall. At first I thought it was a joke.....but Steven, Colin, Beth, Emma, Andy, and Pat were in the mood. For the first time in my life, the song was sung, without abbreviation, till we struck 0. I almost stopped, and flew home......how can my life be anymore complete now? The real adventure of the day started after lunch. Our directions told us to take Rt 50....which happens to be a 4 lane highway. On the on-ramp a sign clearly read NO Bicycles among other things.......it also said "No Motor Driven Cycles" which apparently does not include Motorcycles. We were very confused. So our faithful leader Steven asked a random construction worker on the side of the road if it was ok to bike.....of course he said yes and that was all the authority we needed......up the ramp we went and into the West Virginian Wilderness.


While biking down the road, among the sound of whizzing trucks and cars.......Pat and myself heard another noise.....quiet at first......then progressively louder........gunshots. The calming sound of gun fire in the distance helped Pat and I bike a little faster until I ran out of water. I decided the smartest idea would be get off the first exit. As Pat and I exited the ramp we noticed a building immediately to our left. The closer I got the scarier it looked......rundown.....some sort of bar....one car. As I walked towards a side door I told Pat if we die, I love him.......that is when I noticed Pat had walked to the front of the building and was uncontrollably laughing. The building had a sign on the front that read in clear letters "SILK STOCKINGS.....IRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS (the first Girls was missing the "g" and most of the "s" were "2's")........25 cent Videos.....25 cent Peep Shows. A Beer sign indicating they had fresh O'Douls on tap was dark and the bar closed. I would have to wait on the water....but not on the laughter.

My ride ended right here in Smithburg. The town doesn't really deserve a name. All I see is this building and a Church. All my West Virginian stereotypes are turning out to be true. There were no showers available so I bathed by pouring water from the watercooler on my head. It was Colin's idea.....he calls it "A Thai shower" from his time visiting third world conditions. Apparently it is popular in West Virginia too (although most of the girls from our group used hot water from the sink). Tomorrow we head to lovely Spencer West Virginia......then beautiful places like "Louisa" and "Hurricane".......I am guessing I won't have Internet as we head closer to the "mountain folk" but who knows! Hope all is well with everyone!

Day 8, 9, 10

Biking Through Amish Paradise

Miles Biked: 97
73
65

It has been a few days since I have written mylast blog. The reason has more to do with the lack of ability to lift a hand, writting tool, or eye lid. The easy 40 mile days are over.........we are now in the Appalachians........and they are big.

Day 8 was the longest day of the trip so far, and of my short biking life! We traveled 97 miles from Sunbury to Huntingdon. The trip took us through the heart of Amish country with rolling hills that lead to the base of mountains, which I was then forced to trek over. It was the first time I had climbed 1,000 in one sitting....and for me it was quite the accomplishment. The real highlight was not the Amish country (which was beautiful) but the Amish themselves. At our first stop for lunch 45 miles in I thought we were at an Amish free way. Horse and carriages raced through the town....long beards were the chosen hair style...and I could smell weird religion as I chomped on my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Unfortunately, the road we took, was also a horse crap high way. My love of the Amish took a weird turn when I saw two driving in a car. Liz and Andy also told me they saw a few in the Walmart. I'm pretty sure that is straight up Amish cheating. As I arrived in Huntingdon I got a quick drink at Memories sports bar and then it was time for bed.

Just when I thought the day could not possibly be as bad as the day before, I biked off for Day 9. The day started with consistent climbing up rolling farmland towards the mountains. We then did a 1,000 ft climb over a mountain, into another valley, and another 1,500 ft climb over the Eastern Continental Divide at 2,700 hundred feet. Overall we did over 7800 feet of climbing. To make the day worse I found two of our members, Caitlin and Emily, would be leaving HBC. I am very sad to see our group drop to 25 riders just as I was getting to know them. The ride took us to Johnstown....the site of one of the worst natural disasters in our nations history. The city sits at the bottom of a Valley, and in the late 1800's the dam broke sending a 90 foot wall of water towards the city over 2,000. The city is almost as depressing as that story. It appears the steel mills have dried, and the transition to replace the jobs has been a slow one. I passed out after a quick trip to Walmart which brings me to today. Day 10.

We started the day going on the world's steepest vehicular incline pulley thing. According to Steven it wouldcut off 10 miles and an enourmous mountain. It cut off 1mile.....and notmuch of the hill. But whatever goes up, must come down. I hit a new personal best 47 MPH on the way down...notbad for two skinny wheels and nothing to pad my fall. I quote my mom as saying "I never really worried about you until this trip". I guess she has good reason. Corey somehow has surpassed me in total flat tires. He picked up 3 today comapred to my two. He now has a slight lead on me with 13 for the trip (5 coming yesterday) while I have 12. I'm getting new tires tomorrow! Can;t wait. Pat and I continued naming animals the last three days. The list has grown to include 2 cats, a coyote, a fox, a turtle, and countless snakes. Today we actually saw road kill that had been painted white! Also, we continue to sing through towns. I continue to be amazed by how many lyrics pat knows! Pat, Beth, Nick and I rode caboose on the trip and arrived in Union town very late. So I am very tired. Luckily for us tomorrow is the shortest day of the trip (24 miles) and we leave PA for Morgantown, West Virginia. Good bye Pennsylvania....youhave provided me with many memories and legs that cannot move. I'l looking forward to seeing the state in which the movie Deliverance took place!

Day 7

Flat Tires Ruin my day

Miles Biked:65

Thank God we are out of Hazleton. After a day off in the most depressing city I have ever been to, we hit the road for Sunbury. Poor Hazleton. You can tell at one point it was kind of a cool place. It has def. lost its way. There are stores, but no one in them, there are buildings, but you can tell the top floors are unoccupied. It is slowly decaying into a ghost city and two days was way too much. (12 hours is too much).

Today I received my first middle finger! Normally that would piss me off, but on the road, i was almost expecting it. I give all the credit to my riding partner Pat Muha who loves to sit in the middle of the road. Some angered rusty car passed us, flipped the bird, and I had a tingle of joy in my heart. I wonder how many we'll see this summer.

After coming down from the high hills of Hazleton we passed through a city that really angered me....Ashton. They built the city on a huge hill with main street going straight up. Maybe it is because I am a lazy piece of crap.....but I ponder how people find the energy to walk around. After Hazleton we got lost for a few miles. I swear that no matter who Corey rides with they get lost.....I was with Corey at the time.

Apparently delirium sets in on day 7. Pat and I decided to sing while entering townships. While through Shenandoah, we sang the beautiful Shenandoah song......the one about the mountain range. Then we changed the name of the "I would walk one thousands miles" into "I would bike four thousand miles....I would bike four thousand more, just to be the men who biked four thousand miles to San Francisco" Apparently Northeast Penn just doesn't understand our music.

One random thought I am having.......coal truckers hate the world as much as I thought coal truckers might.

We had a nice lunch and then God decided to hate me. About 15 miles outside of Sunbury I had a flat tire.....which turned into two flat tires....which turned into 6 flat tires! The Gold star of the day goes to Beth. After the first flat tired I shouted out to her if she minded stopping to help me fix my tire. "It will only take a minute"

An hour and a half later I am at the YMCA in Sunbury. I haven't really explored the town, but according to the people in Hazleton, it is just like that....can't wait to see what is here! 95 mile day tomorrow.......wonder if I'll survive.

Day 5 and 6

I'm on top of the world....or maybe only PA

Miles Biked: 60 + a rest day

Before I left for my trip the voice of my mother was ringing through my ears saying "don't lose your $75 sun glasses (which are really $150 sun glasses without or sponsorship)" followed by the sound of my father saying "he is going to lose those". As I awoke on Day 5 in Stroudsburg......I had lost my glasses, my wallet was missing, and I had slept on my neck wrong so I could not move it. Luckily for me, Miriam had my glasses, I dealt with my neck.....but my wallet with my life is still missing. I believe it is at the Stroud 7 movie theatres (although they haven't seen it there) after I watched "Knocked Up". I am angered that I lost my wallet watching such an average movie. If it was Transformers or the new Harry Potter movie, I would be a little more understanding. So for now I am borrowing from the first national bank of Pat Muha.

Yesterday's ride took us from the base of the the Pocono's at 325ft into the mountains. I'm now standing in Hazleton which is the highest city in PA at 1800 ft. So if you are asking if there were hills.......the answer is yes....and they sucked.

Apparently yesterday was unintended media day. We were stopped by a man from the morning call located somewhere around here who wanted to follow us. Along the route he took pictures. Pat and I thought we were front page material......which we apparently are not. Our picture didn't even make it in! But there are some cool shots of other members of our group on page 2. Our group also made it into the standard speaker, and two local news stations. We were the LEAD story for WLYN 35....which you can see here http://www.wylntv.com/ Click on watch on the right side, then click on 10:00 on Weds. I should pop open the link. Lead story...tells you exactly how exciting this city is.

Last night was truly the highlight however. It was Francis' 21st Birthday. We went to the only bar we could find called the "The Crystal BBQ and Lounge". I'm not sure how the place stays open because we were the ONLY people in the place. Happy hour started at 7:00 with $1 drinks and never ended. Drinks were drunk, the disco ball and dance lights were glowing, and HBC danced the night away. Craig (who we now call Gizmo) fell off a table and most of the guys took their shirts off to "I'm too sexy". Somehow we convinced the owner to give us free food and we are going back for lunch which I think is funny.

Other funny things include us biking through the town of "Jim Thorpe"(I find it funny they changed the name for an athlete from Oklahoma) and biking through the town of "Hometown".

What's your Hometown?
Hometown
I know, what is it?
My home town?
Yeah
It's Hometown
huh?

We have the day off to recoup in Hazleton today. Some need it more than others. I'll be calling credit card companies and banks all day. Hopefully I'll have some pictures up soon! Off to Sunbury tomorrow!

Day 4

I like to Hike

Miles Biked: 45

Well hello everyone. I have survived another day on the road, and another state! I'm writing from Strousburg, Pennsylvania somewhere near the Pocono Mountains. Today's ride lead us through the Deleware River Water Bed which is under protection from the National Park Service. So a little hiking and swimming was the highlight of my day.

It was a simple ride through the park. The road we road we took followed the river so it was a rolling trip to Strousburg....the town in which I just found out my old roommate Brownbears parents met! Exciting. Along the root I climbed Dingman falls which was a pretty impressive waterfall and swam in the Delaware River. Note to future bikers.....biking shoes and wet wooden paths do not mix well. The water of the Deleware river felt great, but the current was pretty strong. I was joined by Sam, Ali, LISA, Alex, Andy and Andrea. As I laid on the banks of the river trying to dry out my shammy (the padding on my butt) all I could smell was a rotting fish that was floating nearby so it was time to move on. Up ahead on the road, Francis from Kentucky exclaims he saw a herd of deer, a copperhead snake, and a black bear crossing the road. So far, no one believes him due to lack of video evidence. I didn't see much wild life but ones. I can now say, after 4 days of biking, I know what the smell of carcass smells like. Pat and I actually have started a game "Name that animal". It can be pretty tricky at times. Today I came across a squirrel with no head, a leg of a deer, a string of guts, and plenty of unidentifiable animals. It's a game you just can;t play in a car.

On the way into Strousburg, Francis tried to tempt me into bumper boats at a "resort hotel" we passed. I don't think it is the kind of resort I'm used to. It just looked liked like a cheap Motel with bumper boats. I decided against it. I'm jealous of Pat and Coreyy who stopped at an Alpaca farm. The town of Strousburg is almost a clone of Torrington CT, although the downtown shops are a little cooler here. I keep seeing signs for the Poconos but after such a flat bike ride, I'm not sure exactly how far they are away. It is supposed to be another easy ride tomorrow through PA farm country before we ride our first 95 mile day. The weather has cooled significantly from our first day, and my legs feel pretty good. Poor Morgen went through 3 flat tires today. I'm having a blast exploring the roads along the way. Time to spend my first night in PA!!!!!

PS All that is going through my head right now is Wawayanda New York, which is a town I passed through yesterday....and I want a T-shirt.

Day 3

Cemetary's + Over pass= Naked?

Bike Ride: 33 miles

Our ride was a very easy one over the rolling countryside of New York State. We did 10 miles on a perfectly flat bike path that used to be a railroad, and the last 20 miles smelling cow manure. I got very excited when I passed through Goshen, New York which houses my Great Uncle (who donated to my cause). Unfortunately I could not stop as I had to press on. After a short climb and a 4 mile down hill which was awesome into the city square, we set up camp.....and thought of ways to pull off evil pranks against the Central route.

HBC contains three bike routes. I'm a member of South on my way to San Francisco. Also spending the night in Port Jervis was Central who will make it to Portland. As group....South has decided Central sucks and there is evidence to prove it.
1. All 90 of our Jersey's were misprinted........which says that Central will be going to "Portaland".
2. On our way to a mountain I ran into some Central LEADERS (the guys who plan the route) and asked them if they were" ready for the mountain. They asked "What mountain?"

Since this was the last time our path will cross with another HBC group, someone in our group decided since we will never see them again so we must prank them. $33 of Alarm clocks and batteries were bought at CVS, clocks were hidden in the church they were sleeping in, and the alarms were set on the hour every hour throughout the night. I wonder how their ride was this morning....

The night was finished by buying beer and driving in the van through a grave yard, under interstate 84 to the banks of the Delaware River where naked streaking occurred and a small game of limbo as well as dancing marked the occasion. I guess as a Quinnipiac graduate, I'm not used to the "naked parties" they have down the street at Yale. Simply said....my clothes stayed on. Anywho.....it was an eventful night and our first real taste of college activity on the road. Good by Port Jervis! Off to PA!

Day 2

"That's Bear Mountain over there"

I am currently inside the Monroe Public Library which contains two computers. I've been limited to 15 minutes so I'll do the best I can to describe the day. I have now blown 3 tires. It always happens close to finish lines or food. Yesterday I blew a tire less than 5 miles away from the end of our first day in Ridgefield. Today I blew a tube 1 mile away from lunch in Peekskill New York.....and then one tube 1 mile directly after lunch....two tubes in 2 miles. I am never going back to peekskill New York.

Nick rode and finished today after crashing and suffering a minor concussion yesterday. He wins my hats off award. Today in Map meeting we were told we would go over a bridge and then have to climb "Bear Mountain". It is scary enough that it has the word mountain.....it was even scarier trying to make a left hand turn while riding on Rt 6 where cars were coming around the curve at over 60 MPH.

As my small group of riders of Miriam, Morgen, Pat and myself crossed a bridge we then climbed a steep "mountain". At the top I congratulated the other three riders as they came in to the spectacular view of the Hudson River. As I screamed "We've done it, we climbed bear mountain" a stopped motorcyclist says "ummm, guys....." he then pointed across the river and corrected us saying "That is bear mountain". It appears the small bridge we went over was just a tiny inlet, we had yet to cross the Hudson, and the scary mountain across the river was in fact the unclimbed Bear Mountain. After a trip over the cool looking Bear Mountain Bridge, we climbed up and down the mountain, climbed out of Hudson River Valley and now I sit in Orange County New York.

The church lady who drove me and a few others to the showers is raising deer in her living room, and tonight we get to do home stays with church members. I think I may be scared! Tomorrow we head to Port Jervis for our last full day in New York.....then off to PA, WV, some crappy Midwestern states, some cool western states and then San Francisco!

Oh Yale

Day 1...Captains Log

"I am wearing no underwear.....I am sweaty....and my ass already hurts." These are my thoughts as I whirled around the outer towns of New Haven one last time on my 30 mile orientation time trial. I am at orientation. Although the journey hasn't started yet my experience has. I am one of 27 riders on a path that will lead me through the heart of America to San Francisco.

The riders come from everywhere. Kentucky, California, Texas, Maryland, and Connecticut to name a few. We are being held in a mecca of a church newly renovated complete with a Foosball table and flat screen TV's. My 30 mile ride was a slow chance for me to say goodbye to Hamden, which we briefly passed through and was the home of my education for the last four years. Tomorrow I will say goodbye to New Haven, which has housed my excessive drinking for the night's last four years. I have already found out I am the one fear while I sleep. I snore.....and I roll. The first night I layed down next to my friend Morgen. She was beside the Foosball table. When I woke up, she was scrunched beneath the table like a caged rat due to my rolling while I slept. I'm off to CVS to try and cure snoring....as for rolling....I guess I'll have to make a disclaimer every night.

Tomorrow we leave with a police escort from the New Haven Green. I am not sure I can handle to 6:15am wake up call. I thought the biking would be the tough part. Anywho....farewell New Haven. San Francisco here I come via Ridgefield Connecticut!