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!