I am home. That is the bottom line. But the title of this entry is the end of the trip, which actually occurred on Monday, June 9 at about 5:30 pm.
Between Asheville, NC and MP 469 was the most intense riding of the trip and some of the most spectacular scenery. Jim and I got a good night's rest at the Best Western Biltmore East in Oteen, NC outside of Asheville. The thunderstorms had rolled through as we arrived but did not leave behind nice dry air as sometimes will happen and the morning was heavy with fog as we rolled out after our continental breakfast. It was like pea soup and we had all of our blinky lights on. We had a 2 mile ride over a couple of hills to get back to the parkway. My legs felt dead and I was not looking forward to the climbs ahead.
As we got on the parkway the fog persisted until we got out of the river valleys of Asheville. At one point, in the fog, on a curve, across two solid yellow lines oncoming comes a car passing another and headed right for us. Some people are just made stupid and I think that one must have been in that category. The car whizzed by us as we scanned the roadside for a spot to bail out. Luckily he left us enough room but that was not a way I wanted to start a Sunday.
We rode along and the ride for the first 10 miles or so was just great. My legs started to loosen up and feel much better. We were riding through the Biltmore Forest and the roads were rolling to flat, there was little traffic and there were many other groups of cyclists out for the Sunday ride. There was one group of women who were riding with their Carmichael Training Systems coach. They passed us on the flat section and then were gathered across the French Broad River where the climb to Mt. Pisgah began. We slogged on by at our blazing 5-6 mph as the climb began and they shouted encouragement. Soon they were passing us again and exclaiming at their amazement seeing us climb with all that gear on our bikes. Jim had a conversation with some of them and with Tracy the coach at an overlook a few miles up and then they turned around, their climbing for the day done. We had a way to go yet.
There were several miles of climbing before the last 3 miles or so which were the steepest and were the ones we were told will "kick your butt". Oh ya! But we did it. We got to Pisgah, asked the attendant at the campstore where the campground was and the response, I kid you not, was "I don't know, I have never been there." The Park Service apparently does not hire concessionaires based on motivation or knowledge. Not only that but their signage sucks. Have I mentioned that before?
We had planned the day to Pisgah to be a short one and it was. We were there shortly after noon and found the campground and a real nice campsite, made some lunch (mac and cheese) in camp, cleaned up a little and chilled out for some time. Then we headed up to the lodge, gift shop and restaurant. Jim plugged in his laptop and did his journal in the lobby of the lodge. I looked around the gift shop and then went in to the restaurant at 5 when they opened for dinner. The food facilities along the parkway vary greatly. The map and brochure from the Park Service has a handy table that has a category "Food". The problem is that in some cases that means a tiny snack bar which has BBQ pork, hotdogs, chili and soup and closes at 5 pm and in other cases, as at Mt. Pisgah, a full service restaurant with a wine list, local microbrews, waiters in black aprons, a chef , entrees that run to $25 and open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So now we know. I wish they would add "drinking water" to that table. More on that later.
Dinner was great with some corn fritter appetizers and a big bowl of pasta with chicken. Could not even finish it. Then it was off to bed, rest up for the last day, a ride of just over 60 miles with some very major looking climbs.
Everyone had talked most about the climb to Mt. Pisgah in North Carolina or the climb up from the James River in Virginia as the big, long, difficult climbs. No one really said anything about the last 60 miles. Wow, is there a lot of climbing in the last 60 miles! Miles and miles of climbing. Eight miles in one long steady chunk of 2450 ft of up. That comes after climbing to the highest point of the parkway, 6047 ft and milepost 431.4. Then you go down and long way so you can come up again. While there is a lot of climbing, guess what there is precious little of? WATER!! There is a visitor center at MP 450 called Waterrock. Every other visitor center on the parkway has running water. Most have Coke machines. Guess what Waterrock visitor center does not have. (Hint: they do have rocks) They did, luckily, at least have bottled water for sale for a mere $2 for a 16oz bottle. I was steamed. There is a 3 mile climb to the turn to the center, then you need to climb another 1/2 mile just to get there and then there is no running water!! The park ranger called it "ironic". I called it something else.
We were tired and hungry at Waterrock. We drank our designer water, ate some snacks and knew that we had only 19 miles and one 800 ft climb to go. We were now going to spend most of our time screaming downhill from around 5900 ft to 2020 ft at the Oconaluftee River where the Blue Ridge Parkway ends.
The last day gave us our only real on-the-road mechanical problem: a broken spoke on my rear wheel. I have no idea why it happened but it is one of those things that can happen when a wheel is under so much stress with weight and climbing. I heard the tell-tale tinkling sound as the wheel turned. I found the culprit. Problem was, Jim was quite a way up the road. Luckily a motorcyclist saw that I was walking my bike and looking at my rear wheel. He stopped and asked Jim if he was riding with me and that I may have a problem. Jim came back and we got the spoke replaced and the wheel trued, thanks to Jim's good mechanical skills. And we were back on the road.
The other feature of the last day in particular was a series of tunnels. There were several going to Pisgah and there were many in the last 60 miles. They all had names. They each had a yellow sign which said "Tunnel" and under that was a little yellow sign with a picture of a bicycle on it. We have no idea what the bicycle sign is supposed to indicate. Of note, these were the only signs indicating the presence of bicycles on the parkway. There were no "Share the Road" signs or any other acknowledgement that bicycles use the parkway. While riding on the parkway was great and some of the best riding conditions over such an extended distance I have ever seen, it would be nice to have some reminders for those with big motors propelling them along the road.
The last five miles of the parkway, going south, are a great fun downhill with curvey roads, tunnels and the knowledge that soon you will be able to say you rode the length of this road with all of its 48,000+ ft of climbing, and descending. As we rolled down to the end Denny was standing on the bridge over the Oconaluftee snapping pictures. We shook hands, hugged and congratulated each other. Then we got the bikes in the van as fast as we could and Jim and I jumped in the river. It was an area of rapids and we sat in the cool water and let it massage our tired legs. It felt great. Soon we were in the van and beginning our return to Connecticut. We were in CT the next evening about 8 pm after an uneventful road trip. The contrast between riding a bike everyday and then sitting in a car for 15 hours was measured by the stiffness of our leg muscles.
This was an amazing and challenging bike trip, 1505 miles of riding through CT, NY, NJ and in to PA and Amish country, and on to the trip to Front Royal to start the Skyline Drive and then the Blue Ridge Parkway. More final thoughts in an epilogue to come later.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Steamy Asheville
There are big mountains in North Carolina. It is true. Today we climbed up a few of them. This trip continues to exceed all expectations in terms of challenges and thrills. The surroundings are, as I have said and will repeat, spectacular. Since our rest day two days ago we have climbed over 14,000 ft. and descended something in that same vicinity. So, the climbing definitely is the focus and the descending definitely goes by quickly. Meanwhile, as we are climbing, betweeen breathing and focusing on keeping the cranks turning in circles, there are the birds and the flowers and even the constant hum of cicadas in some places. And there are the mountains and trees. It is just really awe inspiring visually. And attention-getting physically.
As I climb I try not to focus on how long it is taking to go up but how much progress each pedal stroke is making. When you are in a 26/32 gear that is not so much, but it is something. The long climbs are usually 2-5 miles in length and the grades, while I have no precise measure, are usually in the 4-7% range. When you look at the road you do not think it is steep, but when you are doing it for 30-60-90-120 minutes at a time, it seems steep. I guess it must be the 50-60 lbs of gear we are hauling up the mountain.
We do have a chart which gives the milepost location and the length of each "major" climb. This gives us an opportunity to anticipate a bit what is ahead and to assess the difficulty of a particular climb. The climbing in North Carolina the last two days has definitely been more difficult in terms of extended steeper climbs and the mountains are definitely bigger than they were in Virginia.
The day after our rest day we had a great day of riding with about 6000 ft of climbing but not too long a day of 60 miles. We stopped several times and had some really sweet interactions with some store-keepers and one not so sweet. The later one was a lady at a campground who told us not to leave our bikes near the store entrance and was quite impolite, so we left. Just down the road we had a great stop at the Northwest Trading Post, with nice folks in the store and a comfortable picnic table for our mid-morning snack. Down the road we stopped at a store which had Carhartt to smoked chicken and prime rib sandwiches and everything in between. And they had the nicest people you would ever hope to meet while on the road on a bicycle. It gives one hope.
We camped in NPS/BRP campgrounds last night and the night before: Crabtree Meadows and Julian Price CGs. These campgrounds, indeed none on the parkway, have showers. This is not really roughing it but it smells the same. Other than no showers, the campgrounds are very nice.
Today was an interesting day. There have been three areas of detours and/or repair of the parkway. The first two detours were not difficult, except for one stretch of busy highway, but today's was said to have been the worst because the detour was very bike unfriendly. We had, however, heard of some new options for cyclists which avoided the detour and only involved walking your bike about half an hour, or half a mile, not sure which, along a path from the visitor center to the picnic area at Craggy Gardens. (Should have gotten a hint from the name) We got the details on the new route yesterday at a visitor center along the parkway. So, we spent the morning climbing over 4,000 feet, ran out of water and arrived at the designated area. We passed Mount Mitchell (did not climb) which is the highest point east of the Mississippi. We got to Craggy Gardens visitor center, locked up tight, water turned off. We immediately noted that the local bikers just continued riding down the road, past the area of retaining wall collapse causing the detour. We, being dedicated law abiding citizens, followed directions and set out on a trail that would make an Appalachian Trail through-hiker proud. We had to lift our bikes over rocks and clamber over roots and shelves of stone, uphill, pushing 70 pounds of ungainly bicycle. It is such an elegant machine but this did not give it opportunity to display it's virtues. Or me. I must confess to some cuss words during the up and down hill trek of, it seemed, forever. When we got to the picnic area we did find water and shade, but of course, there was no mention of that when we started.
(Note to Department of Interior: Your communication and signage stinks. Just thought, as a tax payer, you should know that. Maybe you can put someone on that.)
Well, we got by that. Flew downhill for an hour to Asheville, stopped at the Folk Arts Center but really only to call to get a motel (sorry Jack and Linda). Well, we did find a BBQ pork sandwich to eat too. We got to our motel just as the horizontal rain began. It is unusually hot here this week and a huge thunderstorm kicked up. It was cool at 5200 feet but now we are at 2000 and the temperature was in the 90's.
Tomorrrow we will be facing the steepest climbing of the trip out of Asheville up to Mount Pisgah. We have set it up so it will be a short day. Then on Monday it will be a 2450 ft climb in 8 miles and then a 810 ft climb in 3 miles and then it is all down hill and we will be done. We finish in Cherokee, NC. There, I understand, the Cherokee are the only Native Americans to continue to live on their actual ancestral lands.
Hard to believe we are two days away from finishing. Hope the weather holds. Say a prayer.
P.S. For Ben Popp: Asheville rocks!
As I climb I try not to focus on how long it is taking to go up but how much progress each pedal stroke is making. When you are in a 26/32 gear that is not so much, but it is something. The long climbs are usually 2-5 miles in length and the grades, while I have no precise measure, are usually in the 4-7% range. When you look at the road you do not think it is steep, but when you are doing it for 30-60-90-120 minutes at a time, it seems steep. I guess it must be the 50-60 lbs of gear we are hauling up the mountain.
We do have a chart which gives the milepost location and the length of each "major" climb. This gives us an opportunity to anticipate a bit what is ahead and to assess the difficulty of a particular climb. The climbing in North Carolina the last two days has definitely been more difficult in terms of extended steeper climbs and the mountains are definitely bigger than they were in Virginia.
The day after our rest day we had a great day of riding with about 6000 ft of climbing but not too long a day of 60 miles. We stopped several times and had some really sweet interactions with some store-keepers and one not so sweet. The later one was a lady at a campground who told us not to leave our bikes near the store entrance and was quite impolite, so we left. Just down the road we had a great stop at the Northwest Trading Post, with nice folks in the store and a comfortable picnic table for our mid-morning snack. Down the road we stopped at a store which had Carhartt to smoked chicken and prime rib sandwiches and everything in between. And they had the nicest people you would ever hope to meet while on the road on a bicycle. It gives one hope.
We camped in NPS/BRP campgrounds last night and the night before: Crabtree Meadows and Julian Price CGs. These campgrounds, indeed none on the parkway, have showers. This is not really roughing it but it smells the same. Other than no showers, the campgrounds are very nice.
Today was an interesting day. There have been three areas of detours and/or repair of the parkway. The first two detours were not difficult, except for one stretch of busy highway, but today's was said to have been the worst because the detour was very bike unfriendly. We had, however, heard of some new options for cyclists which avoided the detour and only involved walking your bike about half an hour, or half a mile, not sure which, along a path from the visitor center to the picnic area at Craggy Gardens. (Should have gotten a hint from the name) We got the details on the new route yesterday at a visitor center along the parkway. So, we spent the morning climbing over 4,000 feet, ran out of water and arrived at the designated area. We passed Mount Mitchell (did not climb) which is the highest point east of the Mississippi. We got to Craggy Gardens visitor center, locked up tight, water turned off. We immediately noted that the local bikers just continued riding down the road, past the area of retaining wall collapse causing the detour. We, being dedicated law abiding citizens, followed directions and set out on a trail that would make an Appalachian Trail through-hiker proud. We had to lift our bikes over rocks and clamber over roots and shelves of stone, uphill, pushing 70 pounds of ungainly bicycle. It is such an elegant machine but this did not give it opportunity to display it's virtues. Or me. I must confess to some cuss words during the up and down hill trek of, it seemed, forever. When we got to the picnic area we did find water and shade, but of course, there was no mention of that when we started.
(Note to Department of Interior: Your communication and signage stinks. Just thought, as a tax payer, you should know that. Maybe you can put someone on that.)
Well, we got by that. Flew downhill for an hour to Asheville, stopped at the Folk Arts Center but really only to call to get a motel (sorry Jack and Linda). Well, we did find a BBQ pork sandwich to eat too. We got to our motel just as the horizontal rain began. It is unusually hot here this week and a huge thunderstorm kicked up. It was cool at 5200 feet but now we are at 2000 and the temperature was in the 90's.
Tomorrrow we will be facing the steepest climbing of the trip out of Asheville up to Mount Pisgah. We have set it up so it will be a short day. Then on Monday it will be a 2450 ft climb in 8 miles and then a 810 ft climb in 3 miles and then it is all down hill and we will be done. We finish in Cherokee, NC. There, I understand, the Cherokee are the only Native Americans to continue to live on their actual ancestral lands.
Hard to believe we are two days away from finishing. Hope the weather holds. Say a prayer.
P.S. For Ben Popp: Asheville rocks!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
We are at 3729 ft.--- again
We last checked in about 345 miles and many, many hills ago. Today was a momentous day in that Jim and I decided that after 9 days of riding, the last 6 on the hills of Skyline Drive(SLD) and the Blue Ridge Parkway(BRP), we needed a rest day. Denny, on the other hand is like the Energizer bunny (he may not appreciate the analogy) and did not want to stop. So we discussed it and he went on and we stayed for our rest.
But, we are way ahead of ourselves. Let me say that the riding on these roads through the Shenandoah National Park (SLD) and on the Blue Ridge is sensational. We have had some of the best days of riding any of the three of us have ever experienced in terms of riding conditions, weather and surrroundings, not to mention riding partners. There are many, many, actually endless, ups and downs. It is like the world's longest, not to mention slowest, roller coaster. The mornings are often like riding on a bike path as the traffic levels are very low. Most of the traffic is motorcycles. The speed limit is 45 so most traffic is not moving too fast.
It all began as we left Front Royal, VA at the start of the SLD. We got on to the road early, after a big breakfast and began the climb up to the ridge. The first climb was about 10 miles. The grade on this climb and actually almost all of them so far, are quite reasonable. On the long climbs usually about 5-6% I think. We also had some great downhills, the nicest one being into the Elkwallow Wayside where we had lunch and visited with some nice folks, Appalachian Trail hikers and dayhikers mostly. One was a piano tuner from Annapolis who gave us his card so he could write off the gas money. He did discuss some issues with Jim and Jim talked some accounting with him. On we went through the beautiful forested road with many overlooks out on to the beautiful Shenandoah Valley and the hills beyond. Stunning. Someone said they saw a bear along the road. Bears are much less afraid of people in the park because they are not hunted. We did not see the bear. Our day ended in Big Meadows campground, about 54 miles. With the big climb at the beginning we thought that was a pretty good day. Anyway, there were not other overnight options within reach. The campgrounds in the park are quite nice, with showers and even laundry and bear boxes for your food. The roads and overlooks are well maintained. In contrast, the BRP is less well developed as the campgrounds have no showers and the roads very good but not so elaborate or numerous overlooks and often the trees have grown to block the views.
The SLD is 105 miles long and the next day we covered the rest of it. Again, some long climbs but nothing like the day before and it was so, so pleasant. We finished the SLD and stopped where is meets the BRP. They are essentially continuous. We had some lunch by the roadside with foodstuffs we stocked up on in Front Royal. We encountered two very hot and tired looking young guys on their first bike touring adventure whose goal was to ride across the country. They looked ill prepared and were hoping to make it to a campground some 40 miles distant. It was 4 pm and the climbs on the BRP were ahead of them and it did not seem likely they would come anywhere close to where they wanted to be. We were on the road and they were finishing their lunch. We did not see them again.
The day was getting hot and humid and the first climbs were difficult and long. I had not perfected a sweat management strategy yet since we had really been riding in cool weather up to this point. I could hardly see from the sweat in my eyes but we trudged on and with a rest stop on the longest climb, may 2 miles or so it all worked out.
The riding is a constant contrast of 4-5 mph climbing and 25-35 mph downhills. When you are climbing a mountain the downhills during a climb are somewhat discouraging because you know you will just need to climb all that distance again anyway. But on the parkway you realize that it is just going to be up and down and you are grateful for the distance covered at high speed. Before I got to this part of the trip I was concerned about my conditioning and my climbing. I was struggling some on the hills in CT, NJ and PA. Many of those climbs were steeper than here, up to now, and I think I rode myself in to better condition. Also, I got those lower gears in Wilmington and they are working well.
On the first day on the BRP we were looking to go to a campground which we knew would be down a grade off the main road. We were not looking forward to the climb out the next morning first thing but we had no choices. Or so we thought. As we turned on to the road to the campground, just a few feet off the parkway, there was a fairly obscure sign back from the road which said deli and store. We debated for several seconds whether to stop. We rode in and found a large party of people and we found the store owners. They not only had a deli and small grocery and souvenir shop, but cabins! Unfortunately, the large group was a wedding party and had all the cabins booked. As we chatted with the owner he made the mistake of saying that this once was a campground. We said, maybe it could be again, at least for one night. With the permission of the mother of the bride he said we could pitch our tents over on a nice grassy area away from the party. So we did, then we ate at the deli and then we went to bed to the sounds of a very celebratory gathering in to the wee hours. Not the best night's sleep but it was a nice ending to a 70 mile day and it saved us a long climb and probably and hour or more the next day.
By the way, the name of the town the deli was in, and the wedding, was Love, VA. Don't we all?
Our next day was somewhat shorter. It was another fantastic day of riding. We had a couple of long climbs of a few miles but mostly rolling up and down and finished with a 13 mile down hill into Otter Creek campground and restaurant. We had lunch and decided to stay. Jim was having an off day, it was getting warm and humid and the next campground was about 20 some miles away, 13.7 miles of which was climbing out of the James River valley. This takes one from the lowest point to the highest point on the parkway in VA. Also, they were predicting a storm to move through. So we camped, cramming our three tents on to one 12x12 tenting pad, which is required by the park service. A quick little thunderstorm blew threw but then it cleared and was a beautiful evening. We met a couple originally from Indiana who were doing several different bike touring trips this year. They had driven their car from the southern end of the parkway to the northern end and using the elevations posted on the overlooks along the way they plotted the climbs and descents my hand. They told us that the climbs we had seen were as steep as any on the parkway. That made us feel good, but looking at some other information we have, I wonder about that.
The next morning we got a good early start after an in camp breakfast of good old oatmeal and coffee. We wanted to make that 13 mile climb as early in the day as we could. It was a long haul up but we made it and continued on to finish the day in Roanoke. We had decided to stay in a motel in Roanoke so that we could get more food and and do laundry and not have to climb back up to the campground on the parkway. We ended up bushwacking our way off a exit road on to a road that took us to the highway we needed. How did we know to do that? Well, Jim has a laptop computer with a mapping program with services listed in the program so we had looked up some motels and some grocery stores and picked a likely destination. Then Denny, who had his GPS unit on could see that the road below us was one which connected to the highway. It had begun to rain just as we left the parkway. We put our jackets on and got to the highway. We hid under a bridge while Jim whipped out the computer again to recheck the motel. We called, they had a room and guest laundry and a BIG grocery across the highway. We got all refreshed and restocked, had a dinner next door at the steakhouse and it worked out great.
The next challenge was getting back to the parkway the next morning. GPS to the rescue again and we made it back quickly. Luckily Roanoke is not far below the parkway. Often when one gets off it there is a long climb back up. Of course, since the road went down to meet Roanoke, that meant the next morning there was a long climb as the Blue Ridge gained elevation. This one was about 5 miles long. The rest of the day was more ups and downs, often a mile or so. Again, great riding and weather. We met a father and son out on a ride for a segment of the parkway for several days and we rode together with them off and on for the next two days. We camped in the same campgrounds for two nights. This day our end point was a little town on the parkway called Meadows of Dan (Dan is a river). It is a charming mountain town with a real country store and very nice little quiet campground.
Meals in camp have been mostly packaged noodle or rice dishes, the kind you cook up in 2 cups of water, and pouches of meat, like tuna, salmon or chicken. These work out very well as you can carry 4-5 days worth in not too much space and not too much weight. This night I had rotini with broccoli and chicken. Gooood.
Yesterday we went from Meadows of Dan to Doughton Park campground, one of the parkway campgrounds. It began to rain fairly hard late in the afternoon and it was the first rain we had seen since Maryland, and that was very brief. The clouds moved in and we were in the fog for the evening and pretty much everything got wet. I did not feel well riding on this day and I talked with Jim and Denny about a rest day. And so we come full circle. We rode to the restaurant 3 miles up the road from the campground this morning. Over breakfast Denny proposed his plan that if we wanted to do a rest day, he would prefer to keep riding. He would then be a day ahead. The plan at the end of the parkway is to ride back to Asheville, NC (we are in NC now) and rent a van to load everything in and drive back to return. So Denny will get to Ashville ahead of us, rent the vehicle and meet us at the end of the parkway with the van.
Jim and I went across the parkway from the restaurant to the lodge, built by the WPA when they built the parkway. It has a wonderful view across a meadow of waving tall grass to the top of a rhodadendron covered hilltop. Have I mentioned the flowering bushes? Rhododendra, mountain laurel, flaming azaleas, honeysuckle and many more I do not know all along the route. It is gorgeous. And hilly.
Tomorrow we ride. Sure was a nice rest day. Got all dried out (so to speak) and relaxed and had no trouble at all doing almost nothing. Sure glad the lodge has wifi.
But, we are way ahead of ourselves. Let me say that the riding on these roads through the Shenandoah National Park (SLD) and on the Blue Ridge is sensational. We have had some of the best days of riding any of the three of us have ever experienced in terms of riding conditions, weather and surrroundings, not to mention riding partners. There are many, many, actually endless, ups and downs. It is like the world's longest, not to mention slowest, roller coaster. The mornings are often like riding on a bike path as the traffic levels are very low. Most of the traffic is motorcycles. The speed limit is 45 so most traffic is not moving too fast.
It all began as we left Front Royal, VA at the start of the SLD. We got on to the road early, after a big breakfast and began the climb up to the ridge. The first climb was about 10 miles. The grade on this climb and actually almost all of them so far, are quite reasonable. On the long climbs usually about 5-6% I think. We also had some great downhills, the nicest one being into the Elkwallow Wayside where we had lunch and visited with some nice folks, Appalachian Trail hikers and dayhikers mostly. One was a piano tuner from Annapolis who gave us his card so he could write off the gas money. He did discuss some issues with Jim and Jim talked some accounting with him. On we went through the beautiful forested road with many overlooks out on to the beautiful Shenandoah Valley and the hills beyond. Stunning. Someone said they saw a bear along the road. Bears are much less afraid of people in the park because they are not hunted. We did not see the bear. Our day ended in Big Meadows campground, about 54 miles. With the big climb at the beginning we thought that was a pretty good day. Anyway, there were not other overnight options within reach. The campgrounds in the park are quite nice, with showers and even laundry and bear boxes for your food. The roads and overlooks are well maintained. In contrast, the BRP is less well developed as the campgrounds have no showers and the roads very good but not so elaborate or numerous overlooks and often the trees have grown to block the views.
The SLD is 105 miles long and the next day we covered the rest of it. Again, some long climbs but nothing like the day before and it was so, so pleasant. We finished the SLD and stopped where is meets the BRP. They are essentially continuous. We had some lunch by the roadside with foodstuffs we stocked up on in Front Royal. We encountered two very hot and tired looking young guys on their first bike touring adventure whose goal was to ride across the country. They looked ill prepared and were hoping to make it to a campground some 40 miles distant. It was 4 pm and the climbs on the BRP were ahead of them and it did not seem likely they would come anywhere close to where they wanted to be. We were on the road and they were finishing their lunch. We did not see them again.
The day was getting hot and humid and the first climbs were difficult and long. I had not perfected a sweat management strategy yet since we had really been riding in cool weather up to this point. I could hardly see from the sweat in my eyes but we trudged on and with a rest stop on the longest climb, may 2 miles or so it all worked out.
The riding is a constant contrast of 4-5 mph climbing and 25-35 mph downhills. When you are climbing a mountain the downhills during a climb are somewhat discouraging because you know you will just need to climb all that distance again anyway. But on the parkway you realize that it is just going to be up and down and you are grateful for the distance covered at high speed. Before I got to this part of the trip I was concerned about my conditioning and my climbing. I was struggling some on the hills in CT, NJ and PA. Many of those climbs were steeper than here, up to now, and I think I rode myself in to better condition. Also, I got those lower gears in Wilmington and they are working well.
On the first day on the BRP we were looking to go to a campground which we knew would be down a grade off the main road. We were not looking forward to the climb out the next morning first thing but we had no choices. Or so we thought. As we turned on to the road to the campground, just a few feet off the parkway, there was a fairly obscure sign back from the road which said deli and store. We debated for several seconds whether to stop. We rode in and found a large party of people and we found the store owners. They not only had a deli and small grocery and souvenir shop, but cabins! Unfortunately, the large group was a wedding party and had all the cabins booked. As we chatted with the owner he made the mistake of saying that this once was a campground. We said, maybe it could be again, at least for one night. With the permission of the mother of the bride he said we could pitch our tents over on a nice grassy area away from the party. So we did, then we ate at the deli and then we went to bed to the sounds of a very celebratory gathering in to the wee hours. Not the best night's sleep but it was a nice ending to a 70 mile day and it saved us a long climb and probably and hour or more the next day.
By the way, the name of the town the deli was in, and the wedding, was Love, VA. Don't we all?
Our next day was somewhat shorter. It was another fantastic day of riding. We had a couple of long climbs of a few miles but mostly rolling up and down and finished with a 13 mile down hill into Otter Creek campground and restaurant. We had lunch and decided to stay. Jim was having an off day, it was getting warm and humid and the next campground was about 20 some miles away, 13.7 miles of which was climbing out of the James River valley. This takes one from the lowest point to the highest point on the parkway in VA. Also, they were predicting a storm to move through. So we camped, cramming our three tents on to one 12x12 tenting pad, which is required by the park service. A quick little thunderstorm blew threw but then it cleared and was a beautiful evening. We met a couple originally from Indiana who were doing several different bike touring trips this year. They had driven their car from the southern end of the parkway to the northern end and using the elevations posted on the overlooks along the way they plotted the climbs and descents my hand. They told us that the climbs we had seen were as steep as any on the parkway. That made us feel good, but looking at some other information we have, I wonder about that.
The next morning we got a good early start after an in camp breakfast of good old oatmeal and coffee. We wanted to make that 13 mile climb as early in the day as we could. It was a long haul up but we made it and continued on to finish the day in Roanoke. We had decided to stay in a motel in Roanoke so that we could get more food and and do laundry and not have to climb back up to the campground on the parkway. We ended up bushwacking our way off a exit road on to a road that took us to the highway we needed. How did we know to do that? Well, Jim has a laptop computer with a mapping program with services listed in the program so we had looked up some motels and some grocery stores and picked a likely destination. Then Denny, who had his GPS unit on could see that the road below us was one which connected to the highway. It had begun to rain just as we left the parkway. We put our jackets on and got to the highway. We hid under a bridge while Jim whipped out the computer again to recheck the motel. We called, they had a room and guest laundry and a BIG grocery across the highway. We got all refreshed and restocked, had a dinner next door at the steakhouse and it worked out great.
The next challenge was getting back to the parkway the next morning. GPS to the rescue again and we made it back quickly. Luckily Roanoke is not far below the parkway. Often when one gets off it there is a long climb back up. Of course, since the road went down to meet Roanoke, that meant the next morning there was a long climb as the Blue Ridge gained elevation. This one was about 5 miles long. The rest of the day was more ups and downs, often a mile or so. Again, great riding and weather. We met a father and son out on a ride for a segment of the parkway for several days and we rode together with them off and on for the next two days. We camped in the same campgrounds for two nights. This day our end point was a little town on the parkway called Meadows of Dan (Dan is a river). It is a charming mountain town with a real country store and very nice little quiet campground.
Meals in camp have been mostly packaged noodle or rice dishes, the kind you cook up in 2 cups of water, and pouches of meat, like tuna, salmon or chicken. These work out very well as you can carry 4-5 days worth in not too much space and not too much weight. This night I had rotini with broccoli and chicken. Gooood.
Yesterday we went from Meadows of Dan to Doughton Park campground, one of the parkway campgrounds. It began to rain fairly hard late in the afternoon and it was the first rain we had seen since Maryland, and that was very brief. The clouds moved in and we were in the fog for the evening and pretty much everything got wet. I did not feel well riding on this day and I talked with Jim and Denny about a rest day. And so we come full circle. We rode to the restaurant 3 miles up the road from the campground this morning. Over breakfast Denny proposed his plan that if we wanted to do a rest day, he would prefer to keep riding. He would then be a day ahead. The plan at the end of the parkway is to ride back to Asheville, NC (we are in NC now) and rent a van to load everything in and drive back to return. So Denny will get to Ashville ahead of us, rent the vehicle and meet us at the end of the parkway with the van.
Jim and I went across the parkway from the restaurant to the lodge, built by the WPA when they built the parkway. It has a wonderful view across a meadow of waving tall grass to the top of a rhodadendron covered hilltop. Have I mentioned the flowering bushes? Rhododendra, mountain laurel, flaming azaleas, honeysuckle and many more I do not know all along the route. It is gorgeous. And hilly.
Tomorrow we ride. Sure was a nice rest day. Got all dried out (so to speak) and relaxed and had no trouble at all doing almost nothing. Sure glad the lodge has wifi.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Wilmington to Front Royal
It has been a good long time between entries. I was at Steve and Kit's for a week. Could have blogged but took the week off. I had a great time visiting them. I am so impressed with the great life they have together. Simple life style but full of interesting, good lifestyle choices and never standing still, quiet and centered on what is important. They will soon celebrate one year of a formal commitment in Niagara Falls, and may they have many happy ones in the future. I so appreciated their hospitality. I got a chance to explore some of Wilmington on short bike rides each day. I rode out to historic New Castle, DE one day. It was once the largest city in the country, before Philadelphia and New York started to grow. William Penn landed there when arriving from England. It was a key spot on the underground railroad. I learned many other interesting tidbits from my tour of the city museum, which I entered looking for a restroom.
So finally the day to leave, Sunday, arrived and I got up and organized and fed and on the road by 8:45. It was difficult to leave. I was leaving this very comfortable place to connect with fellow riders who I knew only through email, and a brief introduction to Jim Smith when I came out to start the trip. Mostly, I was following a route which I had found on the internet and really had little information about. I was not even completely sure how long it would be, although I thought about 60 miles. I was also concerned about how my legs had been feeling the first part of the trip with Paul Kezmoh. I was not feeling very strong on the climbs and this had continued to be the case on the ride to Wilmington. So I contacted my 'coach' Ben Popp who had some good recommendations for me during the days off in Wilmington. I followed his recommedations and, guess what, they worked!
I rode to Delta, PA from Wilmington. Felt great all day. Went through Newark, DE, where Steve works at the Univ or Delaware. Stopped for coffee and bagel after that 18 miles and then on through lovely Maryland countryside. Rolling hills and horse farms. Then I got to Rising Sun, stopped for lunch. From there it was a somewhat hair-raising crossing of the Susquehana River on a two lane US Hwy 1 (busy) on the top of a dam. Crumbling concrete roadway and no shouler for about a mile. Speed limit was 30 but no one was going close to that. Nice relief to get that behind me.
It was another 20 miles through rolling countryside to the state line and into PA where I stayed at the Peach Bottom Inn, where I had stayed on the 2005 trip. Connected with Jim and Denny on the cell phone and we arranged to meet the next morning in the Delta Family Restaurant for breakfast. We did indeed and from there our approach to the Sky Line Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway began. We had a great ride that day through Maryland again, until the end. The campground we planned to ride to wanted $32 per tent. On general principle we refused and got directions to a Ramada Inn which were faulty and we ended up on some very ugly busy roads in the outer suburbs of Baltimore. All turned out well in the end. Jim carries a laptop with him and has a great mapping program which found us a good route out of town for the next morning.
The forecast was for thunderstorms, moving in from the nasty stuff in the middle of the country. It was overcast and some spitting rain was falling but other than a brief period in the middle of the morning no real steady rain. We had some great roads once out of the urban area. One interesting spot was a via duct over a reservoir so we stopped to take a picture. I reached in my handle bar bag for the camera and looked around and could not see my wallet. This was about 10 miles into the morning. I knew I had put it in there, but it was not there. I emptied the thing partially. We moved off the viaduct to take more time to look. I had terrible deja vu from experience in 2005 but could not see a good way out of this one. As I pulled up to stop Jim held out his hands over my bag. He said, "It is in there". I opened it up and pulled everything out and there it was, the black wallet on the bottom of the black bag, had reappeared. Jim explained this was his wife Joan's technique for finding things which are lost in plain site.
We stopped at Mt. Airey for second breakfast (one is not enough) and visited a huge and accomodating bike shop next door.
The remainder of the day was really interesting riding through some historic areas and again, beautiful horse farms on rolling acres, and an historic crossing of the Potomac into Virginia at White's Ferry, where Lee and his army had crossed during the Civil War. Then things turned not so fun with a 30 mile jaunt down US Hwy 15 to our campground. The ride through Leesburg was interesting. Very pretty little downtown area. The route was very busy and very noisey and the shoulder varied from nonexistent to almost adequate. The campground was a little further than we thought and the day was getting long, well over 80 miles. When we finally turned on to Shelter Lane and arrived at the Greenville Family Farm Campground there was great relief. The campsite in the woods was great, the hot shower was great, the camp dinner was great and I slept well too.
Today we rode just 40 miles to Front Royal, base camp, not that we plan to return. In the morning we assault the climb up to the Sky Line Drive through the Shenendoah National Park. Everyone says it is beautiful, you will love it, but you can have the first 4 miles. Guess it's a big climb. Thanks to Ben, I think I have the legs for it.
So finally the day to leave, Sunday, arrived and I got up and organized and fed and on the road by 8:45. It was difficult to leave. I was leaving this very comfortable place to connect with fellow riders who I knew only through email, and a brief introduction to Jim Smith when I came out to start the trip. Mostly, I was following a route which I had found on the internet and really had little information about. I was not even completely sure how long it would be, although I thought about 60 miles. I was also concerned about how my legs had been feeling the first part of the trip with Paul Kezmoh. I was not feeling very strong on the climbs and this had continued to be the case on the ride to Wilmington. So I contacted my 'coach' Ben Popp who had some good recommendations for me during the days off in Wilmington. I followed his recommedations and, guess what, they worked!
I rode to Delta, PA from Wilmington. Felt great all day. Went through Newark, DE, where Steve works at the Univ or Delaware. Stopped for coffee and bagel after that 18 miles and then on through lovely Maryland countryside. Rolling hills and horse farms. Then I got to Rising Sun, stopped for lunch. From there it was a somewhat hair-raising crossing of the Susquehana River on a two lane US Hwy 1 (busy) on the top of a dam. Crumbling concrete roadway and no shouler for about a mile. Speed limit was 30 but no one was going close to that. Nice relief to get that behind me.
It was another 20 miles through rolling countryside to the state line and into PA where I stayed at the Peach Bottom Inn, where I had stayed on the 2005 trip. Connected with Jim and Denny on the cell phone and we arranged to meet the next morning in the Delta Family Restaurant for breakfast. We did indeed and from there our approach to the Sky Line Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway began. We had a great ride that day through Maryland again, until the end. The campground we planned to ride to wanted $32 per tent. On general principle we refused and got directions to a Ramada Inn which were faulty and we ended up on some very ugly busy roads in the outer suburbs of Baltimore. All turned out well in the end. Jim carries a laptop with him and has a great mapping program which found us a good route out of town for the next morning.
The forecast was for thunderstorms, moving in from the nasty stuff in the middle of the country. It was overcast and some spitting rain was falling but other than a brief period in the middle of the morning no real steady rain. We had some great roads once out of the urban area. One interesting spot was a via duct over a reservoir so we stopped to take a picture. I reached in my handle bar bag for the camera and looked around and could not see my wallet. This was about 10 miles into the morning. I knew I had put it in there, but it was not there. I emptied the thing partially. We moved off the viaduct to take more time to look. I had terrible deja vu from experience in 2005 but could not see a good way out of this one. As I pulled up to stop Jim held out his hands over my bag. He said, "It is in there". I opened it up and pulled everything out and there it was, the black wallet on the bottom of the black bag, had reappeared. Jim explained this was his wife Joan's technique for finding things which are lost in plain site.
We stopped at Mt. Airey for second breakfast (one is not enough) and visited a huge and accomodating bike shop next door.
The remainder of the day was really interesting riding through some historic areas and again, beautiful horse farms on rolling acres, and an historic crossing of the Potomac into Virginia at White's Ferry, where Lee and his army had crossed during the Civil War. Then things turned not so fun with a 30 mile jaunt down US Hwy 15 to our campground. The ride through Leesburg was interesting. Very pretty little downtown area. The route was very busy and very noisey and the shoulder varied from nonexistent to almost adequate. The campground was a little further than we thought and the day was getting long, well over 80 miles. When we finally turned on to Shelter Lane and arrived at the Greenville Family Farm Campground there was great relief. The campsite in the woods was great, the hot shower was great, the camp dinner was great and I slept well too.
Today we rode just 40 miles to Front Royal, base camp, not that we plan to return. In the morning we assault the climb up to the Sky Line Drive through the Shenendoah National Park. Everyone says it is beautiful, you will love it, but you can have the first 4 miles. Guess it's a big climb. Thanks to Ben, I think I have the legs for it.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Passing through Manayunk
The rest day in Phoenixville was a good one. It rained all day, I went to the library to do email and the blog, caught a pint at the Irish pub on the corner and went to dinner and early to bed. I talked to Paul late in the afternoon to see how he made out in the rain and getting through Philly and making all the connections. He managed it while drowning in the rain, getting lost and getting inundated by a huge prep school rowing regatta on the Schulylkill River. He got lost when the bike trail hit Manayunk, a recently incorporated part of Philadelphia where the US Pro Cycling championships have been held for years. For that to be the point where you run out of trail and can barely find your way back to it if you are not familiar, is indeed ironic.
For me, the next day, I really lucked out. The weather was perfect, and as I rode along approaching Manayunk on the trail a rider rode up to me and asked the usual questions and I asked him, how do I get through Manayunk. And he said, I just happen to be going there to meet my son and I will show you. And he did and I did not get lost. I did get inundated by the still continuing regatta. There must have been 500 schools and a half dozen supporters/spectators for every participant and none of them knew the meaning of 'coming through, on your left'. Well, it just slowed me down a little and I soon found my bridge and got on to the streets of Philadelphia and the route to Wilmington, where I am now. The route was found on Bikely.com and was designed for a nice challenging recreational ride, not a fully loaded touring cyclist. So, it had some nice detours, with lots of hills and dales, off well traveled roads which were more direct. This made for many turns and 25 individully printed maps which I had organized for the ride. I needed to stop about every 10-15 minutes to look at or change maps and it slowed me down a lot. I figured out to stay on some more direct roads after a while but I did ride through some wonderful countryside and through some really nice areas with large houses and horse farms. Beaver Valley Rd presented a great long downhill and lovely countryside and I knew I would pay for that. The uphill was not so long and way too steep. I ended up pushing the bike up a part of that one. I need to lose some weight.
Sixty-eight miles later I was at my brother Steve and partner Kit's house in a historic section of Wilmington and glad to be there. I even made it in time for us to get to our 5:30 dinner reservation.
Today, Sunday, we visited Longwood Gardens outside of Wilmington, actually in PA. It was the estate of Pierre S. duPont. You may have heard of his family. Wow. If you are ever here do not miss it. It is a little spendy to get in but, actually, it is worth it. That is all I will say.
Thought I would put in a few random comments about bicycle touring. If you read my 2005 account you know how impressed I was by the curiosity and interest everyone had with my endeavor. Well by this time it has become less endearing in its nature. Paul and I came to call it 'grilling'. The questions are always the same: Where are you from, where did you start, where are you going, how far do you ride everyday, how much does all that stuff weigh,etc. When it is a truly interested person on the street and you are resting and in a mood to chat, it is great. This kind of activity intrigues almost everyone. (It pisses off a few too.) But I have to say there is a limit. The three best examples from this trip include the guy who stopped his car in the middle of the highway, not side road or street, but highway, turned on his blinkers and began driving the speed I was going (probably 15 mph) and grilling me while he was driving. I could not believe it and finally just told him that this was not safe and turned away. The next one was a pick up driver stopped a light on a busy highway intersection who did his grilling while we stood by the road discussing routing and plans and finally there was the guy at the restaurant, who had just finished his meal and would not let us pass to go in to get ours until every one of his investigative reporter questions had been asked. Enough ranting.
I will be resting and getting smaller chain rings on my bike over the next few days.
Later.
For me, the next day, I really lucked out. The weather was perfect, and as I rode along approaching Manayunk on the trail a rider rode up to me and asked the usual questions and I asked him, how do I get through Manayunk. And he said, I just happen to be going there to meet my son and I will show you. And he did and I did not get lost. I did get inundated by the still continuing regatta. There must have been 500 schools and a half dozen supporters/spectators for every participant and none of them knew the meaning of 'coming through, on your left'. Well, it just slowed me down a little and I soon found my bridge and got on to the streets of Philadelphia and the route to Wilmington, where I am now. The route was found on Bikely.com and was designed for a nice challenging recreational ride, not a fully loaded touring cyclist. So, it had some nice detours, with lots of hills and dales, off well traveled roads which were more direct. This made for many turns and 25 individully printed maps which I had organized for the ride. I needed to stop about every 10-15 minutes to look at or change maps and it slowed me down a lot. I figured out to stay on some more direct roads after a while but I did ride through some wonderful countryside and through some really nice areas with large houses and horse farms. Beaver Valley Rd presented a great long downhill and lovely countryside and I knew I would pay for that. The uphill was not so long and way too steep. I ended up pushing the bike up a part of that one. I need to lose some weight.
Sixty-eight miles later I was at my brother Steve and partner Kit's house in a historic section of Wilmington and glad to be there. I even made it in time for us to get to our 5:30 dinner reservation.
Today, Sunday, we visited Longwood Gardens outside of Wilmington, actually in PA. It was the estate of Pierre S. duPont. You may have heard of his family. Wow. If you are ever here do not miss it. It is a little spendy to get in but, actually, it is worth it. That is all I will say.
Thought I would put in a few random comments about bicycle touring. If you read my 2005 account you know how impressed I was by the curiosity and interest everyone had with my endeavor. Well by this time it has become less endearing in its nature. Paul and I came to call it 'grilling'. The questions are always the same: Where are you from, where did you start, where are you going, how far do you ride everyday, how much does all that stuff weigh,etc. When it is a truly interested person on the street and you are resting and in a mood to chat, it is great. This kind of activity intrigues almost everyone. (It pisses off a few too.) But I have to say there is a limit. The three best examples from this trip include the guy who stopped his car in the middle of the highway, not side road or street, but highway, turned on his blinkers and began driving the speed I was going (probably 15 mph) and grilling me while he was driving. I could not believe it and finally just told him that this was not safe and turned away. The next one was a pick up driver stopped a light on a busy highway intersection who did his grilling while we stood by the road discussing routing and plans and finally there was the guy at the restaurant, who had just finished his meal and would not let us pass to go in to get ours until every one of his investigative reporter questions had been asked. Enough ranting.
I will be resting and getting smaller chain rings on my bike over the next few days.
Later.
Friday, May 16, 2008
By the time I got to Phoenixville......
...I'll have ridden 500 miles. Or so. It has been a week since internet access so there is some catching up to do. Overall we have had a great week. This morning I saw Paul off to ride into Philadelphia, find a bike shop, get to the airport to rent a car, pack his bike in a shop supplied box, take it to FedEx to ship home and then collapse in a motel to get his flight back to Tempe tomorrow morning. And he took off from our motel this morning in a steady rain. Such is the life of cycling tourist. Now you can see why we do it!
I am taking a rest day here in Phoenixville, PA across the river from Valley Forge, before riding to Wilmington, DE tomorrow to visit Steve and Kit (bro and partner). I will be there for a few days before the second chapter, riding the Blue Ridge Parkway begins after meeting Jim and Denny.
The highlight of our week's ride came yesterday, on the last full day of the trip with Paul. We were in Intercourse, PA, in the heart of Amish country and we rode a back road that was used almost exclusively by the Amish in their horse drawn carts and buggies. We saw young folks driving a Shetland pony drawn wagon and farmers with huge work horses going down the road to work fields. Most intriguing was a one room school house at a country crossroads with the probably 3-5th graders bustling around the yard before the bell rang to begin the school day. Outdoor toilets in the yard and some play equipment, hand built. The children were surprisingly friendly as we asked if we could take a picture. One of the most charming things we saw many times was children transporting themselves along the roads and highways on large wheeled scooters. They are seen often and several were parked in front yards and in the school yard.
Both Paul and I were somewhat taken aback by the approachability of the children. Not far from where we were is where earlier this year a man had killed five schoolgirls in a school much like the one we had come across. The story of the Amish response, to forgive and embrace the family of the perpetrator, who of course killed himself as well, is at the same time nearly unbeliveable and inspiring. They have raised huge amounts of money to support the family of the murderer and have sought not a bit of retribution. It is a lesson for the world, no doubt. And a testiment to the power of their faith.
This last day was a terrific ride. Nice temperatures, partly cloudy, a bit of a tailwind and riding back to Phoenixville, closer to sea level, mostly down hill. The day before, going the opposite direction out of P'ville, was quite the opposite. We spent the day riding into rolling country that was, in general, higher elevation. So it was uphill and we felt it. We then we reached a point where we needed to turn to go to the campground which we thought we would stay at. Earlier, in an old red schoolhouse, now Mennonite/Amish information center, we were told that the road we were to embark on now was hilly, "but they are not too long". It is a lesson learned over and over that those who do not ride bicycles do not know what steep, or long really mean. We rode over Welsh Mountain and it was long, and in places, steep. I did my usual stop midway and I might have even stopped again, I do not remember. Paul however, steamed right over that sucker. During the course of the week he has definitely found his legs and has been riding strong. My legs, on the other hand had better get stronger fast.
We decided that, after all that, we would not stay in that campground and since we were already over the top and it was down hill to the next one, where we really wanted to be, we would go on. That brought us to Intercourse, PA. And no that is not a typo and no I do not know the story. Maybe some one can Google it and tell me. We then discovered the alternate route, not over the mountain that took us out the next day to witness the heart of Amish country. It was fascinating and since this had been Paul's primary goal for the trip, quite a welcome experience.
Since my last post we rolled through countryside I had seen before, but enjoyed no less the second time around. We rode past the Shawangunk and Kittatinny Mountains and along the Delaware River. We passed through Middletown, Mount Hope, Cuddebackville, Godeffroy, Huguenot, and Port Jervis. We awared the grumpy waitress prize in Delaware Water Gap, and then rode further on down to Riverton, PA, where the motel was booked and thus went on to the other side of the river to Belvidere, NJ. There we found the Belvidere Hotel quite accomodating. It has been recently restored by one Sidney Deutsch, who shares Kelli's maiden name, and, I believe, her grandfather's first name. I am not sure that sweaty bikers are the clientele that Mr. Deutsch is seeking but he is on the Adventure Cycling list of accomodations so I think he will continue to see this crowd roll up to his front porch.
The day we left Belvidere started with a gentle sprinkle that some expert said was to become less through the day. Wrong again. It turned in to a tough day with cold wind and increasing rain. We only did less than 40 miles and got to Frenchtown, NJ where we stayed in the Widow McCrea's B&B, except we were on the cheap so we did not get the &B. The next day was beautiful and we rolled through the NJ side of the Delaware and along the Delaware and Raritan canal to Lambertville, where I had some back pain misadventures in 2005. We got out of there unscathed and crossed to New Hope, PA and Buck's county and some the the most beautiful riding of the trip. And on through Norristown, which got very bad reviews in 2005, and along the Schuylkill River trail to Phoenixville, for the first time.
So there we are. I will be at Steve and Kit's and will relate the trip through Philadelphia to Wilmington at an early date.
Nap time now.
I am taking a rest day here in Phoenixville, PA across the river from Valley Forge, before riding to Wilmington, DE tomorrow to visit Steve and Kit (bro and partner). I will be there for a few days before the second chapter, riding the Blue Ridge Parkway begins after meeting Jim and Denny.
The highlight of our week's ride came yesterday, on the last full day of the trip with Paul. We were in Intercourse, PA, in the heart of Amish country and we rode a back road that was used almost exclusively by the Amish in their horse drawn carts and buggies. We saw young folks driving a Shetland pony drawn wagon and farmers with huge work horses going down the road to work fields. Most intriguing was a one room school house at a country crossroads with the probably 3-5th graders bustling around the yard before the bell rang to begin the school day. Outdoor toilets in the yard and some play equipment, hand built. The children were surprisingly friendly as we asked if we could take a picture. One of the most charming things we saw many times was children transporting themselves along the roads and highways on large wheeled scooters. They are seen often and several were parked in front yards and in the school yard.
Both Paul and I were somewhat taken aback by the approachability of the children. Not far from where we were is where earlier this year a man had killed five schoolgirls in a school much like the one we had come across. The story of the Amish response, to forgive and embrace the family of the perpetrator, who of course killed himself as well, is at the same time nearly unbeliveable and inspiring. They have raised huge amounts of money to support the family of the murderer and have sought not a bit of retribution. It is a lesson for the world, no doubt. And a testiment to the power of their faith.
This last day was a terrific ride. Nice temperatures, partly cloudy, a bit of a tailwind and riding back to Phoenixville, closer to sea level, mostly down hill. The day before, going the opposite direction out of P'ville, was quite the opposite. We spent the day riding into rolling country that was, in general, higher elevation. So it was uphill and we felt it. We then we reached a point where we needed to turn to go to the campground which we thought we would stay at. Earlier, in an old red schoolhouse, now Mennonite/Amish information center, we were told that the road we were to embark on now was hilly, "but they are not too long". It is a lesson learned over and over that those who do not ride bicycles do not know what steep, or long really mean. We rode over Welsh Mountain and it was long, and in places, steep. I did my usual stop midway and I might have even stopped again, I do not remember. Paul however, steamed right over that sucker. During the course of the week he has definitely found his legs and has been riding strong. My legs, on the other hand had better get stronger fast.
We decided that, after all that, we would not stay in that campground and since we were already over the top and it was down hill to the next one, where we really wanted to be, we would go on. That brought us to Intercourse, PA. And no that is not a typo and no I do not know the story. Maybe some one can Google it and tell me. We then discovered the alternate route, not over the mountain that took us out the next day to witness the heart of Amish country. It was fascinating and since this had been Paul's primary goal for the trip, quite a welcome experience.
Since my last post we rolled through countryside I had seen before, but enjoyed no less the second time around. We rode past the Shawangunk and Kittatinny Mountains and along the Delaware River. We passed through Middletown, Mount Hope, Cuddebackville, Godeffroy, Huguenot, and Port Jervis. We awared the grumpy waitress prize in Delaware Water Gap, and then rode further on down to Riverton, PA, where the motel was booked and thus went on to the other side of the river to Belvidere, NJ. There we found the Belvidere Hotel quite accomodating. It has been recently restored by one Sidney Deutsch, who shares Kelli's maiden name, and, I believe, her grandfather's first name. I am not sure that sweaty bikers are the clientele that Mr. Deutsch is seeking but he is on the Adventure Cycling list of accomodations so I think he will continue to see this crowd roll up to his front porch.
The day we left Belvidere started with a gentle sprinkle that some expert said was to become less through the day. Wrong again. It turned in to a tough day with cold wind and increasing rain. We only did less than 40 miles and got to Frenchtown, NJ where we stayed in the Widow McCrea's B&B, except we were on the cheap so we did not get the &B. The next day was beautiful and we rolled through the NJ side of the Delaware and along the Delaware and Raritan canal to Lambertville, where I had some back pain misadventures in 2005. We got out of there unscathed and crossed to New Hope, PA and Buck's county and some the the most beautiful riding of the trip. And on through Norristown, which got very bad reviews in 2005, and along the Schuylkill River trail to Phoenixville, for the first time.
So there we are. I will be at Steve and Kit's and will relate the trip through Philadelphia to Wilmington at an early date.
Nap time now.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
New Paltz, NY--Day 4
No easy internet access until today so here is the first post of the trip.
On Sunday the 4th I flew to Hartford/Springfield Int'l (Bradley) to be picked up by Jim Smith, one my riding partners in chapter 2 of this trip. Leaving MSP, just after passing through security, there at the Travelers Assistance podium was my Aunt Barbara. It was great to see her and it made for a fun and reassuring departure. On the leg from Chicago to Bradley I was in seat 1A. You might think that was first class, but you would be wrong. Just a puddle jumper jet with one class of passenger. It got me there safe and on time so no complaints.
A short drive to Jim's in Southington later I met the dogs and unpacked my bike. All was in good order. It is always a challenge to organize myself when getting ready for these trips and to do it somone else's garage adds a little extra measure of confusion. But we got it done. Joan made a really wonderful dinner of good old steak and potatoes and baby carrots. Real comfort food for the start of an adventure.
Jim and I started out the next morning from Southington to get to Granby, where he would turn around and I would continue on, supposedly to meet Paul. 'Supposedly' because after lunch as Jim and I were taking some photos to mark one waypoint in the trip, up rolled Paul. At first I thought it was just another fully loaded bike tourist but then I recognized that it was him. I had not expected, nor did we plan to meet at that location.
The ride to Granby with Jim had been really pleasant. I learned from Jim that in CT, if you ride north/south the roads are flat. If you ride east/west, not so flat. As it was, our route was almost all no/so, good way to start.
From Granby Paul and I rode to Westfield, MA. There because not too far up the road in Southampton, is a brewpub. One of Paul's ambitions in life is to attend as many brewpubs in as many states as one can reasonably accomplish. This trip is planned for brewpubs and Amish country. I, of course, have no objection to finding brewpubs. There are some really nice brewpubs here and there. By the way, if you are ever in Southampton, skip the brewpub.
The cab ride to the brewpub, on the other hand, was really entertaining, if a little frightening at first. The cabby, when we got in the cab, was obviously in a bad mood. He kept getting cell phone calls from someone to whom he was not the least bit friendly. After we stopped for gas, which would make any of us grumpy, I asked him if he was having a rough day. He then launched into the tale of his recently returned girlfriend (this guy was in his 60s) who was a drunk and got the cops called to his house last night. He was driving like a maniac and I almost said something but thought better of it. We tried to be supportive, you know how men like to be supportive, and I gave him a big tip, because we needed him to pick us up after the brewpub experience, which we knew would be grand. Not. Anyway, on the way home he regaled us with tales of his BIKE RACING DAYS. No kidding. I think he was telling the truth and it was a hoot.
Next morning we rode back to CT and started a series of hills which, literally took our breath away. I had ridden this at the end on my 2005 cross country trip and must have been in a fog because I did not remember so much climbing. For Paul it was hard because he was still adjusting to the time zone change and getting his legs back. We made it a shorter day than expected and camped at Lone Oak campground in East Canaan, CT.
Next day we went through some more hilly countryside, some of it quite steep and long (especially Winchell Mtn), both the ups and the downs. Lovely countryside in western CT and upstate NY. We crossed the Appalachian Trail near Salisbury, stopped in Pine Plains, NY for lunch. Chatted with a native German who cycled a lot in Europe in his youth. He was fascinated with our trip and our gear, bikes, etc. It is always fun to have interaction with people who seem just amazed by what we are doing. I guess it must be a little crazy.
Last night we were in Rhinebeck, NY in the Hudson River valley, not far from West Point. We stayed in the same inn I had been in on the 2005 trip. Went through Poughkeepsie and across the Hudson this morning.
It might seem like it would be repetitious doing the same route that I did in 2005 again, but we are going the other direction and it is just as interesting and I like knowing a little about what is ahead.
Tonight we are motelling again, Super 8, in New Paltz. Guess what is here. A brewpub!
It is all good. More later.
On Sunday the 4th I flew to Hartford/Springfield Int'l (Bradley) to be picked up by Jim Smith, one my riding partners in chapter 2 of this trip. Leaving MSP, just after passing through security, there at the Travelers Assistance podium was my Aunt Barbara. It was great to see her and it made for a fun and reassuring departure. On the leg from Chicago to Bradley I was in seat 1A. You might think that was first class, but you would be wrong. Just a puddle jumper jet with one class of passenger. It got me there safe and on time so no complaints.
A short drive to Jim's in Southington later I met the dogs and unpacked my bike. All was in good order. It is always a challenge to organize myself when getting ready for these trips and to do it somone else's garage adds a little extra measure of confusion. But we got it done. Joan made a really wonderful dinner of good old steak and potatoes and baby carrots. Real comfort food for the start of an adventure.
Jim and I started out the next morning from Southington to get to Granby, where he would turn around and I would continue on, supposedly to meet Paul. 'Supposedly' because after lunch as Jim and I were taking some photos to mark one waypoint in the trip, up rolled Paul. At first I thought it was just another fully loaded bike tourist but then I recognized that it was him. I had not expected, nor did we plan to meet at that location.
The ride to Granby with Jim had been really pleasant. I learned from Jim that in CT, if you ride north/south the roads are flat. If you ride east/west, not so flat. As it was, our route was almost all no/so, good way to start.
From Granby Paul and I rode to Westfield, MA. There because not too far up the road in Southampton, is a brewpub. One of Paul's ambitions in life is to attend as many brewpubs in as many states as one can reasonably accomplish. This trip is planned for brewpubs and Amish country. I, of course, have no objection to finding brewpubs. There are some really nice brewpubs here and there. By the way, if you are ever in Southampton, skip the brewpub.
The cab ride to the brewpub, on the other hand, was really entertaining, if a little frightening at first. The cabby, when we got in the cab, was obviously in a bad mood. He kept getting cell phone calls from someone to whom he was not the least bit friendly. After we stopped for gas, which would make any of us grumpy, I asked him if he was having a rough day. He then launched into the tale of his recently returned girlfriend (this guy was in his 60s) who was a drunk and got the cops called to his house last night. He was driving like a maniac and I almost said something but thought better of it. We tried to be supportive, you know how men like to be supportive, and I gave him a big tip, because we needed him to pick us up after the brewpub experience, which we knew would be grand. Not. Anyway, on the way home he regaled us with tales of his BIKE RACING DAYS. No kidding. I think he was telling the truth and it was a hoot.
Next morning we rode back to CT and started a series of hills which, literally took our breath away. I had ridden this at the end on my 2005 cross country trip and must have been in a fog because I did not remember so much climbing. For Paul it was hard because he was still adjusting to the time zone change and getting his legs back. We made it a shorter day than expected and camped at Lone Oak campground in East Canaan, CT.
Next day we went through some more hilly countryside, some of it quite steep and long (especially Winchell Mtn), both the ups and the downs. Lovely countryside in western CT and upstate NY. We crossed the Appalachian Trail near Salisbury, stopped in Pine Plains, NY for lunch. Chatted with a native German who cycled a lot in Europe in his youth. He was fascinated with our trip and our gear, bikes, etc. It is always fun to have interaction with people who seem just amazed by what we are doing. I guess it must be a little crazy.
Last night we were in Rhinebeck, NY in the Hudson River valley, not far from West Point. We stayed in the same inn I had been in on the 2005 trip. Went through Poughkeepsie and across the Hudson this morning.
It might seem like it would be repetitious doing the same route that I did in 2005 again, but we are going the other direction and it is just as interesting and I like knowing a little about what is ahead.
Tonight we are motelling again, Super 8, in New Paltz. Guess what is here. A brewpub!
It is all good. More later.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Time for another trip
It has been too long since I hit the road so there is a new adventure on the docket. It is another trip carrying all my gear. Only this time I will not be riding alone, thankfully. One week from today I will be flying to Bradley Int'l Airport near Hartford, CT. There I will reunite with by trusty silver bike and all my gear and head to Granby, CT. where I will meet Paul Kezmoh, my riding partner for phase one. We will ride down the Delaware River and into PA Amish country. The trip will take about 12 days. We will finish near Philadelphia. From there I will ride to Wilmington, DE to spend some time with my bro Steve and his partner Kit. I will be there 3 - 4 days and then head out for phase two. Which is to meet up with Jim Smith and Denny LaForce. The three of us will ride the length of the Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. That trip will be about 2 1/2 weeks. It will be epic in scale since each day entails at least 5000 ft of climbing. In case you are not sure, that is a lot-- every day for 2 weeks.
So, I have been trying to get in shape for this. Gotta go ride.
More later. Keep checking.
So, I have been trying to get in shape for this. Gotta go ride.
More later. Keep checking.
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