Since Francis Slocum State Park was a few miles off our intended route, and it had a wicked long downhill into it, we opted to pack up camp and have Ben drop us off on the route where the trip was meant to continue. No sense in killing ourselves by starting the day’s ride with a 10% grade for 1 1/2 miles, right? We are starting to feel the miles, especially here in Penns-HILL-vania. This was supposed to be a 70+ mile day so of course we got out early, 10:30. We were anxiously looking forward to spending the night at Sabrina’s cousins’, Angela and Rich Pfeiffer, in Bangor. Only, as often happens on this trip, we under estimated the distance between Milford and Bangor. So after Ben met us at the halfway point he was off, down to Bangor, only to drive 40 miles back up Rt.209 to pick us up at the end of the day. He did get to drop off the trailer and see Angela for a while before coming to get us. By the time we rendezvoused with him, we had ridden 6 mile off course on Rt.209 south, downhill. We’ll definitely account for that when starting tomorrow. Well here we are in the Poconos and of all the mechanical problems a biker might encounter, I hit the worst one in hill country. You bikers out there might be able to guess, my cable to my rear derailleur broke after about 5 miles and no cell phone service! For those of you who don’t do bicycles, that means I’m on the smallest sprocket on the rear cartridge and can only shift on the front. So much for a 24 speed bike, now I’m down to 3. But the Teton Pass was the only hill I would succumb to and so I pushed myself through every climb in 8th.
Luckily, I finally make contact with Ben as he was a couple miles from passing us and he stopped to make repairs. We had new cables in the truck and after a quick repair I was back at full strength with 24 gears. Much of the day’s ride was on a Bicycle PA Trail, which is a specific bike route, but not necessarily a bike friendly road. There were many areas that had a designated bike lane which were much appreciated and then there those areas with no shoulder and heavy truck traffic. After finally meeting up with Ben we travelled to Angela and Rich’s to be greeted by family that we hadn’t seen in probably 10 years. It was a delightful reunion and of course we got to catch up on most highlights of the trip, although it meant we were up until 12:30. They treated us to a great steak dinner and a special ice cream cake with my, signature sign off, “Keep Them Wheels a Rollin”. Angela’s boss let her leave work early to be prepared for our arrival and also made a nice donation to Chikumbuso. It was a worthwhile detour. They had to get up early and go to work, but we had a short days ride into N.Y. the next day and could sleep in a little and leave on our delayed time schedule. Looking forward to friends and relatives in NY.
Luckily, I finally make contact with Ben as he was a couple miles from passing us and he stopped to make repairs. We had new cables in the truck and after a quick repair I was back at full strength with 24 gears. Much of the day’s ride was on a Bicycle PA Trail, which is a specific bike route, but not necessarily a bike friendly road. There were many areas that had a designated bike lane which were much appreciated and then there those areas with no shoulder and heavy truck traffic. After finally meeting up with Ben we travelled to Angela and Rich’s to be greeted by family that we hadn’t seen in probably 10 years. It was a delightful reunion and of course we got to catch up on most highlights of the trip, although it meant we were up until 12:30. They treated us to a great steak dinner and a special ice cream cake with my, signature sign off, “Keep Them Wheels a Rollin”. Angela’s boss let her leave work early to be prepared for our arrival and also made a nice donation to Chikumbuso. It was a worthwhile detour. They had to get up early and go to work, but we had a short days ride into N.Y. the next day and could sleep in a little and leave on our delayed time schedule. Looking forward to friends and relatives in NY.
Keep Them Wheels a Rollin'
Paul
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