Surprise, Surprise – The Snakes Alive

The first surprise is not what you’re expecting and neither was I. For this day’s ride it was going to Ben and I, so I expected it to be short and fast, however there were so many things that came up that, well let’s just say there were a lot of stories. Start off with checking the bikes out before taking off. Pump up the tires, check brakes, inspect tire tread; OH NO, what this? The tread on my rear tire is split down the middle and peeling off for about 6” and after only 3000 mile on this tire! This is not a good way to start the day. So, since we’re all ready to roll with the camper and everything, I just limp over to the truck stop where there’s free WiFi and Ben and Sabrina do their thing on the laptop and I do my thing to the tire in the parking lot. All better now, let’s hit the road. We are tooling along about 5 miles into the day and we’re at the top of a big hill when Ben pulls over to the side looking back at me. Then I see it, a 3’ long rattle snake on the edge of the road. It was just laying there sunning itself on the hot tar of the roadside. It was lying there perfectly still, but with no signs of damage from being run over, so we were pretty confident that it was alive and just absorbing the heat from the road after spending a chilly night in the hills of PA. I wanted to throw a big rock on it but Ben stopped me because he wanted to get the picture. So after thinking it over, karma told me that we should just leave it alone and not bother it. Well after being out West and never seeing a rattle snake, I guess seeing this one counts for addition to the list of critters we encountered on the trip. So it is on through some pretty nice terrain and once again, Sabrina missed a day of great riding after being delegated to the support driver. As we’re riding along I get a phone call from Sabrina, she’s all excited about finally see a field of Sunflowers, “You must get a picture.” As I’m riding and talking on the phone, I miss an accident that almost happens on the other side of the road. Just as a car stops to let us ride by before turning across our path, the car behind it has to skid 20 ft. to a stop to avoid rear-ending the courteous driver. We travel through Bald Eagle State Park and into Jersey Shores, PA. Here the road we’ve been traveling on ends and we are directed to SR220 which is a “Motor Vehicles Only” road. Sabrina reached this point before us and was kind enough to venture over to a house where there was signs of life and ask for advice on travelling to Williamsport by bike. When Ben and I arrived she told us that she was advised that we should take the “Rails to Trails” pathway to Williamsport since SR220 was “MVO.” Remember my statement of “Signs of Life”? Sabrina then quantified her advice by saying, “If you want to believe a 20 something guy who has more kids than teeth and is standing roadside burning his garbage in a 55 gallon barrel.” What shall we do? She says to me, “You go ask him while Ben and I look at the maps and try to find an alternate route.” So I go over to this guy who is now rebuilding one of those mini motorcycles, and ask about the R to T pathway. He assures me that he has ridden it past Williamsport, it is paved all the way and is well marked so we can exit at Williamsport. OK, thanks for the info. We ride off down the road looking for the start of this R to T. We pass 2 kids on bikes and ask if they know where it is. They say it’s right over the crest of the hill adding “You can’t miss it.” So we ride on and come upon it where it crosses the road. Cool. We figure we should go to the right because with our male instincts and sense of direction, and no signage to help us, that’s got to be the right way. About ½ mile down the trail we come across an old stop station across from the main street in Jersey Shores and there’s the parking lot at the end of the R to T. Oops, guess we went the wrong way, what the heck, only ½ mile right? We head back only to pass the boys who comment, “We didn’t realize you were that unfamiliar with the R to T.” Later Ben tells me that in his mind something didn’t seem right. About 12 miles down this beautiful, scenic old rail line, we haven’t really seen any signs telling us the names of the different roads we’ve crossed or where they go. By my calculations we should have about 5 miles to get to Williamsport when Ben wants to take a break and stops by an entry point with a gas station nearby. Again, the only signs were to the restrooms and several nature point bulletin boards. I’ll go ask at the gas station how far it is to Williamsport. Oops, “You can’t get to Williamsport on this R to T” I’m told. You have to go back to Jersey Shores and go east to get to Williamsport. Ben says, “I knew it!” “Call Mom, I’m done riding!” he says. Oops, no cell phone signals. Well he walks around fuming and finally finds one bar, call Sabrina and walks her through programming the GPS to get her from Williamsport to Waterville where we were. Forty-five minutes and 22 miles later and Sabrina show up to rescue the “Lost Boys.” Well I figure we got our mileage in just as if we HAD ridden to Williamsport, we had a nice ride on the R to T pathway, I dream about working in my retirement on a project to make the old Norwich to Westerly trolley line into our own R to T bike route and we were “Making Memories.” It was a great day, I only hope I can convince Ben of that. Once we found a campsite, which was not as easy as it should have been, the GPS led us into a very nice neighborhood which was once obviously a campground, we cleaned up and went out for pizza. On our way from the campsite to the Pizza Hut we passed the International Little League World Series Complex and checked out the stadium and facilities. The nice waitress at Pizza Hut gave us the scoop on the Little League World Series’ effect on the city’s economy as well as straightening us out on the route for tomorrows ride starting with the local R to T pathway. The first thing we checked out was how many teeth she had compared to the number of kids!
Keep Them Wheels a Rollin’
Paul

And the Beat Goes On/ Homecoming Party Update

An average day, as far as Penns-HILL-vania goes. God answered my prayer and eased up on the hills a little. Sabrina’s best quote for the day was, “There are lots of beautiful vistas to see, it’s too bad you have to ride to the top of a hill to see them.” Ain’t that the truth? There were some pretty high points along this ride which provided scenic views out over 40-50 miles of the surrounding countryside. Even though it wasn’t quite as bad as the day before, the repetition of day after day of roller coaster hills is starting to wear us down. Kudos to the Pennsylvania bike riders, we’ve been on the Bicycle PA Trail for 3 days now and if this is what you guys ride for pleasure, you’re a hardy bunch. This ride reminded us of the start of the trip in OR, some of the hills were long and gradual. But our legs knew we weren’t just starting the journey. Good thing this ride was only 55 miles. We got out of camp as usual, trailer all packed up and going back to the end point from the day before in DuBois, saying good bye to the beautiful Parker Dam State Park in Penfield, PA. We made our usual stop at Mickey D’s and did the e-mail and blog entry for the day. Since it was already 11:30 and I had eaten breakfast about 7:00, Ben and I had the $1.00 menu chicken sandwich to hold us over. We made it into Snow Shoe relatively early only to find out that our site had no electricity. I guess we’re in the minority here as overnight campers, because there are probably 100 trailers of various vintages parked here. Looks like people live here all summer. Oh well, let’s get dinner done and get to bed early. The only thing that held us up a little was going shopping after dinner while Ben stayed in camp to play games on the laptop. At the grocery store, once again we found ice cream on sale. So, you know what that means. We did take it easy this time, we only went for the quart of Eddy’s Peanut- butter Kandy Kake, even though the ½ gallon was on sale too. We are BAD when it comes to deserts, we even bought a ½ dozen marked down donuts. What the heck, we didn’t get the ½ gallon and we need our calories!
WE’LL ARRIVE IN WESTERLY SATURDAY AUG 7TH. COME JOIN US FOR AN OPEN HOUSE FROM 2-6 AT BILL AND CHARLOTTE BERARDI’S 141 WEST BROAD ST IN PAWCATUCK. FOOD AND BEVERAGES WILL BE PROVIDED, JUST BRING YOUR CHEERS. PLEASE NO BIRTHDAY PRESENTS BUT DONATIONS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME.
Keep Them Wheels a Rollin’
Paul

The Roller Coaster Roads of “Penns-HILL-vania”

“Relentless” is the word that first comes to mind when thinking back on the hills of this day’s ride. By far this was the toughest day’s ride that we have experienced on this trip. Now I know why “Bicycle America” takes their tour up into Canada and back down into the states via Niagara Fall, N.Y., it’s to avoid the Alleghany Mountain region of Penns-HILL-vania. Today we did 75 miles of roller coaster type inclines, up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down and up and down. Usually on the downhill glide we’d reach 30+mph, but immediately after reaching the bottom, the uphill would start. Before you were 100 yds. into the uphill, you were down on the smallest sprocket on your crank and standing up to pedal to the top of the rise. Then you were over the crest and back down the other side, over and over. I reached 36.8 mph as my highest speed, yet we only averaged 11 mph for the day. It was a killer day on our legs and we were beat when we finally called “Uncle” and phoned Ben to pick us up at 7:30. We did make it to Dubois, but the campground was 20 mile past DuBois and off our route. We stayed the night in Parker Dam Sate Park in Penfield, PA. By the time he picked us up and we pulled into camp it was 9:00. Luckily Ben had pulled into a specialty meat smokehouse and bought some awesome smoked, cheese hotdogs. So, hot dogs and beans with chips, and we were satisfied. It was a busy place with lots of family campers and Ben noticed that here were the most pop-up campers that we had seen. People were up late enjoying the campsite and kids were up EARLY, 6:30 a.m. running around and yelling. All in all, it’s the sound of people enjoying their summer vacation, so it’s great. Dinner was done and the kiddies (Ben & Sabrina) were in bed by 10:00. Please GOD, be easy on us with the hills tomorrow, please! We still have 4 days left In PA and if it’s all like this, I might not male it!
Keep Them Wheels a Rollin’
Paul

We Kicked Some Amish Hill Butt!!

Karen wanted us to experience the Bob Evans breakfast so off to another big meal to start the day. It was difficult to leave such an eager and friendly host but we had to get on the road. The rains from the night before left us with a cool and sunny morning, probably the best biking weather to date. Within miles we passed Kent State University. Neil Young’s song about that terrible day in history has been stuck in my head since we entered Ohio, one of my favorites. It is also a favorite of Ben Taylor’s (shameless plug for the Aug 29th concert). The one time I heard it live was at the first Ben Taylor concert I attended on MV at the former Hot Tin Roof. What a night with Bonnie and Drew from Michigan! That was the night that Carly Simon came out singing the chorus to “Ohio” and she uttered the words as she returned to the stage, “but where is Sabrina?” referring to autographing my lyrics to “Anticipation.” We can only hope for a repeat at the Jonathan Edwards Winery……. Back to biking
Michael assured us the hills were not as bad for the rest of Ohio but as we entered Pennsylvania, they appeared, along with another Amish town. We passed many buggies, probably on their way back from work, mostly single men and women driving with their children, always returning a friendly wave. I took a break to eat a granola bar (thanks Diane, we are down to 4) for strength when a buggy passed us headed for a big hill. I wondered, who is stronger, the horse or the bike. Half way up the hill I passed the buggy! Ben said he passed an Amish woman mowing her lawn with a horse drawn mower as well as van loads of Amish workers.
Ben found a great campsite, Cozy Rest, in Harrisville, but it was another 2 miles of hills off the beaten path.

Who said Ohio roads were ALL flat and straight??

We are in civilization now, you can tell by the price of campsites. Of course you always get what you pay for. The place we stayed at advertised internet access. That means if you go to the front of the campground, next to the Super 8 motel, you can pick up their Wi-Fi. Now you can’t get it at your campsite or inside the office where you have an electric outlet, but you could do all your computer business with a long extension cord if your battery is low, like ours. Now onto the days ride. Sabrina and I started out in hot and humid weather but it didn’t stop us. About a mile out of camp a flat on my rear tire stopped up. Glass, there was lots of debris on the roadside. While changing the tube, a nice police officer stopped to offer assistance. He was actually the Chief of Police in Milan (My –lan) and he explained that Milan is in Italy! He also explained that Milan is the birthplace of Thomas Edison and many other interesting facts about the city and his life. He asked where we were from and when we said CT, he immediately asked where in CT. You see, he collects police badges and he happened to have one from the City of Groton and it had a submarine on it. He had over 2000 badges and he seems to have studied them all! He told us about one town where there was the Mayor assumed the Chief of Police position when elected, without any formal police training, and when asked about getting a badge for his collection, the mayor said they only had two badges. The Mayor said, “What the heck, I was going to fire that gal anyway” and promptly went over to her uniform hanging in the closet and cut the badge off her sleeve and gave it up the collection. He was a nice guy and actually offered to take my wheel home to his garage and repair it and he had a compressor, and he did actually go home and got us two cold bottles of Propel water and return to our route to give them to us. Now where but in MY-LAN could you get service like that? People in Ohio are so friendly. Back on the road again and I’m commenting to Sabrina about the nice flat, straight roads in Ohio when things began to change. I should have just shut my mouth and kept my thoughts to myself. The last 25 miles of a 77 mile day tested our legs.
OMG it was hilly. For you North Stonington folks, I mean Cossaduck Hill caliber grades. And not just one, they kept coming. Route 303 was kind of like Wyassup road. This day made the Tetons seem like a pleasant memory. We had a new land speed record for bikes on one downhill, 42.6 mph, the fastest either of us had ever been on a bike. Well, right after the most torturous climb of the day, a steep downhill into a sharp corner with no shoulder and then up, up, up, we met a nice lady and her two daughters. What started the conversation was that she had just set up a pen on the grass for two wirehair fox terrier puppies. The girls had gone into the store for ice cream and I went to look at the puppies thinking they might be Parson Jack Russell’s like Callie-Jean’s Zoe. Well, they weren’t, but we found out the lady was taking them to Cleveland airport to fly them off to their new owners in Minnesota. Now it was time for the final 8 miles to Stow. Our hosts for the night, Karen and Michael are Callie-Jean Tuthill’s aunt and uncle. We pulled into their driveway just as the first raindrop fell, starting a huge thunder and lightning storm. We had a great time with them, Sabrina reminisced about Ledyard High School with Karen and then they took us out to eat at a great Mexican chain restaurant, Chipotle. After dinner we went back to their house and Sabrina and I were introduced to the Wii game, of course Ben had already played. We Wii bowled and played tennis, very fun. We met one of their two daughters, Abby who will be attending Salve Regina in Newport this fall and heard about their other daughter who lives and goes to school in Boston, who will be married in Newport next year. Karen and Michael are originally from the CT/RI area and the girls always wanted to come back east for school but Karen and Michael have adjusted well to Ohio living. A great time was had by all and we hope to have many fun acquaintances with this family in the future. After all, these girls are Callie-Jean’s cousins.
Keep Them Wheels a Rollin’
Paul

When You Can’t Sleep - Count Your Blessing

Stony Ridge KOA is one of those blessing, you know the old saying, “Any port in a storm.” Well, this is the only place to stay around here and it’s 10 miles closer to the next stop. As we rode from one port to the next, we all happened to notice of the sign outside a church that said, “When You Can’t Sleep – Count Your Blessings.” Ain’t that the truth? Well today I’m counting my blessings. It’s hard to believe but we have less than two weeks left on this adventure and we have so much to be thankful for and we are still all healthy. Linda would say, “It’s a Jesus thing.” Just read the blogs and you’ll understand.
The ride today was on the ultimate typical Ohio road, straight and flat. It was Ben and I today, and after about 20 miles, I said that we just had to get a picture of this road or better yet, two pictures. Ben took one facing east and one west. For as far as the eye could see, there was nothing, nothing but straight, flat road with several cars going in each direction. You never get a break. You pedal anywhere from 16-20 mph as long as you can, and then some more, and more, and more. Ben and I would take turns leading and breaking the air, continuously switching. The only thing was his turns in the lead got longer as the day went on. And as the day went on and he would lead, I inevitably had a harder time keeping up. Finally, I gave up trying and just went at a pace I could maintain. Lucky it was only 54 miles. At one point right near the end, I actually lost sight of him going up a slight incline and couldn’t tell if he went straight or right, luckily I chose straight and saw him shortly thereafter. Only by my “blessing” did he stop and I saw him. It was there that we called Sabrina and found out that we were almost done. This ride did bring back many memories of the days when Sabrina’s parents lived in Port Clinton, OH. Names like Port Clinton, the Maumee River and Sandusky all brought memories rushing back of our early married life and trips with the kids to Ohio for the holidays. Count your blessings every day!
My biggest blessing is all my family, and Ben & Sabrina for riding on this adventure with me, but most of all for THEM PUTTING UP WITH ME.
Keep Them Wheels a Rollin’
Paul, Sabrina and Ben

P.S. Please Everyone, Concert tickets for Ben Taylor & Brothers McCann are on sale at the winery. We would like to get a feel for how many people are coming so buy your tickets ASAP. It’s gonna be a great show and it’s as easy as picking up your phone and calling Jonathan Edwards Winery to buy your tickets.

Schedule Change & Party Update

We all had the same thought, why not skip the last rest day so that we can add a day in Ct, our home state. Therefore we will be arriving a day earlier in every town east of Grove City, PA. But we will not finish a day early, instead stop for an overnight in Old Lyme on Aug 6th. Therefore the last day our ride will not be as long and we can finish at the beach in the early afternoon. That being said, why not join us for the ride? We do have some friends that will join the fun but the more the merrier! If you are not up for biking, join us for a pot luck at the beach, East Beach in Watch Hill, below the Ocean House or Misqumicut. It's up for a vote. Please RSVP any way you can, blog,e-mail, or cell phone Paul's 860-710-3359. Oh did we mention it is Sabrina's birthday on the 7th.

Speaking of birthday's, we would also like to send out a Happy Birthday wish to Glenn Reid's Mom. He is honoring her by sponsoring Ben on our bike ride. We will be happy to do the same for anyone out there following us.