Two days in a row with Internet access... score! We are in Warren, PA, a town of about 10,000 people, staying a YMCA for the evening. We are sleeping in a gym, maybe I'll keep people up tonight with some free throws. They have computers in the lobby that I'll certainly be taking advantage of. I've been debating how I should approach my "Life After Bike & Build" stuff and decided that it would be best to devote one night to it and then ignore it for the rest of the trip if possible so I can focus on the task at hand. Tonight may be the night. That being said, I'm exhausted from a great day today.
Today was a fantastic ride. We left a really neat church in Coudersport around 8:30 AM with no clouds in the sky and temperatures quickly rising. The group rode pretty close together for the first 13-14 miles before we gradually separated, as we always do. I stayed relatively near the back, enjoying riding at a comfortable pace with about 10 other riders. We cruised into Port Allegheny at 10 AM, where Natalie worked her "donation magic" to score us a dozen Krispee Kremes (BALLAH!). This was right after I bought a Butterfinger, so my mid-morning snack had my kind of nutrition.
After that, we started climbing. I was a little wary at first because of my knee, so I took the first hill slowly with the pack. However, when the next one came I decided to stretch it out a little bit. I've figured out that climbing is absolutely my favorite part of riding, so I decided to push my knee to see if it was up to the task. Fortunately, it was. I felt great up the next two inclines and separated from the pack. I continued on my own for about an hour until I caught the lead group. The van passed us and told us that lunch was at the top of a solid hill, so Jake, Peter, and I attacked the hill for a good 20 minutes. My legs felt great and I was loving the climb. However, I was at the front of paceline cutting the wind so I was completely gased at the top. I was very excited to see the van.
The afternoon was a lot of downhill, but another stiff headwind prevented us from gaining too much momentum. Like he always does, Shawn took the lead and Jake and I followed. We rode together for most of the afternoon (or they rode and I tried to keep up), and Jake even scored us some free ice cream with a great sales pitch. I was exhausted pulling into the Y (around 4:30), but it was a very satisfying day. Probably my second favorite after the Roscoe day. To bed early tonight, and we'll be in Ohio within 48 hours. We are making progress!
Remainders:
Aaron's next project is in NOLA!!! The only person more excited about that than I am is him.
Jess, I'm not sure what the name of the ski area was, it was right across the street from the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum (kinda out in the middle of nowhere).
Denise, Happy B-Day, I'll call you tonight, although I imagine you may be a little busy.
Neal, we are passing pretty close to Meadville, I actually looked it up and thought of you yesterday.
Talk to you guys soon!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Justin -Just thought you should know I just took an AmeriCorps position in VT. Good luck on the rest of your ride.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHope your computer time went well and you were able to make some progress on your future goals. I'm sure you will figure it out, keep us posted.
ReplyDeleteGlad your knee is holding up. Maybe you should try something relaxing like bike riding to get it back in shape.
I rode 2 miles on the bike at the gym today in support :-) Not quite the same as 50+ miles out in the open though.
ReplyDeleteHave been reading some blogs on one of the other bike and build groups just out of curiosity and I stumbled on something interesting. The group going from NC to San Diego is in Colo Springs today, in fact they have a day off in CS. It was interesting to read the blog entry by Sarah Anscher for June 26 as she describes her ride as the Rockies first came into view from 128 miles out from the perspective of someone who apparently grew up in the east. They rode 128 miles on that day to reach CS. I'm curious which route will they use to go up into the mountains--Ute pass would be tough! You should check out her blog entry, you would be quite amused.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting thing she pointed out is how everybody started getting flats at about 2000 miles for the first time on the ride.
Back to your group I noticed Jake has a good blog entry he just recently posted describing some experiences in PA. He mentioned you in it too. Check it out if you get the chance.
Going to the Broadmoor tomorrow compliments of mom belatedly for father's day--that will be fun. Hope you enjoyed the cookies we sent.
Talk to you later. Love, Pops