We needed to make up some miles, due to having lingered in the area in order to see Alan Stillman, so Alea took the first shift. Once again, she got the smelly end of the stick, with some steep hills and plenty of construction over a 29 mile stretch. Things started well for her, with the temperatures in the 60s and apparently warming up. But it seemed most of the county was in some state of being repaved, with long stretches of grooved pavement created by striping off the old layers of asphalt in preparation of laying down a fresh layer. So there were plenty of rough roads and rock debris to deal with. And then the weather started cooling, dropping back down into the 50s.
While waiting for Alea, I decided it was time to swap out my rear tire, as lately I've had a few too many flat on it. Anyone that has dealt with Kevlar beaded bicycle tires know just how hard they can sometimes be to get on the rim. Despite all my years of riding, this had to have been the worst that I have encountered, taking me nearly an hour before I finally managed to pry it on. I finally resorted to standing on the tire and pulling up on, in an attempt to stretch it out a bit (and hoping that I wouldn't damage it). It helped just enough, saving us from the need to find a local bike shop for assistance. I also took the time to oil my chain and clean up the drivetrain a bit, parts of which were caked with months of road grime. As a result, my shifting improved considerably and, needless to say, pedaling was a bit easier.
I covered the final 40 miles of the day, getting some of the same steep grades (slowing me down to under 7 mph, so they were pretty steep!) and even more of the cooling weather. But as we neared Pennsylvania, the hills were a bit more rolling, with only the occasional climb out of a river valley.
Of course then I misread my map and made a wrong turn. It didn't take long for me to realize my mistake, but I was mistaken about where I was on the map. My thought was that I could ride a bit farther down the road, where I could take Knopp Road to put me back on track (rather than doubling back). That road never materialized, so I stopped and asked directions. It took an extended debate among three people before I was given their consensus opinion, which was to ride a few miles up the road to St. Clair Bridge Road and head for Rocks State Park, at which point I would once again be back on the correct route.
That route proved to be a great option. I suspect I ended up riding no more than a mile or so farther than if I had not strayed from the course, and the road was awesome. It started with a long, long downhill before reaching St. Clair Bridge Road. The road then followed a stream all the way to Rocks State Park. It was incredibly scenic and slightly downhill most of the way. There were no end of things that would have been worth taking pictures of, had the day been a bit more pleasant. But at that point it was spitting some light rain, with some ominous clouds lurking behind me. So my only thought was making some time before things got any worse.
A bit farther down the main route I finally caught up with Alea. With less than 20 miles left to go and the weather looking iffy I pressed on into Pennsylvania and Amish country. We've been through this area before, so we are used to seeing the horse drawn wagons traveling along the road, causing us to dodge fresh horse poop all along the road shoulders. But we had a bit of a special treat today, as there were two men using an old metal hay baling machine drawn by six horses to harvest their field. That was a sight to see, especially when he used the six horses to back the baler up to a wagon.
We camped at Otter Creek Campground ($31 for power and water), which is situated above the banks of the Susquehannah River in York Furnace, PA. When Alea arrived to check in, she mentioned that her husband would be along by bicycle a little later. The woman replied "Ronald?" Alea then learned that "Ronald from Minnesota" had arrived shortly before us.
I ran into Ron on my way to take a shower, as he was there using the outlets to recharge his electronics (he had a primitive site with no power). Since he hadn't yet set up camp, we invited him to join us, as we had been placed on a double site, so there was plenty of room to set up his tent, and he would have access to a power supply for recharging his equipment.
The cupboard was getting a bit bare, but we managed to whip together our standard impromptu meal fare: crackers, cheese, salami, some left over pork spare ribs, veggies and dip, guacamole and tortilla chips. Then we got out some fire logs, rigged an impromptu seat for Ron using the extra fire ring on our site, and passed a very pleasant evening together (despite the prospect that the weather for the rest of the week will not be as pleasant as earlier forecasts had predicted).
Like us, Ron sold his house recently and has been doing some touring, including crossing the Southern Tier to San Diego over the winter, plus having the chance to spend a few weeks sailing the Caribbean with some friends (he flew back out to Richmond, VA from San Diego, which he where he joined our route). And he had done some extensive touring back in the 1980s, including a trip through Baja to Mexico City. He'll likely only follow our route as far as southern New York, though that seems to be up in the air at the moment, as he has an opportunity to help someone sail from Maryland up to Albany (an unexpected fork in the road...).
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