August

John's Daily Journals

July Journal
June Journal

The first thing you might notice is a small change in the miles-to-go category. The nature of this expedition has changed only slightly. Instead of bicycling back to Maine and finishing on the ocean at Simpson’s Point in Brunswick , I will bicycle to the coast of Delaware and dip my front wheel in the ocean there in Beach Plum Island State Park . The reasons for this change are many. Both my wife and I have spent hours trying to using Adventure Cycling maps to figure out a realistic doable route up the Eastern Seaboard that avoids the urban areas. It has proved extremely difficult, time-consuming, ill-defined and fraught with too many unknowns. I was hoping to do the trip the other way so that the Lung Association and the Times Record could be at a finish line in Brunswick . Another factor that certainly has affected this decision is that upon closer examination of the topography of the area covered by these maps shows that it is hilly and steeply so just like the terrain we’re going through in Pennsylvania . This hilliness lasts until at least western Connecticut . I think it prudent to let that be for another trip or perhaps for a different rider. The total (approximately) I will be riding then is 3,300 miles. I extend my sincere thanks to those who sponsored me on a per mile basis and now have turned out to be even more generous per mile than previously planned. This has consumed my thoughts for days which is one reason that explains why these articles are somewhat behind schedule.

This day was a challenging day mostly because of the weather. The terrain has yet to turn difficult. It is clear that we’re definitely in the East now. There is plenty of forest covering and the sound of the cicadas is a wonderful sound to fall asleep to. So far we haven’t been attacked by savage mosquitoes as in Indiana .

As we were entering Newton Falls , there was a sign announcing their claim to fame: their zipcode is 44444. It wasn’t exactly news that made me fall off my bike. It made me wonder about who might have 11111, 22222, etc.

Because it was so hot today, the thing foremost on my mind was getting hold of water and ice in order to make it to the end of the ride.

There were some more signs of Amish inhabitants, but I saw no recumbent bikes anywhere. I wonder if this is a Ohio phenomenon.

We have finally arrived in the feared mountainous section of Pennsylvania . The hills are pretty much endless. They don’t resemble too many of the hills I’m familiar with around Brunswick . You might try to imagine the hill on River Road on the way out of town. Take that hill and put a few more just like it after it, say, perhaps 10 and you might get a flavor for the type of thing we’re faced with.

In the early part of the morning we went through a lovely state park (Mingo Creek I think) where the sun was sending lovely beams through the leaves and it was cool on the ground.

I arrived in Midland and as I was going down the street an older African-American gentleman was bicycling on the other side of the street in the same direction with a bike with fat-tires. He had no helmet and he was wearing regular street clothes. At each traffic light I would stop if it was red, he kept on going.  I would catch up to him and pass him. This happened a few times. He finally said, as I passed him, “I see you have no trouble going by!” I volunteered that I was in shape from a long bike ride. A bit later on when I had to stop by an intersection to check the map, he came over and wanted to know about what I was doing. I told him that we had just ridden from Seattle , Washington . His response was, “Man, You are tough!” He wanted to shake my hand to congratulate me. I asked him about what he did in Midland . His name was Weadum (sic) and he said that he used to work in local steel mill until it finally closed down due to union problems. He told me about how he drove truck all over the country (including Brunswick , Maine ) and that he was now a security guard at an airline. He was friendly and smiley and wished me well. He did want to know if I was going to be coming back through Midland .

The first 32 miles were some of the steepest miles we’ve seen on this entire ride. Again as the morning progressed it got hotter and hotter, but today the high heat we’ve been experiencing seems to have gone away for now.

It was a welcome sight to arrive at the bike path where the grade over the 58 miles we would be on it was going to be .21%. Boring but certainly easy on the quads.

Our day began with rain which continued for the 31 miles that we had to spend on the bicycle trail. One thing about bicycle tires that have crossed the country: there isn’t much tread and therefore not much traction in mud. It was a slippery time in many spots, but fortunately no falls. I was able to keep on rolling.

Once we departed from the bike trail we were back on the incessant hills. A sign at the bottom of a hill raises the adrenalin quickly: “Hollow.” This just means that you, the cyclist is about to climb out of the hollow and go up a steep slope that even King Kong might slip on.

As I was approaching Shanksville, signs began appearing for the “Temporary Memorial” for United 93 (from 9/11). On the way to it, there was a parade of old-fashioned tractors going down the road. I thought it was somehow connected to the memorial but it wasn’t clear. I couldn’t call to them because it was too noisy.

This day was described on our “cue sheets” as the final exam of the trip. The route consisted of 8,500 feet of vertical climbing with several long steep climbs in the first 60 miles. Naturally this psyched me out to a great extent. So I planned to catch a ride in the “sag” vehicle at 50 miles.

The first rest stop was located right in front of a strip joint. Fortunately it wasn’t open; that way there were no riders unnecessarily delayed or distracted. Even though the first 25 miles was extremely hilly, I didn’t feel exhausted. The amount of time it took was foremost on my mind and I was doing mental math to figure out what time I would get to dinner at that rate. 9pm looked pretty likely.

Fortunately because I was planning to catch a ride or “sag” (as the jargon goes), there was not a lot of pressure to rush away from unplanned stops to eat and so forth. Michael and I had a leisure sandwich in Quiznos in Breezewood. This was followed by a coffee that I consumed while sitting in a large comfy chair. Breezewood was a town that marked the beginning of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. There was a motel at a major junction we had to go through. Bunny was waiting there to tell us that we should get something to eat there in the “town” before the big climb that was facing us just after. She mentioned that she saw some interesting “raunch” come out of the motel as she was waiting for riders to pass.

Not long after the climb we came upon a huge group of motorcyclists parked in a lot right next to a bar. They looked somewhat tough and they were revving their motors quite a bit. For some reason I wanted to stop there too and get a closer look at the crowd. Michael thought I had lost my mind. It turned out that they, too, were on a fund-raising ride. A cohort of theirs had had a motorcycle accident the week before and they were collecting money for him. I gave them a couple of bucks. I had a thought that they might not have responded that well to my cause because the group (almost to the last rider) was smoking up a storm while standing around in the parking lot. It also seemed counterproductive that they were also making forays into the bar for drinks then continuing riding after.

About 6 miles before rest stop #2 we entered Cowans Gap State Park which was a long road shaded by trees on both sides. This formed a protective canopy that cooled me off and also provided some relief from the steep up and downs we had to deal with all morning. Mercifully there wasn’t much traffic at all so it was extremely quiet in this canopy as well.

I let Spike know that I wanted to “sag” from the rest stop that was located at the lake in the middle of the state park. It seemed like it was going to be a good while before he was ready to leave. I felt good enough to decide that I would continue riding (there also seemed to be a really good downhill I would miss if I sagged from the rest stop itself) until he caught up to me. It took him at least an hour to catch up with me. He pulled over off the road at the top of a really steep hill which I had to climb to reach him. When I finally got there he had a delicious iced tea for me and said that the next rest stop was only 9 miles away. He had a motivation behind his suggestion. It was to keep me going and actually make it to the end of the ride. His technique worked. At the last rest stop at 76 miles I had a good snack and with his (and Bunny’s) encouragement, it seemed possible that I could get to the end. I had been worrying about missing dinner. It became evident that getting there in time for that wasn’t as important as finishing this most challenging ride.

I left before Michael by about 20 minutes and it became my goal to prevent him from catching me. This, too, helped to make it to the end. The last 20 miles was lovely with steep downhills and just a few uphills. The route took us off the main road and we were able to see small towns up in the hills just outside of Gettysburg .

Yesterday was a fine rest day with plenty of time dedicated to touring around the Gettysburg Civil War Memorial site on an air-conditioned tour bus. For once, though the temperature was in the 90s and it was humid, I was a bus rider immune to the heat instead a cyclist immersed in it. The one troubling thing was that the tour guide didn’t really emphasize Joshua Chamberlain all that much.

Today was a short riding day and, until the hills in the last 10 miles, seemed like one of the easier ones we’ve faced.  With the end of the ride so close, it seems that I had little interest in stopping to explore parts of Frederick , Maryland . I was happy to get in close to noon for once. We were shuttled in vans from the campground down to a shopping mall where we would be having an extended ending party at Applebee’s.  I should have asked Applebee’s in Brunswick to be a sponsor. Alas.

Depending on the weather and the condition of my support driver, the plan is still to take 2 days to bike over to the Delaware coast via Annapolis in order to dip the front wheel in the actual ocean.

Today was a hilly day much like the entry into Gettysburg except that there were no mountain passes or gaps to pass through. As soon as we left the Little Bennett Park they began and so did the wonderful vistas overlooking vast horse farms with green manicured fields. People were anxious to leave early this morning because we were scheduled to be at one of the boat launch areas on the Potomac for hors d’oeuvres and wheel dipping. The breakfast was lousy; there wasn’t a gram of protein for miles – it was just Danish and juice basically.

For some reason (fatigue most likely) I started out mid-pack, but as time wore on I ended up at the back of the pack. This was not unusual for this tour; as a matter of fact I took it as my sworn duty to often bring up the rear. This was in support of the people in front. We concluded that the rear was as important because, after all, how could there be a front with a rear.

As usual, though surprisingly, the hills were incessant and steep. I expected the terrain around Washington to be flatter for some reason. It was clear that all the riders were trying to ride fast to get there because I saw none of them. At least, not until the first rest stop. I ran into Rachel; we stayed together for the rest of the ride (what there was of it).

Approaching Washington meant many things, but most immediately it meant more traffic. A great deal more traffic. It was at one intersection about 1 mile from getting onto the Capitol Crescent Bicycle Path that I got a flat; the second and last one of this expedition. A huge bent nail found its way into the tube in 2 places, so the tube was basically irreparable. Fortunately Rachel had a cell phone with her so we could call Bill to come and bring another tube. Unfortunately we were running out of time to get the boat launch area. The plan was for all of us to ride in together as a group. So it ended up that Rachel and Bill convinced me to take a ride in the van to where the group was waiting.

The procession started at the boat launch area with Martin (the oldest) and Lindsay (the youngest) leading the group. There was quite a scene because we were looking almost like some sort of demonstration. People in the group were yelling out, “ Seattle to DC!” One of the riders was filming the event as he was riding. Soon we were rolling down Constitution Avenue and we could see the Washington Monument . It was at that moment the emotion of this achievement struck me. It was nothing short of miraculous that this disparate group of bicyclists could make it across the country together with the kinds of stresses we faced and dealt with.

We passed by the World War II Monument and came to the park that surrounded the Reflecting Pool. We rode alongside the pool on the dirt path that led to the end where the Lincoln Memorial stood. Riders were hooting and hollering as we came closer and closer to the stopping place. Family and friends were waiting there with banners and signs welcoming us in. Then it was over. There should have been a band or singing or something. There were many hugs all around and group pictures with Abe in the background. We then dispersed.

There are many emotions I feel about this experience. Many of them came welling up as I saw the Washington Monument and biked to the very end. This entry won’t go into detail about how powerful this whole experience has felt. I will spend more time reflecting on the positives and negatives and report on each appropriately.

At the finish, though, the most prominent emotion I did feel at the very end was relief. Certainly there is a handful of people I’ll miss seeing and talking to. Certainly I’ll miss the adventure of who I’ll meet around the next corner. But, the hills and high mileage and shortness of time are over.