Goodbye Pennsylvania

Wellsboro, PA to Wellsville, NY

September 13, 2017

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Wellsboro, PA to Wellsville, NY

That’s right. That’s chocolate milk and Mini Wheats.
Or what I call, “Lunch”.

The advantage to yesterday’s extended ride was that today would be a short ride. I mean, I guess it didn’t have to be and I could’ve just gone further but I already made arrangements with a host so I decided to stick with that plan.

Due to the shorter distance of today’s ride, I didn’t get going until about 10:20. Sometimes I think shorter rides are tougher than the longer days because my brain (and body) kind of take the day off.

Much like yesterday, today’s ride included a big climb and a big descent. Unlike yesterday, I didn’t benefit from any sage advice and instead followed Google’s route. A route that took me on Parker Hill Rd. I’m pretty sure nothing good ever came from a street with the word “Hill” in its name. In all honesty, the hill wasn’t the issue – I kind of like hills. It was the gravel road that went up (and then down) said hill.

Hey look, a hilly road lined with goldenrod. Have I mentioned I’m allergic to goldenrod? Sigh.

Completing yesterday’s big climb was rewarded with a screamingly fast descent of fun. Completing today’s big climb was punished with an occasionally terrifying, brake-shredding, descent of terror. Seriously, I think Google owes me a new set of brake pads. Front and back! Grrrrr. Gravel roads aren’t fun at the best of times. Trying to manoeuvre down them at 45 km/h on a loaded bike with thin tires and no suspension is a good way to shorten life expectancy.

Anyway, having not shortened my life expectancy while surviving the descent of terror I returned to paved roads which, of course, were infinitely more pleasant. I guess that’s why Google then decided to put me on “The Wag Trail”. A trail comprised primarily of grass. GRASS!! Like Wimbledon (just to be clear, you don’t see many bikes at Wimbledon). Seriously, Google needs to buy a bike. For the life of me, I can’t understand why Google Maps would take me off an actual paved cycle route and put me on a trail that clearly was not meant for bicycles. Sure, it’s my own fault for following the route presented to me but it’s still pretty annoying. As you may have guessed, when the first opportunity came to escape The Wag Trail, I took it.

The most significant (and sad) aspect of the day was that it was my final day in Pennsylvania (for now). For a brief moment I actually don’t really know where I was. I looked one way and saw the “Welcome to New York” sign and when I looked the other way I saw the “Pennsylvania Welcomes You” sign. And there I was. In between them. No man’s land. Wherever I was, Goodbye Pennsylvania. I look forward to my return.


With the gravel roads, grass trails, and even Pennsylvania behind me, my day ended very well with another great Warm Showers stay. Admittedly, most of the night was spent doing some freelance work and wrapping all my gear in plastic bags. Apparently it’s supposed to rain tomorrow. All day. At least it’s going to be cold. Sigh. Why am I heading north again?

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 68.02 km
Ride time: 3:35:15
Average speed: 18.96 km/h
Maximum speed: 48.87 km/h

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Not How I Planned It

Lewisburg, PA to Wellsboro, PA

September 12, 2017

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Wise words.

For better or for worse, my foray back into highway riding was very short-lived with much of today’s ride being back on a trail – the Pine Creek Rail Trail to be precise. It wasn’t paved but it was comprised of crushed limestone and, for the most part, provided a pretty good surface on which to pedal a loaded up road bike for more than a few hours. And, as it turns out, a few more kilometres than I had intended when I started my day. But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself.

As you may recall, two days ago I noted there was no need to rush into long travel days. Well, apparently long travel days can begin on Day Four.

After another great Warm Showers stay, I set course for Cedar Run. There’s not much around Cedar Run but it’s about 110 km from where I was starting my day so it seemed like a reasonable destination.

Ben, my host, suggested an alternate route to Google’s route and I was happy for the advice. Sure, I only met Ben yesterday and I’ve known Google for much longer. That said, I had infinitely more confidence in Ben’s directions than Google’s … yes, I’m still a bit angry over the whole logging road fiasco in Scotland. Grrrrr. Anyway, with the course set I was ready to go – after a quick breakfast, of course, and a photo with my hosts.

The first 33 km of the ride could only be described as easy. The same can’t be said for the subsequent 6 km. At all. That’s not to say it wasn’t fun but it certainly wasn’t easy. Ok, maybe “fun” isn’t the right word but I enjoyed it in an excruciatingly exhausting way. Much of the climb in question was about an 8% grade but there was a moment near the top when my cycling computer was indicating a 15% grade – which, after 45 minutes of climbing, is a bit of a harsh finale. Fortunately, there was some pretty instant gratification. As exhausting as going up was, the trip down the other side was more than a little fun. The best way to offset a 45 minute climb is with a 6 minute descent. So fun.

Yup, that road goes up and over that mountain.
And so did I.

As the name suggests, the Pine Creek Rail Trail is, well … a rail trail. As such, you won’t find any 8% climbs. That said, rail trails are not all flat. In this case, heading north along the Pine Creek Rail Trail means a continual climb for the duration … the duration being approximately 90 km. Sure, it’s barely noticeable except, for example, if one were the type of person who likes to keep track of one’s average daily speed. Yes, the sole purpose of this paragraph has been to explain my somewhat slow average speed for the day. Yes, I know. I’m probably the only one who noticed.

With few stops for provisions along the way, I opted to stop for a sub in Jersey Shore (who knew there was a Jersey Shore in Pennsylvania?). For what it’s worth, I pedalled right past one of those famous chain sub places and went to a local place instead. I had a meatball sub and it was delicious. I kind of wanted two! And by “kind of” I mean “really”.

Fast forward a few hours of somewhat effortless riding and I found myself about 10 km from Cedar Run where I stopped at Wolfe’s General Store – the only such store in the area. I figured if was going to stop at Cedar Run for the evening, this would be the place to stock up. By “stock up” I mean I bought two bags of chips and a Creamsicle. One bag of chips and one Creamsicle later, I was back on my bike pedalling my way towards Cedar Run and the end of a nice day of pedalling.

Pine Creek Rail Trail

What happened next isn’t exactly clear other than to say my brain apparently ceased to function. The entire day I was planning to stop at Cedar Run but then when I arrived there I just kept pedalling. I don’t know why. I have no explanation. I had no plan beyond Cedar Run and yet my legs just kept pedalling. The next town on the map appeared to be Morris so I figured, “Ok, I’ll stop in Morris for the night.” That ended up being a great idea until I realized that the Pine Creek Rail Trail doesn’t go to Morris (although the road does) and, more importantly, Morris is actually kind of out of the way from my overall destination.

At this point, I couldn’t hep but think that the recently consumed chips and Creamsicle were an even wiser decision in light of the navigational challenges that were before me. That was the only fuel that was keeping me going at that point.

My backup plan to Cedar Run was Morris. I had no backup plan for that backup plan. So, after consulting the map I decided to continue following the Pine Creek Rail Trail with the hope it would take me somewhere with accommodations. Yes, I realize that’s not the most thought out plan in the world but it was the plan I was going with.

Chips and ice cream for lunch.
Cycling is great.

For reference, all of this was happening at about 4:30 and I had about 30 km to go. Given the fact that I was surrounded by mountains, the amount of sunlight I would normally have at this time of year would be reduced once the sun sets behind those mountains. In my experience, racing the sun has usually not worked out so well. As such, my pedalling pace increased. Did I mention the whole trail is uphill? Just to be clear, I was racing the sun not so much because I genuinely thought I’d be on the trail after dark but because I really had no idea where I was staying. Being surrounded by mountains does not make for an ideal situation to get a cell signal – and the trees weren’t offering up any magical free WiFi – although how cool would that have been?

With the sun slowly setting behind the mountains, I finally escaped the trail and found myself back on a highway. I was still without a cell signal. As a backup, I used my GPS in the hopes it might give me some indication as to what accommodation options were in the vicinity. At this point I was at 148 km for day and really didn’t want to have to resort to searching for a wild camping spot – plus I really needed to get some stuff done on the computer – not the least of which was blog updates before Julie-Ann berates me again (then again, maybe she’s the only one reading … thank you for reading Julie-Ann).

Fortunately, the GPS indicated a motel was a scant 3 km from where I was standing. Even more fortunately was that there was another motel along the way which is where I ended up stopping for the night. Yes, I was tired. Yes, I was hungry. Yes, I was a bit sore. But all things considered, I’d say it was a very good day.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 150.45 km
Ride time: 7:29:11
Average speed: 20.09 km/h
Maximum speed: 66.60 km/h

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Back In the High(way) Life Again

Harrisburg, PA to Lewisburg, PA

September 11, 2017

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Harrisburg, PA to Lewisburg, PA

Spoiler Alert: Yuengling at the end of the day
is always good.

In keeping with the trend of getting progressively closer to meeting my intended departure time, today I only missed the mark by a mere ten minutes. I was actually ready to leave on time but then decided to take a few photos of Tracy and Teresa’s yard. I’m a fan of both personal chicken coops and personal beehives – I mean, who doesn’t like the birds and the bees? Anyway, Tracy and Teresa have both.

Today’s goal was to reach Lewisburg, a very reasonable 110 km ride. That said, it ended up being unlike any ride I’ve had in quite a long time. Not in a bad way. Not necessarily in a good way either. Just different.

For the first time in a LONG time (at least it SEEMS like a long time) I spent much of the day on a highway. A real highway. Big trucks. Lots of cars. All travelling with a lot of speed. I actually kind of forgot what that was like. It definitely makes for easy riding from a navigation standpoint – not that navigation has been in any way an issue lately. It was definitely nice being on asphalt as it makes pedalling a lot easier than travelling on crushed gravel. The biggest adjustment wasn’t really in dealing with the traffic itself but from the noise. Highways are really noisy! Apparently you forget that when you spend so much time on trails.

As I approached this sign, I had sinking feeling that bikes weren’t allowed. Happily, the opposite was true.

However, before I found my way onto the highways I had to navigate my way through and out of Harrisburg. Some of that trek was on trails, some of it was on city streets. Either way, it was pretty slow going for reasons I’m not really sure. Anyway, it took an hour to go the first 14 km. An HOUR. 14 km. Totally unacceptable. Fortunately, my average speed for the remaining four hours of the ride was a much more respectable 24 km/h.

Other than the noise of the highway, there really isn’t much to report from today – although, I’m sure I’ll be able to ramble on for several more paragraphs. Sigh. Now I feel obligated to ramble on for several more paragraphs.

There were a few photo stops along the way, but not many. There were a few broken phones along the highway but, again, not many – and none were in anywhere near operational condition. There MAY have been a Burger King stop along the way where there MAY have been a Two for $6 Whopper Deal. And I may have eaten two of said whoppers. I probably could’ve eaten four. And by “probably” I mean “definitely”.

Fast forward a few hours and I arrived in Lewisburg. To say that finding my hosts’ house was easy would be a gross understatement as it was a simple matter of crossing the bridge and hanging a left and, voila, there I was.

My hosts tonight are Ben and Janet (along with Rodeo and Peaches, two Rhodesian Ridgebacks). I met the latter three first and met Ben shortly thereafter. In what has become typical (but not taken for granted) for Warm Showers, they were all very welcoming and generous.

The plan for the night was to set up camp in their backyard with a nice view of the river and bridge (which I had just crossed moments earlier). Rodeo and Peaches were happy to supervise my tent setting up technique. I, of course, didn’t mind. Rhodesian Ridgebacks are beautiful, and these two were super friendly.

We enjoyed a fantastic dinner on their covered porch and later that evening I wandered downtown as per Ben’s suggestion. Lewisburg is a small town of about 6,000 people and downtown is a handful of blocks from Ben and Janet’s home. According to Ben and Janet, its residents can be a bit precious about their university town (it’s home to Bucknell University) and that’s reflected in the downtown with all the independent shops. I have to say I was a big fan of the movie theatre with the big marquee sign. I’ve always liked that look.

Welcome to downtown Lewisburg.

Anyway, I returned from downtown and settled into my tent for the night. It’s kind of fitting that tonight is my first night in a tent in quite a while … just like riding on highways earlier in the day. All in all, it was another great day on the road.

Oh, and apparently rambling on for several more paragraphs wasn’t as daunting as I first thought.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 110.39 km
Ride time: 4:55:29
Average speed: 22.41 km/h
Maximum speed: 45.38 km/h

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Here I Drone Again

Reamstown, PA to Harrisburg, PA

September 10, 2017

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Reamstown, PA to Harrisburg, PA

With each passing day I get closer to leaving on “schedule”. Yes, I realize it’s only been two days but I’ll take the progress as it happens. My planned departure this morning of 9:00 ended up being 9:25. All things considered, I was pretty happy about that. And while I did remember to get a photo with my hosts, I should’ve remembered it last night when everyone was home. Sadly, Tom left early this morning and is absent from the photo. Clearly.

The Lebanon Valley Rail Trail.
I can’t help but wonder where the trains are!?

The ride from Reamstown was pretty straightforward and uneventful. That said, it was also pretty scenic – especially when I turned one corner in particular and found myself cycling in what seemed like a tunnel of cornstalks. It was beautiful. It also made me think, “This would probably be an ideal drone shot.” As I continued to pedal, I debated with myself as to whether I should pull out the drone and launch it for its inaugural flight. I’ll spare you the details of the debate, suffice it to say the “Yays” won the debate. How could they not?

I turned back to find a suitable place to unpack and launch the drone and proceeded with the setup. Shortly thereafter the drone was airborne. I was a bit concerned as there was more than a little wind but I figured I’d take the chance. With the drone watching me from above, the next thing to do was figure out how to make the drone track and follow me. That took all of about 10 seconds (and two taps of the screen). The end result was pretty favourable. Based on the buttons I pushed on the screen, I thought the drone was going to follow me down the road but it didn’t – I’ve since learned that that’s a separate setting but it is in fact possible. I’ll test that another day.


One of the upsides to drone shots is that I didn’t have to go back to retrieve the camera after the shot was finished – I just flew it back to me – without incident.

I had just finished packing up the drone when another cyclist, Steve, stopped for a chat. Steve wasn’t touring but was doing a daily ride. We chatted for quite a while which I’m sure disrupted both our schedules – although, my schedule is more than a little “fluid” and Steve is retired so I don’t think his schedule is particularly etched in stone either. Anyway, we chatted about all/most things bikes (including kickstands which we both feel are greatly under appreciated and under used by North Americans). We also spoke a bit of drones and other such things before continuing on our respective ways. My respective way ended up being altered as Steve suggested an alternate route. I took it and it was very enjoyable. Actually, there was a minor issue with Steve’s route but the detour didn’t really add much to the ride so I opted not to risk alerting the authorities.

Perhaps the funniest thing about the timing of the drone shot (although, not “Haha” funny) is that I would’ve sworn I was much further into my ride when I stopped to use the drone. Turns out I was a mere 11 km from Julie & Tom’s place.

Despite still having about 72 km left in my ride, it went by without incident and, quite frankly, with minimal effort. After yesterday’s 115 km ride, a short day of slightly over 80 km was certainly welcome. No need to rush into big travel days.

Welcome to Colebrook.

I’ll admit that when I hit the road again this morning (much of said ride was on the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail), I was once again more than a little under-prepared from a food perspective. As such, when I came upon the “Twin Kiss Drive In” I felt pretty obligated to stop in. From the outside it definitely didn’t look like much but from the inside, well … actually, it didn’t look like much from there either. That said, it’s a typical diner and the food was good and the prices were about what you’d expect. I’m not sure if my state of extreme hunger had any impact on my impressions of the food.

Fast forward a few hours and I arrived in Harrisburg. Tonight’s accommodation was once again courtesy of Warm Showers hosts, in this case it was Tracy and Teresa. They were great (as were their five friendly chickens and their many more numerous bees … of which I actually only met one but it also seemed friendly). And I even remembered to get a photo with everyone tonight as both Tracy and Teresa will be gone by the time I drag myself out of bed in the morning.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 84.72 km
Ride time: 4:11:38
Average speed: 20.20 km/h
Maximum speed: 51.32 km/h

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The Time Has Come

Philadelphia, PA to Reamstown, PA

September 9, 2017

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Philadelphia, PA to Reamstown, PA

It seemed fitting to take essentially the same shot as when I arrived in Philadelphia.

Remarkable. It would seem it’s been 82 days since my last ride on a fully loaded bicycle. Yes, I have a spreadsheet for that. And, mock me if you will, it’s awesome. Really awesome. Anyway, 82 days.

It’s only fitting that my departure from my extended stay in Philadelphia wouldn’t be exactly on schedule. That said, a 9:40 departure seemed pretty reasonable to me considering the original goal was 9:00. The plan of 120-ish km on Day One seemed slightly less reasonable but that was the plan and I was sticking to it – assuming all went well. Spoiler Alert: All went well.

And so, after 82 days of not pedalling a loaded bike, today was the day. Goodbyes were reluctantly said – to say that there may have been a BIT of pressure being put on me to NOT leave would be a bit of an understatement. That said, all I can say is that wanting to hit the road again is not the same as not wanting to stay. As such, returning to Philadelphia (where it’s always sunny) is inevitable.

When I last found myself pedalling a loaded bike the temperatures (especially in the morning) were significantly more to my liking. That said, despite this morning’s sub-20C temperature I opted to be brave and donned just shorts and a t-shirt and officially hit the road. I have to say that as days go, this was a good one to start my trek.

As noted by Julie-Ann in a comment on a previous post, I failed to mention my Day One destination. That’s what they call a teaser. Apparently it worked. Anyway, my day one destination was Reading, PA … actually, it was Reamstown, PA (which is about 20 km west of Reading) but I’m guessing more people have heard of Reading. Either way, that was today’s goal.

I can confirm that it really is wicked good.

Perhaps it was a result of not pedalling for a while but one thing I failed to do before hitting the road was to purchase the essential provisions (i.e. peanut butter and something on which to spread said peanut butter). I realized this about 30 minutes into the ride. Of course, the fact that I have no room for such provisions is another matter altogether – which is a bit curious because I was sure I was travelling lighter when I came to Philadelphia. But that’s a topic for another time. Suffice it say, CLIF bars and “Wicked Good Beef Jerky” (the latter bought in Maine, courtesy of Jack) would have to do.

The ride out of Philadelphia went very well in spite of the pull of the vortex – perhaps that’s because I had recently done a couple of return rides out to Valley Forge (in an effort to confuse the vortex when the actual departure took place). However, the fact that things went well does not mean there were no adventures along the way. Okay, maybe not plural but there was a mini-adventure.

I was about 15 km south of Reading travelling on Route 724 when I noticed a phone in my path. I glanced down at it as I passed it and, unlike most phones I see on my travels, this one appeared to be in one piece. Then again, it was face down so there was only one way to find out. Upon closer inspection there was a mere single crack near the bottom of the screen – it would seem the iPhone had weathered whatever storm that resulted in said phone being abandoned on the side of the road. Obviously I now felt the need to locate the owner … but later. I still had pedalling to do and I wasn’t about to attack this puzzle while on the side of the road. So I put the iPhone in my handlebar bag and continued on my way.

As I pedalled, I pondered how I would track down the owner of said locked iPhone. I had grand plans. I figured I could use the SIM card number to contact their service provider. Or perhaps the IMEI number would yield similar results. Only time would tell. I’m sure a smarter person could’ve hacked into the phone but I think it’s pretty clear I’m not a smarter person. Plus, I really didn’t want to hack into someone’s phone.

Fast forward about 40 minutes. I had since reached Reading, turned left and continued west … but not for long. As luck would have it, there was a Wendy’s along that course. I figured stopping would serve two purposes. One, a Frosty (obviously). And two, do some iPhone sleuthing.

My grand plan of tracking down the owner ended up being a bit disappointing. Despite the phone being locked I could see various notifications on the screen. I scrolled through them (despite feeling like I was committing an evasion of privacy) and saw a text which read, “btw Corina lost her phone.” A-HA!! The phone belongs to Corina. Of course, that excitement disappeared almost immediately as I realized that knowing the name of the owner would in no way help track down “Corina”. I continued to scroll. My search for the owner became significantly easier when I saw a text from “Mom” which read, “If you find this phone please call or text 484-###-####.” (I paraphrased the message). And that’s how I met Corina.

A very happy Corina (and her phone).

I actually found it pretty amusing when I first spoke with Corina on the phone. She sounded very excited that I had found her phone and then, in a very serious tone, asked, “Are you going to give it back?” I don’t know why I found that so amusing, but I did. I reassured her that yes, I was going to give her phone back.

As luck would have it, she was only about ten minutes away from the Wendy’s so returning the phone ended up being almost as easy as tracking down Corina. With the reunion complete, we chatted for a bit before she headed off to work and I continued on to Reamstown.

My accommodations in Reamstown tonight are courtesy of Julie and Tom (and their daughter Caroline) … all of whom are very nice. Very welcoming, generous, easy to talk to. It would seem the Warm Showers community hasn’t changed in the past 82 days. Clearly, that’s a good thing.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 115.89 km
Ride time: 5:43:01
Average speed: 20.27 km/h
Maximum speed: 50.73 km/h

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