The Sweet Smell of Amish Country

The ride to Gambier was ripe with the lovely smells of Amish country. Cheese, yogurt, and horses. On this 90 degree day, we rode through a touristy stretch of rode that really sent us all on quite a detour. I ended up spending two hours eating peanut brittle, touring a cheese factory, and learning about the Amish culture at a mural museum.


After I had a stomach full of dairy, I was ready to go, but my fellow riders still hadn't had enough. This was the first time on the trip where I felt the desire to take off and ride on my own. I left Amish country and headed south towards the lunch stop. With my odometer broken (thank you Patrick) I had no idea how far i was riding or how fast i was going. There was no one behind me to make me feel as though I wasn't going fast enough and there was no one in front of me that I needed to keep up with. It was amazing. I rode alone, took pictures, wondered if i was lost, and finally about an hour later, I saw some fellow riders. We met up right before a huge hill. The temperature outside felt like it was about 100 degrees but I felt great. I took a huge gulp out of my camel pack, switched gears and pedaled up what seemed like a mountain. Once I got to the top the coast down was amazing, and Patrick was awaiting us all with a perfect lunch spot. Chalked arrows led us to a covered bridge, a nice shady spot to enjoy a pb&j and some Gatorade.



We left lunch only to be spoiled with more joys. Not only did we get Amish cheese and an amazing lunch spot but we also got to ride the last 15 miles down a beautiful bike path. Our destination was Kenyon College, where we would be sleeping in beds!!! The path was surrounded by perfectly groomed farmland, ponds, bridges, cattle, and ended at the old train station.







This day was amazing. Laying in my SINGLE room that night, in a real BED, I couldnt really ask for more.

I hate railroad tracks...and so do Amelia and Elle

The ride from Youngstown, OH started out lovely. First off I was with some great people: Kyle, Emily, Win and Greg. We did the usual stop for ice cream, stop for coffee, stop for kyle and win every 5 miles because they dropped their chain...anyways.



We get to this dreaded railroad track and things went all wrong. I know the drill. You get to the track and you go over them perpendicular, just like leader Tommy taught us. Well i started doing that and then this track got all crazy on me, it twisted and turned, and i got all confused and fell over right there. This time i made sure to keep my head far away from the ground because there was no way I was going to pay $45 for another helmet. So I am laying on the ground in gravel and a car slows down right next to me. I am bleeding and alone, bike shorts torn. Obviously injured. The older couple in the car looks at me, gives me the once over, and then speeds away!! So i get up, get back on my scratched up bike and ride on. But here is the damage.



So the best part was that i got to our destination and i find out that both Elle and Amelia fell on the same exact tracks! So i wasn't the only one.

On a more positive note, Derrick is back. He is crazy, amazing, unbelievable...etc and is riding even though he has a broken pelvic bone. He just can't stay away.

Who did put the Oh in Ohio?

We finally entered a new state! It's always exciting, that good ol'state sign. On this particular day we had about 65 miles to decide what we were going to do when we got there, this picture is about all that we could come up with. On our way to the sign, and to lunch, we did encounter an amazing yard sale! We try to stop at these as much as we can. At this particular one I found a board game that we could all enjoy, Double Trouble. We attached it to my water backpack and I rode the next 6 miles to lunch carrying a board game on my back in 85 degree heat. It really slowed me down on the downhill. Its been about 3 days since then and we still have not played Double Trouble. I think it might even be lost.

Short cuts, a tumble and bears oh my!

I awoke in wellsboro, PA on the porch of the church youth center surrounded by our entire group. The night before was not a very good sleep. This particular morning Win and I were off to a very slow start and once again we were distracted by a quaint diner on the side of the road. We chalked our location for the sweeps and planned to get only a cup of coffee. Naturally i ordered two eggs, corn beef hash, and toast. The entire staff was amazing as they ended up paying for us and giving us an alternative route which led us around the hills! We left the diner full of food and hope that we would possibly pass at least one biker on the road, now that we had this shortcut.

This is where things went a little sour (this will be the dramatic version). We were zooming down this country road and a bear crossed the street in front of us! We didn't know what to do so we started making loud noises to scare it away. The bear roared and roared, tossing anything in its way towards us. Win and I dodged these objects and i created a diversion with my arm warmers. As i was saving a little boy from the bears grasp my bike hit a divot in the road and i tipped over, hitting my head and my side on the cement. I awoke to the calming sound of Wins voice. There was no longer a bear and all i can really remember is this story.

Truth: We saw a bear. I fell later on. Slight injury. One day in the van. Headache.
Lie: No little boy was injured during this day.

Build day: Franklin, PA

Sweeping and chalking

On the ride from Wellsboro to Coudersport I was a "sweeper" with Evan. Sweepers are riders who start riding last, usually an hour or so after the pack heads off for the morning. Yesterday Evan and I decided to leave at 11:30am. We started our morning by eating breakfast with Win, Pat, and Greg at the local diner. This was a half hour after our breakfast at the church. Then we headed to the bike shop where we got our tires and cables changed and I got a new seat, which I desperately needed! After that the ride was a breeze. 45 miles of ups and downs, and only a little wind and rain, but we took it nice and slow. And we even got some great chalking messages along the way, which I'm sure were from Greg, as he is the only one who would take the time to get off his bike and draw pictures. About the chalk: This is our form of communication. If you stop to eat, you draw an arrow in the road pointing to the restaurant. If you make a wrong turn, chalk it so someone else doesn’t do it. If you make a right turn, do the same thing. Now this isn’t always efficient, seeing that sometimes we are going 40 miles an hour and may miss a small pink arrow, but it works most times. Once we rode into Coudersport we had ice cold showers at a ski lodge and then slept outside on the deck at a youth bureau. Last night we learned: Win doesnt like cuddling, and Logan is the snore Nazi and may have to sleep in solitude from now on.

Rumble strips: The ride to wellsboro

There were hills, hills, and more hills. But besides that there are these great things called rumble strips about every 10miles. Now those really hurt the hands. So i was almost done with this 70 mile trip when my tire blows. I changed it myself for the first time and rode down the hill. This is where Win and I decided we would need two dinners Our first dinner french toast and chili cheese dogs. Then we begged two separate hotels for showers and a subway restaurant for dinner. No dice at the subway, they said they couldn't accommodate 30 people - lame. But we did find a motel which gave us one shower. So by 9:30 my chore group cooked up dinner and by 10:30 i was in my sleeping bag outside where apparently there is a large slug population. I woke up this morning with 6 slugs stuck to me, gross. Logan pointing the first one out which was sleeping on my pillow. EW Tonight im staying on the porch.

George Bakers Garage: The ride to Towanda

The day began slow and steady. It was hott and we had a lot of hills ahead of us. I rode along with Bri, eric and kyle, once again our bike and build directions were far from accurate and the roads were not always labeled. So we come to a fork in the road. Kyle goes left. The rest of us stop (smart ones). Soon a huge motorcycle man in a VW beetle comes along and helps us out. Just like pretty much everyone we had talked to, he told us our directions took us way out of the way but HE had a solution. He said "go back thata way and take a right at george bakers barn." this sums up getting directions in PA.It's either take a left at the squirrel or turn at that light over yonder. Anyways...george baker and his barn was no where to be found. But we made it to lunch and we found pat who later in the day took the first risk in his life after unzippering his jersey. We took a shortcut, made it the 68 miles to towanda and sat under a tree for 2 hours while we waited for the van to bring us to the Y. That's where i got a major surprise! My Ithaca roommates were waiting for me at the y!!!!! that night we ate dinner together and caught up, it was amazing. Plus to top it off a bunch of us slept under the star, at the bottom of the hill with all the hay bails. The stars were amazing! Great day.

PA roads and drivers = many grunts, honks and one car accident

The last couple days have been increasingly hard as our mileage increases and our directions get even more confusing. It's just not the same turning around on a bike as it is in a car. Everyday somehow i get to the destination, but on the way sometimes i really think i am going to give up. The other day for instance, on the way from Poughkeepsie to white lake there was a major communication breakdown in the directions. Right away the group i was with got lost. even team A had trouble. Team A is what we like to call the people who immediately leave, bike really fast and get there like 8 hours before everyone. I myself am in team Q possibly. I stop everywhere, swim, eat, drink, pee, etc...anyways...we got lost right after we crossed the Hudson and until we entered the great town where Woodstock happened. SO i was quite grumpy and tired the whole day.

The amazing thing has been however, that when we see people on the side of the road or in a restaurant they give us money because they support our cause. and when we finally do get to our destination the people that greet us are so amazing that i forget about how angry and grumpy i was and all the hills and mountains i just went over and it doesn't matter anymore.

So today is our day off and we had a car wash for habitat and raised about $900. Which is great! I have never made that much in a car wash before and it was pretty fun. but i do have to say, relating to cars, PA has horrible drivers who hate bikers. i almost got ran off the road many times and cars just couldn't stop beeping at me. i think they like the spandex!

From NY to PA

The Dottie Henson River

The Ride to Kent: Getting lost and loving it

Goodbye Derrick

The past couple days have been really hard both mentally and physically. Yesterday we rode from Mass. back into Connecticut, 68 miles. It was a hard day full of hills and muscle pains and many many wrong directions. There were a few great stops tho and beautiful sites. But unfortunately there was a bad spill on one of the hills. Derrick fell going down a hill about 45 mph. The hills are really steep so riders get going fast even if you're not pedaling and breaking occasionally. So he got taken to the hospital after laying down for about 6 hours and it turns out he broke his pelvic bone. He was amazingly strong and stoic the whole time, no one would have ever known how much pain this kid was in. he cant continue with us and sitting here in NY we miss him already! Heal derrick and come back and conquer these hills next summer, we are all thinking of you!

Riding with win and entering Mass.

Connecticut and highest peaks

Wheel Dipping and Beginnings

New pictures