After more than a few big climbs, hot weather and nice folk: Cleveland, Ohio.
Well, we made it to our first big break. We took a day off on day 4, but a day off here in Cleveland really makes this illusion seem like it is actually real. It’s wonderful to be back on another bike trip with so many good guys and even more wonderful to be done with the Appalachians in Pennsylvania. Internet access has been a lot spottier (read: non-existent) than I previously hoped, which is why it has taken me so long to post anything.
The last 11 days have been rough. We were out of Maryland by the middle of the first day, and then had more than a week of rough Pennsylvania mountains. We didn’t have to climb more than a handful of long passes, but we lumbered up countless 10 percent grade hills, pedal stroke by pedal stroke, only to reach the top, bomb down the other side for 10 seconds and do it all over again. The going was not easy.
But we made it. We took a rest day in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania on day 4 where we were able to sleep inside the local volunteer fire station and take showers. We spent the day off playing Frisbee, basketball, watching the World Cup and tuning our bikes.
We have seen a great side of the country. Mileage-wise we’re not even a tenth of the way done, but we have been treated wonderfully by (almost) everyone we come across. There was the woman selling fruit on the side of the road who gave all of us free cherries and watermelon and nectarines when she learned what we were doing. There was the man who saw our bikes, asked somebody what we were doing, and came into the restaurant where we were all eating lunch to tell us he had a daughter living in Apex, N.C., and that our meal and tip was taken care of. There was the mother of three who took us into her house and fed us more than we could eat for breakfast. There are the wife and husband in rural Pennsylvania who let 15 smelly bikers camp in their backyard, gave us water and an impromptu hose shower. There are the countless people who have given us money on the road and those who have helped to raise almost 7,000 dollars so far for the UNC Lineberger Cancer Research Center.
Then there are the bad drivers: the ones that honk, yell, buzz us and flick us off. They don’t taint the trip or make us want to stop, but help us enjoy everything else even more.
There have been a lot of firsts for a lot of the guys on the trip: First time doing laundry, first time using an ATM or going grocery shopping. First time being away from home for so long and first time changing a spoke or flat tire. First time camping for some and first time going without Facebook for more than a week. And for all but a few of us, first time biking across the United States.
Now that we’re out of Pennsylvania it feels like the trip is really under way. We’ll be out of Ohio soon and will start ticking off the flat states (until South Dakota and Montana, which will take some time). Before we know it, we’ll be making the long haul up Washington Pass in the heat of August.
If you have already donated, thank you so much. If you have not, please go to the Cycle20Ten website, and click on “Donate.” Every dollar helps. Make sure to write “Cycle20Ten” in the “In honor of” box so that we can track how much we raise.
Make sure to keep checking the Cycle20Ten website for daily and hourly updates and photos, and to check my Twitter account for updates as well. More to come as soon as possible.
