Day 45
Wednesday
Lancaster PA to Havertown PA
58 miles
Travel Time 6 hours
Saddle Time 4:30 hours
I’m really stretching these last few days out. A real easy, beautiful ride today thru PA country side, and mostly in the shade! The roads I selected had great shoulders. The ones near Lancaster were worn down from the Amish carriages! Saw lots of Amish on their wagons and scooters heading to work early this morning. Also spotted a hot air balloon taking off in the distance.
Tomorrow I’m going to bike thru Philly and get closer to LBI for the final time trial on Friday. Anyone in the area is more than welcome to come to the finish, which should be around lunchtime Friday. Just let me know. I better get there soon because my bike is falling apart. Today my rear blinking warning light must have fallen off at some point. And my bike fell over at one spot and the handlebar phone holder broke. Thank god for mini bungees!
Had more visitors to my bedroom last night. This time cats!
Two addendum’s to yesterday’s blog.
1)If you go to day 23 at www.portland2portland.org you will see the poem the CT cyclist wrote about our encounter. Keep in mind that the blog is written by his wife who rides in the car each day!
2) I’m embarrassed to admit that I referred to the hay as bushels not bales! I need to bike back to the Midwest to continue my education. The reason why the bales are round is because the technology allows the large round ones to be more tightly wound, which keeps the air out of the middle and prevents spoiling the hay. However, farmers have difficulty stacking the round ones. So new exciting farm equipment now can make even larger bales, in a rectangular shape!
Here is the exact link to the poem Ken referenced
http://www.portland2portland.org/2014/07/day-23-gee-brief-people.html
We farmers understood what you meant…no worries! The Midwest welcomes you back at any time. We will still be here! Hang tough these last few days!
With that beard and so many days not in a car you weren’t assumed to be Amish too?
So glad to finally know what all those bales of hay are about!
Philly Lancaster, route 202 cant believe it…CONGRADS CONGRADS…what is address in LBI..
amazing..all I can say…….what a story..
I hear that the Levitt-Fuirst employees have taken up a collection to fund a bicycle expedition for you next year from Key West, Florida to Barrow, Alaska, only 4283 miles! I understand there was discussion of a Maine to Hawaii trip, but they could not raise the $ for the peddle boat to take you to Hawaii.
I hope your bike stays together! Enjoy your ride thru Philly 🙂
Hi Ken,
You are making this crossing of the US look too damn easy (easy for me to say).
A possible suggestion for next summer’s trip (hope that Sue isn’t reading this):
Riding from Kowloon, Hong Kong (the eastern most point in China) to Kashi, China
(the western most point near the Pakistan border). It’s approximately 2600 miles across
the Pamirs mountain range, the Taklimakan desert, etc. Just a thought for the future.
Most importantly, stay safe on this final leg of this truly incredible journey (LBI tomorrow?).
Everyone is so proud of you for your remarkable accomplishment and the person you are –
Best regards,
Jerry
I have become so accustomed to reading your blog everyday. We have conversations about you and your journey while we are in the locker room. We all agree that you should turn around and head back, in order to keep the good stories coming.