Pennsylvania 6-5000

TOP: Lumpy kayaking Long Pond. Cliff was underwater at this point

2nd: Cliff's buckwheat pancake...note that it is standing vertical all on it's own. You couldn't play frisbee with it as it would break your hand

3rd: And this is a downhill...the uphills were MUCH worse

4th: Finally, the CARPS getting some much needed recognition

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My old buddy Cliff was heading up to PA for a few days, so we decided to get in a bike ride. I headed south to PA, he headed north from Pittsburgh, we rendezvous'd in the middle, and then returned to rochester where he flew home. Good couple of days of working out.

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So, where to begin this saga....maybe with the 40 degrees 20+mph headwinds...or maybe with Festus riding 3 miles and saying "screw this" and heading back to his bed...or the drit road that turned into the stone road the turned into a cow pasture that turned into a walk carrying my ROAD BIKE...oh, so many stories, so little attention span to write them all.

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After about 70 miles of my planned 100, I finally found a small bar near the PA border that appeared to be open. I popped my head in, and asked if they had any food, as I'd been hours without any food or fluids, and was shivering from the cold and headwinds. They said sure, come on in. I tucked my bike away behind the bar and headed in all psych'd for a nice hot meal. As I asked for the menu, the waitress said to me, "oh, we stopped serving food about an hour ago". I guess I asked the wrong question "Do you serve food" instead of "do you serve food RIGHT NOW, JANE YOU IGNORANT SLUT!!!!". Anyhow, the barkeep took pity on me and talked the cook (being kind with that description) into making me a plate of french fries.

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There was only one other guy in the bar, totally drunk at 1pm on mothers day, in his camo fatigues. Soon, he was joined by another buddy, and they just couldn't get over (a) that I was cycling that far, (b) that I was cycling on a weather day like today, and (c) that I would be insane enough to venture into their bar in full lycra. I smelled a Deliverance type of event in the making.

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Anyhow, they were asking me about my routing, and they informed me that the route that I had scoped out was a really bad idea...lot's of dirt and stone roads. They offered me a reroute that would be "a bit longer" but was better roads. So, like a moron, I took them up on it.

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After touring New Jersey and Virginia, I finally got to our PA rendezvous, miles and miles later. At 6:51...only to be informed by Cliff that the only restaurant in town closed at 7. Longest day of my life, bar none...

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"PA 6-5000...that was the mileage for yesterday" Lumpy Out