I awoke after the deadly tornado to an empty house. Eventually the mother came home, she tried to convince me to stay. She offered me some dehydrated food, I blogged, then I left. I rode through northeastern Pennsylvania with ease. Compared to upstate New York the steepest hills felt like nothing more than a steady incline. I began to realize i would be riding into the wind at all times. I learned how to tuck flatter and use different muscles to push along faster. I forgot how different it is to ride with so much weight; how hard it is to lean forward and how it is so momentum based.
In Northeastern Pennsylvania I met a menenite. He was a very nice man, he explained to me about his culture and how a farmer could live on 20 acres here in PA. In Montana, he said, he would need 2,000 acres and a horse to live through that harsh climate and rugged terrain.
About 30 miles later I pulled over to ask a man with a flat tire if he needed help. Like everybody, we get to talking and the turns out to be incredibly friendly. He met up with me again 20 miles down the road and offered to have me stay with his family in Williamsport. His wife and 2 year old son were awesome, they even paid for my dinner. He told me his life successes, his life set backs, even the adventure he took when he was my age. He gave me directions to Pittsburgh, and the next morning I left. Upon leaving he said "this was as much of nn adventure for me as it is for you."
I rode Southwest, I took 150 south most of the way. Around 11 AM I was in Lock Haven, PA. The bridge and scenery were beautiful. I remembered my friend Andrew was from PA, so i turned on my phone and texted him. I kept riding towards Pittsburgh. The hills were steeper than in the Northeastern part of the state, there were hills my computer said I climbed at only 8 mph. Much later Andrew said he was from State College, and wouldn't you know, 20 or 30 miles later I saw a sign for State College. I went past the exit, so a few miles later I pulled over, met some more cool people, then turned around. It was only a slight downhill, but for the first time the wind was at my back. I pedaled for three pedal strokes then tucked low. My computer read 27 mph after just three strokes. Wow, I wish the wind would help me out more often, my max speed on the whole trip so far was 36 mph. The panniers act like parachutes, no matter how low you tuck my panniers and sleeping bag catch the wind anyway.
I rode into State College around 4 PM. I met up with Andrew, we chilled with some beers, met some cool new people, and went to his place to pre-game. We crashed, that was good shit.
I awoke at 9:30 AM. Andrew and i have gotten some awesome food at Denny's, we got messed up again, and now i am blogging. I am going to a cobbler today to stretch my bike shoes, so i may not even get on the road until 2 PM. My computer says I have gone about 200 miles, but I just found out i am already through half of the Appalachain mountains. I didn't even realize i was climbing mountains. This is an amazing confidence boost, it's all downhilll until the Rockies.
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