Day 19: Delta, PA to Marietta, PA

May 31, 2008

39.6 miles, 3:21:04 Ride Time, 11.82 Average Speed, 41.84 Maximum Speed

Strong storms were forecast for this afternoon, so I got out early. An immediate screaming, 40+ mph descent was followed by a 5 (or even 3.5) mph climb. This pattern would repeat several times, even on what turned out to be a short day. I haven't been using the small chainring much (just a couple of times on yesterday afternoon's hilly sections), because the only way to shift to it is to unclip my right shoe and nudge the front derailleur into position. Today, I did that repeatedly. I may have been spoiled by all the flat riding (from Florida to Richmond, VA) that I started this trip with.

I rode down to York Furnace, on the Susquehanna River, and spent a few minutes looking for the grocery store that my map promised. I found it at Otter Creek Campground. The place looked nice, the couple who run the campground were friendly, and cyclists only pay $10 to camp there. I should have gone another 20 miles yesterday and stayed there, but that would have made for a hot, hilly 120 mile day. Oh well. I feel pretty dumb carrying this infrequently used camping stuff. I've actually enjoyed most of the camping experiences on this trip; I just need to get back in the groove, I suppose.

The climb from York Furnace was the toughest of the trip - comparable to some of the grades in the Appalachians, although not as long.

After some more nice riding along a ridge, I made another descent, and then tackled the ill-named "Pleasant Hill Road." (I'm not really minding the hills - I'll take them over riding in traffic any day).

By now, I was getting sprinkled on. When I arrived again at the Susquehanna River, it was looking stormy in the direction I was heading. I stopped for a while at a kayak rental place, and sat on their front porch eating a Big Tex cinnamon roll, while I waited to see if the storm would pass by. Finally I decided to move one, after giving the friendly dog on the porch the last bit of my cinnamon roll.

Within three miles I rode into the storm, but before I got very wet I escaped into the covered pavilion of a small park. I spent the next hour and a half there, looking at my maps, making a few phone calls, and dozing on a picnic table.

The storm eventually dwindled to a drizzle, so I rode the five or six miles to Wrightsville (pop. 2,223), where I found a bike shop that had the tire I'd been looking for since Florida. The guys at the bike shop checked the weather on the internet for me, and it didn't look promising, so I stopped for the day in Marietta (pop. 2,689), where I finally found the nice, cheap, small-town motel I'd been looking for the last few weeks. I can recommend The Blue Note Motor Inn in Marietta.

Oxymoronic sign. One of the steepest hills of the day.

My new best friend stared at me while I ate my Big Tex cinnamon roll. I relented and gave him the last bite.

The Susquehanna River, about six miles south of Wrightsville. It was raining north of me, as I learned in a few miles.

View from inside the shelter house that I was lucky to find. I spent over an hour there while it stormed.

Today's ride: 40 miles (64 km)
Total: 1,411 miles (2,271 km)

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