July 12, 2016
Day 42 Beaver Falls to Mercer
We had a short ride with lots of climbing today. I had been very apprehensive about the steep climbs and was not looking forward to riding today. It was steep and it was hard, but we did it. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, of course. We walked up one hill and managed to ride the rest. I was so focused on the riding, I didn't even think about pictures most of the way.
I did take a picture just after we started out. Kerry and I both had used Ride With GPS and Google Earth to find a good way from our hotel back to the Adventure Cycling Route. What we found was this, about a mile into the ride.
We were able to re-route easily and be on our way, but it was a surprise to come to that gate!
It was a little warmer today than it has been. The forecast high was 90 - not quite like home, but plenty warm when you're climbing hills on a loaded bike. We had more Diet Coke breaks than usual today.
In the last 10 miles, we got back into farm lands. We passed some Amish farms and saw one horse and buggy. I took some pictures of the farms. A man at our last rest stop told us there were Amish doughnut stands ahead. We were very disappointed when the two we passed were only open on Saturday.
We got to our hotel before 2 PM and were able to check in right away. We have had very good experiences with Choice Hotels - and particularly Comfort Inns/Suites this summer. They have been by far the most accommodating, most helpful and easiest to deal with.
We went to an excellent Mexican restaurant next door and overcame our doughnut disappointment.
Today's ride: 34 miles (55 km)
Total: 2,039 miles (3,281 km)
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