I neglected to mention that yesterday we passed the 3,000 mile mark.
Our resident number cruncher revealed that, as of today, we’ve climbed 100,000 feet.
That’s a number that’s hard for me to c
omprehend.
In spite of it all, today was a pretty good day. When I started, my legs felt exactly the same as they felt when I stopped yesterday, which is to say, not good. But after 15-20 miles, they came back to life. It was hot and humid, but there were a lot of trees shading the road and little traffic.
Do you remember my discourse about detours? There’s a kind I’ve never encountered before - the kind with a couple of pissed off construction workers saying, “You can’t go any further. Anyone who crosses a construction barrier in the state of Ohio is subject to arrest.” Oh well, the detour wasn’t that bad.
I hit the little town of Canal Fulton at mile 25. The town was established in 1826 to support the trade on the newly constructed Ohio and Erie Canal. I was drawn off route by the signs of a festival and discovered a period encampment and a canal barge. (See photo). Shortly after that, there wa
s another farm with the “bioterrorist warning sign.” It didn’t make me feel any safer.
At mile 66, my rear derailleur cable broke. As a result, my bike was stuck in high (the hardest) gear. It was only ten miles to the second SAG stop, so I just gutted it out. One hill was just too steep to finish in high gear, so I walked the last twenty feet. I called ahead to the SAG stop, so when I got there, Gerard, super bicycle repairman, was only five miles out. I hung out, ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and had some ice cream while I waited. The hardest part of the repair for Gerard was finding a new cable in the luggage trailer. After that, it was fixed in 7.35 minutes.
The rest of the ride was uneventful. I reached the hotel with 96 miles on my cyclo-computer, so of course had to ride two miles past the hotel and two miles back to make it my third centuray in three days.
Tomorrow I get to do it all again, probably (80% chance) in the rain. Whatever….
s another farm with the “bioterrorist warning sign.” It didn’t make me feel any safer.
6 comments:
congrats on passing 3000 miles!! and wearing out a derailleur cable, how many cyclists do that?
you added one more mode of transportation (ie pedestrian for 20 feet) to your amazing journey across the country and back.
only 3 more states until NH; PA, NY and VT!! you really are close!!
rosanne
Dad:
As your resident lawyer/son, I thought you'd like to know that 100,000 vertical feet means that you have climbed - wait for it - 0.007928% of the way to the MOON!!!!!!
Chris
Holy cow crap! That sure is a long barn. Note how shallow the canal barge is. For those of you who don't know, Tom's resident lawyer/son is also a computer genius. His children are Chris the lawyer, Becky the teacher, and Matt the EMT and college student. We're all proud of Tom and Tom is proud of his family! RU Rah Rah, RU Rah Rah! Rutgers & New Brunswick make a nice pair. New Brunswick may not be as small as the college towns he's pedalling through, but it has a lively theaters and good restaurant to satisfy the residents and students. Bro
wow Tom I can't begin to tell you how impressive this all is and how envious I am of seeing the country this way although I could NEVER accomplish what you have!! We at Emanuel couldn't be prouder!
Robin
Thanks for all your encouraging comments. I'll share the distance to the moon data with the group. They will surely be appreciative!
I'll have lots of stories for all of you, who I miss so much, when I get home.
: - )
Tom
I have been watching your progress from the University of Virginia (yep, I'm still here) and cheering from the lab bench! Way to go prof!
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