I woke this morning knowing that I had a big day ahead of me. On one hand, I couldn't wait to get out of the Super 8, but on the other hand, I could literally see the climbs for the day in the distance and that was reason to procrastinate a bit. I had to beat the heat and was in the saddle by 6:45 am and on my way.
There isn't much to add to the story from yesterday except to say the elevations were almost to 3000 feet (about 1000 feet higher than yesterday), and the course spent much of the day laughing at my poor climbing skills. The towns in this part of Pennsylvania all pretty much sit in the base of the hills. Probably that has a lot to do with the water supply (rivers) being in the valleys... towns across America usually are born around water, railway crossings or ports. What this means to me is that every time I spend the night somewhere in Pennsylvania or in northern Maryland (tomorrow), I start out with an immediate big climb.
My hope throughout the day was that I would make the climb and that the road would run along the ridge line for a while, keeping me on relatively flat roads. I wasn't that lucky, route 36 South (the road I spent the day on), crosses the hills / mountains from one peak to the next with constant climbing. I happened across a police officer shooting radar down one of the slopes and I stopped to have a chat. He was a nice guy and an experienced biker. My first question to him was if I could expect any relief on my way to Altoona. His answer was a quick, 'No'. He said it would be much of the same and then get worse on the slopes before dropping into Altoona. I swallowed the unfavorable news, killed a few minutes talking with him, and then set off again.
After yesterday, I realized that the technique that I have been using for the last couple weeks was not going to work on this terrain. Previously, when presented with a set of climbs... I would climb hard and then pedal hard down the backside. This would help keep my speed up and the downhill push would give me a little momentum up the next slope. This technique uses a lot of energy and wears me out when the hills are either too big or too many in number, or both. Instead, I set out with the mentality that I would not push down the hills to conserve energy, and would use very low gears to climb. Additionally, I decided that I would take my time to be sure that I could make it over the last mountain into Altoona. Many of my climbs were in such low gear that I was moving up the hill at between 5-7 mph. I was okay with that because it allowed me to endure so many climbs.
I stayed well hydrated and made many stops. Even though my actual riding time was just over 6 hours, my total time, including rests, was 8 hours. This equates to about 10 mph for the entire day. After taking the first turn that my Garmin suggested and realizing that it was dumping me onto a gravel road (not good for the bike), I also made the decision to disregard my directions and just follow one road, 36 South, all the way to Altoona. I knew it would add miles because it didn't go as direct, but we were in back country PA and I knew that there was a very high possibility that the roads would be low quality. Staying on 36 South, rather than use any of the cut-throughs suggested by Garmin, added about 6 miles to my ride at the end. I was happy with my decision. Even though the six additional miles added about 40 mins to the trip, it was worth it because trying to find my way when I am working so hard is a bad distraction and quickly saps energy that I can't afford.
When I made it to Ashville, PA, I could see the climb to Altoona in the distance. It was intimidating and looked like a ski slope (you can see it in one of the pictures below). I sat with Sharon for 15 minutes at the base of this climb with my right shoe off because my foot has been hurting quite a bit. I used the time to eat some and drink lots of water. Some very small part of me wanted to take a lift up the hill and call it a day, but I knew I would kick myself for doing that. With temperatures climbing close to 90, I set off up the hill. It was 2 miles straight up to a plateau with no dips for relief along the way. I kept my head down and only concentrated on the five feet that I could see under the brim of my helmet. At the top of the mountain sat an ice cream stand. It was like seeing a mirage. I was just about to reward myself when I decided to ask some of the customers if I had actually reached the top. I thought I was merely affirming what I already believed to be true .. yes, I had made it! Unfortunately, it was not. I was told that I was only 2/3rds of the way up. Since I don't like rewarding myself until the job is done (who rewards themselves for a job 2/3rds done?), I put my money away, guzzled one of my bottles of water and headed back out. Within 15 minutes, I had reached the top. I was so sweaty that it was like someone had dumped a bucket over me. I sat for a minute looking out over the valley and enjoyed the moment. I'm not absolutely certain, but I think that this climb will be my highest of the trip. I felt very proud of myself for this particular effort.
The descent lasted for about 5 miles and I was going so fast (close to 40mph), that I had to ride my breaks a bit. I was fairly worn out by then, so I knew that my reaction time to a pothole or sharp turn would be slower than normal, so better to go slower than risk injury. Even with the breaks, I enjoyed a 32 mph coast and after a couple small climbs and weaving my way through the town of Altoona, I found my way to the Courtyard Marriott. Of course, it was sitting on top of a big hill, but this time, I pedaled hard knowing that I had reached the finish line. This hotel is so much better than the Super 8 and it was such a relief to be finished for the day. Sometimes you have to stay at a dump to make you feel really good about just about any other hotel. For me, it was if I had arrived at the Bellagio when we got to our room...
One of the highlights of the day was passing through Punxsutawney, PA, which considers itself to be '
The Weather Capitol of the World', as is prominently displayed on their welcome signs. It's a pretty little town about 25 miles south of Brookville. I didn't stay long but it was interesting to bike through the place that keeps us on edge every year while we wait for the groundhog to tell us if winter will be long or short.
In Case Your Wondering... I added a bit about the ground hog weather predicting tradition below from Wiki.
Punxsutawney Phil lore
Punxsutawney Phil fans say that there is only one Phil (all the other groundhog weathermen are impostors), and that he has made weather prognostications for over 123 years as of 2013. They say that every summer, Phil is given a sip of the mysterious Groundhog Elixir, which magically lengthens his life for seven years. This is done by Inner Circle members. According to the Groundhog Club, Phil, after making the prediction, speaks to the Club President in "Groundhogese", which only the current president can understand, and then his prediction is translated for the entire world.
The Groundhog Day celebration is rooted in a Celtic tradition that says if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on Feb. 2, the Pagan holiday of Imbolc, winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow was seen, legend says spring would come early.
The ties in Pennsylvania may actually come from Germans, when clear skies on Candlemas Day (Feb. 2) were said to herald cold weather ahead. In Germany, the tradition morphed into a myth that if the sun came out on Candlemas, a hedgehog would cast its shadow, predicting snow all the way into May. When German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania, they transferred the tradition onto local fauna, replacing hedgehogs with groundhogs.
Tomorrow, I bike 110 miles to Frederick, MD. This is my longest ride of the trip. I will enter Maryland, my 7th and last state at around the 60 mile mark. I think I must have been insane to schedule such a long day through the mountains, but the good news is that it is the last hard ride of the trip. The rule of the day tomorrow is 'Easy Does it!'. Also tomorrow, Sharon will hand me off to Nick, my brother in law who will be my support for the rest of the trip. Sharon was invaluable in keeping fluids close at hand and being right where I needed her.
Morning in the mountians
All Day on 36 South
Seemingly random placed Mary statue. JoAnn would have loved this, although it looks to be in disrepair.
Look closely at the road going through the mountains. That was my last climb up and over to Altoona, PA. Brutal.
Kyle and Duffy, help me out. Is this a pond converted to a pool, or a pool converted to a pond?
Thanks for all of your support!
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