Big Ride Day 45

Photos from Day 45

Another day of steep climbs! It seems that this will be the story of the remainder of the trip, or at least until we leave PA. The climbs here have been unbelievably steep, making the Rocky Mountains seem easy in comparison. I climbed steeply out of Hollidaysburg with Doug and Mary, eventually emerging into a series of long rollers through fairy tale farms filled with rows of corn and soybeans. Unfortunately, PA is currently in one of the worst droughts they've seen in years so the farms here are not as green as they would ordinarily be, but everything still looked gorgeous to me on this beautiful day. I smoked through the rollers at a blistering pace, feeling great in the cool of the early morning. We soon began rolling through a long, flat valley and came upon Laurel Caverns where about half the riders had gone for a guided tour. We stopped but unfortunately did not have time for a tour because of our very late start.

We continued to travel through the valley until checkpoint. After that, the heat really started to kick in as we turned right to cross over several ridges to Mifflintown, which lay in a nearby valley. The climbing and the heat combined for some challenging riding but we were up for it. We stopped for a hoagie at a little market in one of the small towns we passed through and it tasted great! A true PA hoagie! I haven't had one of those in a long time. Soon after the sub, we hit what I would say is the steepest hill I've ever climbed. It was very short, but I barely made it up with only my double chainring. I was standing up in my lowest gear and I could barely turn the pedals. I passed several people who had given up the fight and gotten off their bikes. It was a killer but I made it! We ended the ride cruising on some nice forested roads with very little traffic, very pleasant cycling. There was a great downhill near the end. Tonight we are staying at Mifflintown High School, which sits up on top of a hill and has a great view. I must say that the road to get into school rivaled just about any hill we'd done all day! It was interesting seeing people coming into camp after that last hill.

After arriving in camp, we were treated to ice cream Sundaes by the PA ALA. They have been so great to us. I iced my knees while eating ice cream. After a great dinner, we had another talent show for the night's entertainment (see pictures on Roll 18 and Roll 19). It was fantastic! There were so many great acts that I can't recount them all here. I will never forget that night. What a great group of talented people! After the talent show, I talked to Christine and then turned in for the night.

This page modified November 25, 2000