Fighting the Appalachians

We’re a week into the trip, nearly 300 miles covered, and so far Tommy almost ran over a rabbit, we got chased by a pit bull (hard to pedal with both legs up in the air) and we disturbed a couple of snakes when we sat to rest on one of our many uphill climbs. 

After 55 miles from York to Chambersburg on Monday, it took us two full days to do the next 55 because Jill wasn’t around
anymore to drive all our gear…and these mountains keep getting in the way!

 We’re following PA Bicycle Route S which takes us on a lot of backroads and, honestly, we’re pushing our bikes up most of these hills…but the hills aren’t winning yet! Going slowly helps us notice things, too, so Tommy will grab his camera and start firing away. Do we get frustrated sometimes and want to stop?
Pretty much everyday. But then something will happen…a kind word of encouragement from someone we meet (like the sweet people at the Hoagie House Cafe in Fort Loudon), a car stopping to offer us water or a wave from a little kid as we pass her front yard…and we’ll get a burst of energy. Tommy’ll be embarrassed that I snuck this last line in here, but the most impressive thing to me is the sheer determination of this fetal surgery kid — we all have mountains to cross in our lives but this kid has had a few more. Quite a fighter.

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