Rolling Through Pennsylvania

The morning was cool overcast but dry. We had been warned that this, our last full day on the road, was long with steep inclines. Ed wasn't kidding and I felt it was a good "circle of life" plan as it had been our second day that we had done our first mountain pass.
Rob and I had talked about riding together again but he thought he wanted to get more speed so we had decided to find other groups. But much to my surprise and pleasure, at breakfast Rob came up and asked if the invitation was still open. I said sure. As we headed out, I asked what had changed his mind."Well," He said, "I could just barrel through the hills today but I would rather have some fun and you are always a good person to do that with. Also, I know it will take more time and why not make the last day a full day. We have nothing else to do today so why not ride all day." Thanks Rob. I am honoured and touched. So our quest for fun began.
Out of the park and onto the road, we met a couple of off road cyclists wondering what we were all doing. It's always a pleasure to share the hopes and purpose to end the cycle of poverty.
The hills and inclines started immediately. We stopped at a Dunkin Donuts for a break and got a great discount on this water bottle.

It was a tough ride. I am so grateful that Rob was riding with me, very encouraging and patience, I not sure I would have done it without him. We were playing leapfrog with Peter and Marge for most of the day. Although the hills were steep and tough, the roads were smooth and the views incredible. As we zipped around a corner, I caught sight of a pond and had an idea. "Photo op!" I called out. "What?" Rob quizzed, "This is boring" But I set up these pictures so that he could see.


I'm very proud of these portraits.
On and on the hills came. But at the summit of our first and highest incline, a pass photo was in order.

As we were taking the picture, a car and a van pulled up to us, honking like crazy. What were we doing that could draw so much attention? Were we in trouble? No. It was my friend Heather, her son Ben and Art's wife, Heather and their 4 kids, Gerrit, Justin, Marjika and Theo. Our rides home had found me. It was so fun. They headed off to hunt down Art.

We continued through the hills but stopped as soon as we found ice cream at a local farm and corn maze. We chose the Black Raspberry with both chocolate and vanilla ice cream. As we were enjoying our treat, Paul and Dan pulled in. Dan looked around at all the fruit and produce looking for something to eat."Buddy-Go for the ice cream" No, Dan said, I want some fruit. "No Problem, you can get fruit topping on your sundae!" He didn't go for it. Rob looked at me and stated "I don't cycle this hard for an apple." I like the way he thinks.
Off we went again. Hill after hill. We also stopped at this great local drive in for the best Paninis. Mine was crab, cheese, tomato with guacamole. YUMMY!
We also passed this Hot Dog Stand.

Which I noticed had signatures on it.
Stopping, we asked if other Sea To Sea cyclists had been in. Yes but they had not signed the stand. Rob and I had a solution for that.



Finally we hit a nice descent into Milford, a beautiful little town with colonial buildings. We new that there was one more mountain pass like hill to go. As we were heading out of town I caught sight of a candy store. "Do you want to stop?" Rob inquired. AHHH YEAH!!! I need a summit treat. The lady was so kind she gave us all sorts of Jelly Bellys, gummies and treat for only a few dollars. THANKS.
As we pedalled over the Delaware river, Rob pointed to a tower in the distance."That is where we are headed."

WHAT!?!?!? You're kidding?!?!? Not Good!
Just as we were starting the last ascent, we found the Welcome to New Jersey sign.

Finally! The last state line. Have I really made it this far? One pedal stroke at a time, we worked our way up to the summit of High Point State park. Waiting at the top was Cory. I have never been so happy to see him. It was mostly down hill into Sussex from there although very steep. I had to seriously brake to keep at a reasonable speed and Rob hit a high of 84.7km/hr!
We cruised into town greeted by several signs from the local congregations.

We flew into camp at 6:30, before the deadline and in time for dinner. A lot of people were more than surprised to see me finish the whole day but my team from London gave me a round of applause. Thanks guys...I can't believe I did it either. Our final peleton meeting concluded with the announcement that the showers had closed! Not good news. A lovely lady, Sharon came up and introduced herself as a fan of this blog. Thanks, any thoughts on what I could do for a shower? Within minutes, she had us(Kevin, Marge, Rob and myself) hooked up with her brother for showers at his house.
The kindness seems to never end.
I can't spell their name but I will update it later. They took us to their lovely home, let us do blogging and feed us more food. They own the bakery next door and had been one of the signs guiding us into town.
Once again I am overwhelmed at the gracious and giving people who have cared for the cyclists and the tour over the last nine weeks.