Thursday September 27th 2012

Gettysburg PA to Gaithersburg MD 99km 1134m vertical climb

The day off to look round Gettysburg did our legs good. The roads were still wet from the storm in the night that had woken us both up and the forecast was for unsettled weather, but it turned sunny and remained dry the whole day. The hills were not as steep and high for the first hour but that changed after Taneytown and, thereafter, the terrain was similar to Tuesday’s ride. When we arrived in Gaithersburg we had done nearly as much hill climbing as on Tuesday and a few kilometres more and with the temperature at around 26C coupled with high humidity we were somewhat dehydrated. Fortunately, a bar/Indian restaurant not far from our motel enabled us to rectify the hydration problem in no time at all. Time for Thursday night football……………………

Gettysburg

Wednesday September 26th 2012

Stores on York Street

 Gettysburg is an introduction to American history. In 1863 the biggest battle of the Civil War was fought in this area.  In 1865 Lincoln made his Gettysburg address here.  To rest our weary legs, we spent the day touring the town. The town is well kept and every second house seems to have been around during the Civil War.  We walked the main streets in the morning  and after lunch we sat through a 30 minute show depicting the 3 day battle of  Gettysburg.  We toured the National Military Cemetery and then returned to the hotel for bike maintenance and laundry.  All is ready for Tomorrow.

Gettysburg - Main Square

House on Middle Street

National Military Cemetery

Tuesday September 25th 2012

Duncannon PA to Gettysburg PA 81km 1166m vertical climb

 

 

 

We set off at around 9:15 and decided to use the Google route description to take a country route rather than use the main roads through Harrisburg. The first few kilometres were easy enough to follow, but suddenly we arrived at a junction where the instructions said turn right on 305 but route 305 went straight on and 307 went right!!! We decided to go straight on to stay on 305 and had to tackle a tough climb through a forest until we hit a road that was not mentioned on our instructions (nor was it on our state map) so we knew we were lost. Well, Florida is south so that is the direction we took and, as luck would have it, we picked up the route as described a few kilometres later. The only problem we still had was that the terrain was crippling us. The climb rate was higher than any previous stages on this or any other tour.

We arrived in Carlisle about midday and were glad to be able to stop for lunch. The next section was a little easier until the road forked and we took the 94 to York Springs. It just got steeper and every time we topped a rise we could see a series of hills that looked just as bad. Forever optimistic, we pushed on hoping that every hill would be the last until we turned onto the Old Harrisburg Rd to Gettysburg where it did get a lot easier but still far from flat.

Gettysburg is the best kept town we have seen so far and being the scene of a major civil war battle in 1863 has a lot to see so we will stay an extra day to see the sights and get some feeling back in our legs. 

Monday September 24, 2012

River street in Northumberland

Danville PA to Duncannon PA 101km 766m vertical climb

Tim resting by the Suskahanna

We had our earliest start ever and left our hotel shortly after 9.  We passed through Northumberland/Sunbury where the Susquehanna and Lackawanna Rivers combine.  The town of Sunbury has built major defences against flooding and lookout posts dot the river dyke.   We decided to follow a minor road to Duncannon.   The road was hilly, steep and sparsely populated.  The shoulder was narrow or non existent and the truck traffic was heavy.  It wasn’t the best, but the drivers in Pennsylvania are considerate and we did well.     After lunch the road improved and the route followed the river closely so the terrain was flatter and the riding faster.   We arrived at the Doyle Hotel in Duncannon to find it is a hostel for hikers walking the Appalachian trail.  Our room cost 32.50 and the bathroom is down the hall.  But they have the best food in town and 3 local beers on tap.

The Doyle Hotel, Duncannon

Saturday September 22, 2012

 

            Scranton PA to Danville PA 107km 545m vertical climb

The strong smell of mothballs nearly choked us so we were glad to get out of our motel room this morning. The motel breakfast was in the room price but what looked like second hand donuts and coffee was not enough for us so we walked up the road to a diner and had a classic breakfast of fried eggs, bacon and potato pancakes with toast and jam. That was a much better start to the day. We had a clear blue sky and the heat, while stood loading the bikes outside the motel, led TimB to decide on a short sleeve shirt for the ride. The air, despite the sun, was actually quite cool so the high speed downhill immediately after leaving the car park left TimB with jaw ache after trying to stop his teeth chattering so it wasn’t long before he put a second shirt on.

           

Main Street - Avoca

            The first couple of hours were spent riding through the suburbs of Scranton and Wilkes Barre on rough roads past a lot of rough looking properties. Things looked more cheerful as we left Wilkes Barre and cycled on Route 11 paralleling the Lackawanna River. We stopped for lunch in Shickshinny and on entering the restaurant saw a plaque on the wall showing a line 55 inches off the floor, which was the level that the Lackawanna River had reached on Sept. 8^th last year as a result of the tropical storm Lee. The restaurant was about 300yds from and several yards higher than the river so it must have been an impressive sight to see. It had taken the owners until May this year to rebuild the place and reopen for business.

The afternoon was pleasantly warm and we had a nice steady ride through flat terrain until we decided to stop at about 70km for cold drinks when we saw the Bandits Roadhouse. The place was buzzing, being surrounded by Harley motorbikes and full of leather clad bikers. Despite not fulfilling the apparent dress code we felt qualified to enter having arrived on two wheels. After tanking up on two (US) pints of ginger ale on the rocks we easily managed the remaining 37km to the Red Roof Motel 4km north of Danville. 

Bandit Roadhouse - Berwick