Dalton, Pennsylvania - Sussex, New Jersey

NOTE: Being in a state park, there was no wireless available, so again you're getting a 2 day report.
NOTE 2; I managed to use a school computer in Sussex, but could not upload pictures. I'll try to do that tonight. Sorry about that....

Thursday: We are in Pennsylvania for at least one day, as we travel south from New York to New Jersey and the Atlantic Coast. Because there was no entry sign on the back roads we used to cross into New York, I thought I'd take a shot of the sign looking back so you know I really was there (with Bob, Bryan, and Matt), and a shot of entering Pennsylvania.


It was cool again today, and we have yet to see the sun. Happily there is no rain, although the forecast tonight at least calls for the possibility. The ride in today was once again beautiful. Because our sweep team was on duty today we left late, at 9 a.m., after breakfast was cleaned up and the gear truck loaded. I rode with Pete Van Noord all day and we decided to ride fairly hard but also take time to stop for coffee, etc. We stopped at a diner in Conklin, NY, for coffee, and then for lunch in Nicholson.

The pictures below show you the kind of terrain we rode through all day. Forests everywhere with rolling hills - breathtaking! One of the fascinating sights of the day was the railroad bridge pictured below, the shots taken at 2 different locations, with a sign explaining its history. This bridge is now owned and operated by Canadian Pacific. It's a massive structure especially seen close up, and one can only imagine how many tons of concrete went into building it.


Speaking of fascinating sights...we rode through the village of Hop Bottom, where Walter Vink had his SAG stop today. Sitting down by his RV, I noticed a sign which read "Hop Bottom CDs Here - Thanks." That immediately gave me an idea: what if I changed a few letters around and dropped a few others? Well, you see the "end" result below. From left to right are Pete Van Noord, Dirk Van Wyngaarden, and yours truly! Bottoms up!

I arrived in Lackawwana State Park just after 2 p.m. The tent was already up and, most important, the queen size air mattress had been inflated. Diane and I had to walk a few minutes to get a warm shower, and it's too cool to swim - the lake here is not very appealing anyway. We're on a group camp site, so not in the nicest area of the park. The day ended nicely, however, with a communion service celebrating the community we've experienced together throughout this amazing summer.

Now we're all wondering what tomorrow will be like, as we face the most climbing in total of any day of this whole tour. We won't be dealing with any 20 km long mountain passes but with a whole lot of shorter climbs. At this point, however, most of us feel there isn't much we can't handle anymore. We'll see...

Today's stats:

Distance: 89.62 kms.
Average speed: 25 kph
Maximum speed: 60.9 kph
Time in saddle: 3.35.13
# of flat tires on tour: 9

Friday: Up, down, up, up, up, down...and so it went all day. It was a good day, though, in spite of all the climbing and a not so pleasant day bike wise. We started off with a good breakfast of pancakes and bacon, and below you can see two of the cooks with their cakes on the griddle.

The biggest adventure of the day for me was that I had 4 flat tires (one staple, one defective inner tube, one piece of glass, and the last one caused by a tear in the outer tire which also had to be replaced), and when I got to camp I discovered that my rear tire rim (the metal wheel) was cracked badly near one of the spokes, so it was off to a bike shop first thing and the whole wheel was replaced.

The ride itself was very picturesque, with all the hills and twists and turns in the road, and the pictures below give you some idea of that, I hope.


When we got to Sussex, it was off by shuttle to a local high school for showers, where Diane and I learned how independent of me she has become. When Diane was done, she left in shuttle without waiting for me and telling me she was leaving. When I got out of the showers I waited for her as several shuttles came and went, and there was no Diane. Finally I figured out that she had already gone. Diane didn't realize she had forgotten about me, but knew she had forgotten something. Was it her purse, what? Not till she got back to the school that was hosting us did she realize it was her husband that was missing. I think we need a week vacation together...

For dinner tonight we were hosted to a royal buffet by the Sussex, NJ, and Goshen, NY, CRCs. You can see the kind of spread they laid out for us below.


We are now in a host family home for the night, and there is no internet. I'll try to post tomorrow morning but may have to wait. Tomorrow will be an exciting day, our last on this tour. The last 10 miles of the day we will be under police escort through the city until we arrive at Liberty Island park for the tire dipping in the Atlantic. Then a big celebration dinner at night. Everyone is very excited, and it should be a great way to end this grand adventure.

Today's stats:

Distance; 126.01 kms
Average speed: 20.3 kph
Maximum speed: 68.3 kph
Time in saddle: 6.10.40
# of flat tires on tour: 13