BICYCLE TREK
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Cross Country Bicycle Trek | Tour
Tuesday May 20Travelogue | Notes...
Max Speed: 20.2 mph Total Riding Time: 0:36:47 Trip Mileage: 7.63 Total Mileage to Date: 103 Wake Up Time: 7:15am Leave Time: 1:45pm Wrote 7:30am... Woke up a few minutes ago and heard a good joke on the radio: "Did you hear that Ellen DeGeneres died? They found her face down in Ricki Lake." Last night heavy thunder and lightning kept me up for a bit. The tent held up with just a few drops coming in through the top. Otherwise no problems. Growing up in the city desensitizes one from nature. Last night before the rains began I was lying down in my sleeping bag and I could feel the ground. There was energy in it! That connection between the earth-the soil and us is electric... I could feel the rains and thunder coming even before they came... I could hear the birds and the air around me. The pressure was changing. I've never experienced this before and while the thunder, lightning and winds were quite strong, I didn't really feel afraid despite this being my first time camping and being all on my own. Enough of last night, it's currently dark and still raining so I'll have to stay inside the tent for awhile. I want it to stop so I can go check out the covered bridges. The weather reports say that it should clear up and get to 74 degrees. Wrote 6:30pm... Went back to sleep and woke up around 11am. Went outside and even though it was in the low 60s, it was chilly and damp. Spoke to Carl who lives in a trailer two spaces over from me about the area/roads and he told me about the injury to his wrist. Also met his dog Mike who was a tubby terrier and pet him a few times. Carl said, "We camping brothers stick together" and said if there was anything I needed to just knock. Made some Ramen noodle soup and left to do the laundry and see some covered bridges. Took photos of one of the bridges and then crossed the river back into Frenchtown, New Jersey. Found a laundromat and while the wash was going went a few doors over to the Frenchtown CafÈ where I had the best onion rings in a long time along with a chicken dijon sandwich and cranberry juice. Very good, but pricey at $9.00. Went back and finished the laundry and headed back to Pennsylvania and the campground. Crossing back over the bridge reminded me that even though I was in a new state, I was still close to home-Jersey. I had a lot more cycling to go. Tomorrow, I bicycle forth into unfamiliar territory.
I'm inside my tent and discovered a classical radio station playing Segovia. After the song finished the announcer introduced a spoken word piece based on a fable by La Fontaine. It was about an old man and a boy carrying a mule with its legs strung up on a pole. Along their journey people see this and remark how stupid. The old man and boy untie the mule and the boy gets on the mule. Now the people say, "How horrible, the old man should be on it." The two switch positions and now the people comment on how selfish the old man is. They both get on and now the people say, "Look at the poor animal..." The old man shouts, "Anyone who tries to please everyone and his brother is crazy." It's just like me... I go nuts trying to please everyone. No more-this bicycle trek/tour proves it. I now please myself and I feel great! This also brings up the point of the question many asked me before the trip... Am I doing the trip for a charity or to raise money for some group to which I said no-I am the charity. This is for me. I'm doing this all on my own. I don't feel the need to justify to anyone or the world my ride by hiding behind a charity or organization. In fact I was contacted by a major news organization before the start of the trip to see if I would give them daily updates if they gave me a PowerBook laptop and a cellphone. While tempting, I promptly shot it down as my ride was not a media circus, but something very special to me. YOUR COMMENTS
Bike Trek Tour Journal / Mileage Log / Travelogue
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Bicycle Trek - Cross Country Bicycle Tour Travelogue
