Michigan 26 Day 19 - Shamokin Dam to Harrisburg

 I've overcome some challenges on this tour. There was the coffee spill that destroyed my MacBook Neo. The death of my Pixel phone on the same day Citibank cancelled by credit card for fraudulent transactions. But I can't top what happened to Jim today.

The seat tube has completely broken off from the bottom bracket.

Jim: "My bike feels squishy. I think the frame is cracked."
me, looking at it: "Holy shit."
Jim: "What do I do?"
me: "Call Suzanne to pick you up. You're done. You can't ride this."

Suzanne is Jim's wife, the second-best spouse ever.

So Jim calls Suzanne, who is about three hours away. "My frame cracked. Can you bring me my mountain bike from the garage, and the pair of pedals from the drawer of bike stuff? And bring that shoulder bag so I can carry stuff, I only need to bring two days of clothes, and there is no rack on the mountain bike."

OMG. 

Jim says he can finish on his old mountain bike, which is a Trek 8500 from around the year 2000. It doesn't have a rack on it, but maybe we can move the rack from his current bike over. It also hasn't been tuned up or maintained since who knows when, other than Jim pouring bar and chain oil for a chainsaw on the chain for lubrication. His kids ride around the neighborhood on it, which is why we have to swap the flat pedals it has with SPD pedals that work with his shoes.

His bike that broke was a Trek Valencia hybrid from around 2009. I may have been suggesting to him for quite some time that it was high time he got a new bike. 

Suzanne: "We've been married for 17 years, and he had that bike when we met."
me: "I know. I remember when he got it."
me: "I have bought 8 bikes since he got that bike."

In fact, I even went so far as to conspire with Donald at Patapsco Bikes to get him to buy a new bike. I convinced him to get the Valencia a complete tuneup and makeover at Patapsco after I kept coasting past him when he was pedaling downhill. I told Donald his mission was to get Jim to buy a new bike like a Surly Disc Trucker. Patapsco did such a great job with the tune up that Jim decided his old bike was great and he doesn't need a new bike. Sigh.

We discovered the frame crack at this roadside gift shop, where we stopped for a break about 12 miles into the ride.  They have an excellent selection of art for your trailer home in rural Pennsylvania.

Jim and I decided that it would not be fun hanging out at the gift shop watching horses and buggies trot by for three hours. 

Since we are spending most of the day riding the smooth, flat shoulder of an expressway, we decided to gently ride another 10 miles to the town of Liverpool, where there are places to eat. We can eat lunch and kill time at a restaurant while waiting for Suzanne.

We are riding alongside US 15, a four land divided expressway that runs along the west bank of the Susquehanna River. Bikes are allowed, as are horses and buggies. 

There is plenty of evidence that horses and buggies do travel on the shoulder. That evidence would be horse poop.

We made it to this super nice diner in Liverpool, where we had lunch and waited for Suzanne. 

Jim, a lawyer, is one of the least mechanically adept people I know. He spent his time waiting at the diner thinking up ideas on how to keep the Valencia on the road. After each idea, I directed Jim's attention to the appropriate course of action for his broken bike. Which was worth about $300 according to the Internet, before the frame broke.

Jim: "Can I get a welder to weld the frame back together."
me, irritated, points to dumpster: "You could. Would that be a good idea?"
Jim, sheepishly: "I guess not."

Jim: "Maybe we can go to a hardware store and get some epoxy and glue the frame back together."
me, points to dumpster: "Epoxy will take 24 hours to cure, and it will not be reliable."

Suzanne shows up, with the old mountain bike. The tires are flat. The tubes don't hold air. The wheels are 26" and we have no spare 26" tubes. Jim discovers there is a bike shop a few miles away, so he sets off to buy some new tubes. Meanwhile, I swap the SPD pedals onto his bike, and attempt to install the rack on his bike. The rack does not fit, and cannot be made to fit.

I call Jim at the bike shop and tell him the rack doesn't fit. We decide the thing to do is for him and Suzanne to bring the mountain bike to a bike shop in Harrisburg, and see if they can install a new rack on it. I will ride on to our hotel for the night, and Jim will meet me there. I am fully expecting the bike shop to tell him that finishing the tour on a 26 year old mountain bike is a bad idea, which Suzanne will totally agree with, and she will drive him home.

At this point, I have just under 4 hours until the Raven's preseason game starts at 7:00, and 35 flat miles to ride. 25 miles of that distance is highway shoulder on US 15 and US 22, where the shoulder is very bad and scary. The last 10 miles or so through Harrisburg is really nice though, with bike trails along the river.

And this very cool old railroad bridge converted to a multi-use path over the Susquehanna.

I hammered it out, and got to our Holiday Inn Express just after 6:00. 

Will Jim be there? Or will there be a text message on my phone saying he has abandoned the ride and gone home?

He was there. With his freshly tuned up 26 year old mountain bike, with a new rear rack, and new endurance touring tires. Wow.

Remember, the best bike for bike touring is the bike you have.

The tour continues. We had a great time watching the Raven backups crush the Eagles backups at the sports bar up the road.

Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/19758398760

Michigan 26 Day 18 - Jersey Shore to Shamokin Dam

 We started the day with breakfast at the cavernous restaurant at the Gamble Farm Inn in Jersey Shore. They were setting up for Bingo later.

Colton Valley Inn take note - this is how you do coffee. Since we were the only people eating breakfast, the waitress just set the whole giant carafe on our table.

After breakfast it's time to climb! There is no road that goes along the Susquehanna from here except US 220, which is a freeway where no bikes are allowed. So over the mountain we go. We have to ride through that gap on the right side. It's over 1000 feet of climb. The grade is mostly easy but there are a few stretches that are 7-10%.

Once you get over the top, there is about 20 miles of downhill traversing the ridge line. Three miles are unpaved, but it's not bad. We reached the Susquehanna at Watsonville.

We had a very tasty late lunch at this Italian place. It took us until noon to get over the mountain.

The last 20 miles was easy, flat riding along the west bank of the Susquehanna, with interesting scenery like roadside emus.

There was a pretty horrific bridge crossing to get back across the river to our motel in Shamokin Dam, but it wouldn't have been so bad if I had realized there is a a really nice separated bike lane on the other side of the bridge. Strava mapping let me down here.

We are staying at the super cheap Travelodge. This is because it is now a Travelodge by Wyndham. Which means is still a super cheap dive motel, with many permanent residents, but I get points.

Our room is pretty nice and recently updated. 

The Travelodge is huge. There is a giant courtyard, with a pool in the middle. There are rooms on the inside and the outside. 

And there is a built-in Mexican restaurant! Since our room is on the inside of the courtyard, we never had to leave the compound. 

The Mexican place was a winner. Electrolytes were thoroughly replenished with the jumbo size Margarita.

This Mexican place was unique in that there were a bunch of customers who were actual Mexican and/or Central American immigrants, who were sitting at the crowded bar yelling at the TV in Spanish.

We got some room beers, which did not have twist-off caps. I am prepared for this. I've done RAGBRAI many times.

It was a tough day. 54 miles and 2150 feet of climb. But it was really nice out and we are having a great time.

Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/19743721394

Michigan 26 Day 17 - Ansonia to Jersey Shore

 We've reached the Susquehanna River. The historical marker coming into town says there is a nearby island in the Susquehanna named "Long Island". An early settler named it that because he came from the Long Island in New York. He started calling the settlement he could see across the river from his home on Long Island "Jersey Shore", because that's what he could see across the water from the last time he lived on Long Island. The residents of Jersey Shore went with it. I am not making this up.

Today was a magnificent day. As good as it gets. 55 miles of perfect rail trail through preserved wild lands, all downhill. 

But first we had to say goodbye to the Colton Point Inn in Ansonia. Sigh.

After drinking my Frappuchino, I went to put the key in the box outside the never-opened office to find the office was open. There was still nobody from the motel there, it was open for the workers doing renovations. And there, in the office, was the sad, lonely, ignored, and forgotten coffee machine. Some nice Indian family needs to buy this place and put things in order.

When I planned this route, I discovered the rail trail, which follows Pine Creek all the way to the Susquehanna in Jersey Shore. 55 miles, all downhill. I had no idea what the surface would be like. Would it be an Ontario-style snowmobile trail with unrideable loose, coarse gravel? Or will it be smooth and nice crushed stone like the Great Allegheny Passage or the York Heritage Trail? 

There is no alternative to the trail for the first 15 miles, so I was paranoid about this.

Turns out ii is magnificent smooth crushed stone. I was so happy.

In fact, much of the trail is actually paved with chip seal. 

The Pine Creek Rail Trail is amazing. It goes through "The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania" for the first 25 miles or so. It's completely undeveloped and natural. This does mean no cell service, no restaurants, and no water for that stretch. There are pit toilets every five miles or so.

We found a trailside ice cream shop that served sandwiches in the tiny, tiny town of Cedar Run for lunch. This place is not on Google Maps.

They make great sandwiches. Cash or check only. There is no internet or cell service in town.

And then it's back to the beautiful rail trail through the forest. Jim, who was a bit behind me, says he saw a bear cub crossing the road ahead of him around here.

In Jersey Shore, the trail meets up with a still-active railroad. There is an old New York Central caboose in the trailside park, reminding us that the New York Central is "The Road to the Future".  The rail trail was an active railroad until 1988, when Conrail abandoned it. Contrail was the successor to the bankrupt Penn Central, which was the successor to the bankrupt New York Central. 

Here's the end of the rail trail in Jersey Shore. This is only a mile from our hotel.

And here is our hotel, the Gamble Farm Inn.

The Gamble Farm Inn appears to be halfhearted homegrown attempt to make an event space for weddings and stuff. There is a cavernous restaurant, mostly empty, with a stage fur music, where we ate. There is a bar, which was very popular because we are in rural Pennsylvania. And there are hotel suites in a building behind the restaurant, which has a gym and a lounge area on the first floor. It's weird. Our spacious suite is clean and comfortable, but it's furnished with a mishmash of old furniture like a college student apartment. There is no hotel desk or office, they text you a key code for your room like AirBnB. The room does have a coffee maker thank God.

This is the only lodging anywhere near here. No Indian people are involved in this operation. Obviously.

The Pine Creek Rail Trail is a winner. What a find! 177 feet of climb in 59 miles!

Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/19730602176

Michigan 26 Day 16 - Port Allegheny to Ansonia

It's very hilly here now. We had to go up one of them.

I believe this is the Eastern Continental Divide. We followed the Allegheny River to its headwaters, then had a 540 foot climb up to the summit. Then there was sweet glorious payback. It was all downhill for the last 25 miles, following Pine Creek, which flows into the Susquehanna.

Here's hill-hating Jim finally reaching the top of the hill. 

There's not much you can do about this, though. We have to cross the Eastern Continental Divide at some point. 

Today's challenge is there is not much out here. Our motel isn't actually in a town, and it's not near any restaurants. Our strategy was to eat at the last restaurant before the motel, and dawdle around all day so we would get to the restaurant at dinner time. This worked. Normally, we choose a motel that is walking distance from dinner, and we check in to the motel and get cleaned up before going out to eat.

The first step to dawdling around is to eat breakfast before we leave. This mighty fine diner was across the street from our motel in Port Allegheny.

Lunch was 20 uphill miles later at Fezz's Community Diner in Sweden Valley, just beyond Coudersport.

Check out this classic jukebox! Unfortunately, it's not working.

Fezz's is leaning hard into the 1950's diner thing.

Leaning very hard. Ouch my eyes.

Right after lunch, the big climb started. It was low ring all the way for me. The grade was 7 or 8 percent.

After 15 miles of screaming descent, the dawdling-til-dinner strategy continued at this laundromat in Galeton, which was behind a Kwik-Fill convenience store.

We refilled our snack bags at the Kwik-Fill, since there is nowhere for breakfast tomorrow, and a long ways to lunch at our remote hotel. We are definitely in Pennsyltucky out here.

We got to our restaurant for dinner around 5:30. Dawdling worked, and this restaurant was a win. It's the Old Antlers Inn.

With a name like that, you can be sure it's a taxidermy fest.

They have an inspired entree of Cheesesteak Pierogies. The bartender says the owner invented this himself.

Yesterday, when I was complaining on Facebook about the debasement of Rolling Rock, a friend of mine said he thought Straub Beer was still independent and brewed locally. Indeed it is. I'd never heard of Straub. It's quite good! Classic grandpa beer.

Here I am at our motel, the Colton Point Inn.

This would be the only lodging option, which means you have to accept that there is no place to eat nearby, no coffee in the morning, barely working Wifi (essentially useless) and therefore no streaming TV, despite the claim that there is free YouTube TV for guests. I'm writing this using the phone to connect to the Internet with LTE.

Jim was curious about what I was going to do since there was no coffee. I explained that I always have multiple layers of redundancy for critical systems, and showed him the giant Frappuchino I bought at the Kwik-Fill. There are also a stockpile of caffeinated gel packs in the snack bag.

There is not even any staff on site. Your room key is in a lock box on the door, and they text you the lock box code like an AirBnB.

The room is nice though, and the beds are very comfortable.

It was a great ride yesterday. We conquered the summit, and the weather was perfect. 50 miles and 1900 feet of climb. The last 25 miles were downhill with a tailwind.

Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/19717342940

Michigan 26 Day 15 - Salamanca to Port Allegheny

 Pennsylvania is really hilly. Our mission is to ride across Pennsylvania to Maryland while going up as few hills as possible.

This is the unmarked crossing of the state line with New York.

Our first day was very successful. Fifty beautiful miles, and no hills of any significance. We followed the Allegheny River the whole way. The weather was perfect, with light tailwinds.

Are we going to have breakfast at the casino? Which will cost $23? Where we will have to stand in line first and be shamed for not being "Premiere Members"? Tim to the rescue!

Lunch was at this great cafe in downtown Olean, NY.

I experienced another Buffalo culinary specialty here, the Pizza Log. This is a deep fried egg roll with pepperoni and mozzarella cheese inside, instead of egg roll stuff. You dip it in marinara sauce when you eat it. I don't see pizza logs as very inspired or interesting. They are not great. I was hoping they might be the same as western Maryland's Pepperoni Rolls, which are awesome, but pizza logs are totally different.

We are at this perfectly fine old motel in Port Allegheny (RDOQ for sure), which is very helpfully next door to a Sheetz.

A Sheetz that sells Rolling Rock! A fine beer which has been absent from Maryland for years!

I am pretty outraged that InBev, the industrial corporate mega-brewer that bought Rolling Rock 20 years ago now brews it in New Jersey, had to remove the famous 33 words from the bottle because this beer has never been anywhere near the famous glass-lined tanks of Old Latrobe.

We took our Rolling Rock to this nice BYOB cafe a couple blocks over, where I had calamari and bad "Buffalo" wings. 

Port Allegheny is a nice small town for an overnight bike tour stop. It was a great day.

Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/19700734259