Day 57 - A hill and a surprise
Day 57 - Jersey Shore to Duncannon, PA - 80 miles - 2165 feet of elevation gain
Remember all of those weeks ago when I said that I wake up and put a quarter in the “machine” and the legs just do their thing? Well this morning the legs almost stopped working! Right out of the gate we started climbing with two baby hills as a warm-up for the real deal. We went from 500 feet to 1900 feet in a very few miles. I was joking that PA doesn’t believe in switchbacks because it’s cheaper to just pave straight up the mountain/hill. We had to get over the mountain ridge or go out and around, so we chose the shorter route. I guess we are from PA and thus chose the shortest, albeit steepest, way to our destination. There waas some vista point near the top, but I was like “I’m not stopping!” Some did stop and said “it was green!” So there you have it folks! The percentage of grade ranged from 5 - 13.4%, which made my granny gear get a workout. I was wishing great granny would have a gear too! Today was my grandmother’s birthday, she would have been 91. So as I thought about using my granny gear, I also thought about her and how much I miss her.
After the big climb, we had an awesome descent. Wind in my face, tree cover, a winding road, and bike tires that were ready to roll, it was super! It’s the only thing that makes hill climbs worth the incredible effort and sweat!
The rest of the day was flat! We followed the west branch of the Susquehanna and then the actual Susquehanna River. We came down through Selinsgrove and then picked up route 11/15 to Duncannon. It’s a little weird being on roads you’ve driven many times, especially after being on unfamiliar roads for 57 days. At our last rest stop there was an ice cream shop, so we had some ice cream to fuel us to the finish. While at the stop I listened to a voicemail message from my dad. He was coming from home from State College and wondered where I was on our journey. He was able to stop for a few minutes. The last time I saw him, other than on FaceTime, was in Oregon on Day 1. I also got a message from a friend that she passed us on the road, but wasn’t sure at the time if it was me or not. We are getting into familiar territory.
After dinner, I started driving away from the hotel. The boys were like “where is she going? Why are we being take somewhere other than the hotel?” We went to a park for devotions. It was a great park and allowed for some playing before we returned to the hotel. This was our last night as just a team of 11 riders and 2 drivers, so we wanted to make it memorable.
