A Ride Against Lymphoma

Alright day 2 coming your way, a bit late but nonetheless here it is.

Sussex, nj to blakeslee, pa - 75ish miles.

so did you guys realize that pennsylvania is full of hills? well now you know and knowing is half the battle. it was a day filled with climbs and only a few descents - so it seemed to me at least. And the thing i burned through the most today was calories. i ate my face off.

-two packets of oatmeal
-one bowl of fruit
-half a bag of cashews
-one plate of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and brocolli
-one piece of cake
-two cups of coffee
and
-four candy bars. i know, not the most nutritious, but hey, they were free thanks to the awesome folks at pleasant acres.

i met linda and tanya in the morning when i walked into the pleasant acres office. linda could not have been more pumped for what i am doing and she showed me the nj herald article immediately. we chatted a bunch. she hooked up some coffee and candy and after some photo snapping i was off into the beautiful and refreshing morning sun.

pa is pretty awesome for riding ill tell you what. some nice forests and great descents make for a pretty nice day. though I'll tell you someone needs have a look at some of those shoulders. i'm lucky to not have had an elbow taken off by a side mirror.

after riding in some miserable traffic i ran across Francine and her pooch, daisy who immediately pointed me down some great back roads. it was the size of my packs that got her talking to me. i cant imagine how many conversations my luggage will start. im looking forward to those for sure.

finally 25 miles and 3 hours later i arrived at WT Family camping where i was welcomed with smiles and a huge plate of food.

barb, paul, kevin, carol and a 3 yr old kevin were all there as we enjoyed conversation and some chocolate cake.
carol as well as another one of barb's daughters are currently dealing with MS and paul actually battled throat cancer and won over 20 years ago. man do i have it easy. these guys have been through a lot and they're still going every day, running a campground, doing charity work to give back and even feeding and housing a hobo-looking cyclist. i have a feeling that this kind of warm and friendly generosity is what will keep me moving across the country.

welp, i think thats it. oh, on a lighter note and sorta embarrassing one: that night i was awaken by footsteps crunching through leaves in the woods. immediately i thought it to be a black bear since i had been warned earlier that day to be wary. my heart began to race as i heard the beast move closer and closer with every step. i began to think 'this is it, i need to either jump out and scare this thing away or just lie here and be chomped.'

so with all my might i unzipped my sleeping bag and tent door and jumped out wearing only what god gave me, (or what science gave me, your call) ready to stand tall, let out a yell and give that bear something to run from.

turned out to be a small herd of deer. damn those deer.





































































know.