Tiredness, hills and whoopee cakes

Day 7
From Pottstown PA
To Lancaster PA
Mileage estimated 63
Mileage actual 65
Top speed 44.7mph
Riding time 5 hrs 50 mins

Disappointingly, although the day ended in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area, we are now located about 12 miles outside the town centre; 12 miles in and 12 miles back on top of the 65 done to get here did not appeal, so I have had to miss out on the chance to have a look around the city that was actually named after Lancaster, England by a former resident when he emigrated. I also know it's a long way to come and not go and see the town but, as you can see from the title of today's post, seven days' riding is starting to have an effect.

Both Al, my room mate, and I are getting to bed reasonably early, say 10pm-ish, but we are always awake just after 5am to get ready for the day ahead as we leave the hotels approximately 6am to 6.45am. The cycling is not as difficult as last year as I am not doing the same daily mileage, but the weather is hot and that takes it out of you. There are a lot of hills so far as well and whilst they are not ten miles long, they have to be climbed and they are either short (1/2 mile) and steep or longer (up to 2 miles) but of a slightly lesser gradient. A difference with this ride is that there are a lot more turns and directions on the sheet and these come about with more frequency. The longest distance between 'cues' on today's ride, for instance, was 3.9 miles and there was a total of 56 different cues to follow. We do take it in turns to lead but wherever you are in the group you have to keep concentrating to ensure that everyone makes the right turns at the right time. I think we were the only riders today who did not have bonus miles, but there were a number of times when we were close!

We left the decaying town of Pottstown at 6.45am and dropped back into the Centre before turning onto a bridge with an early photo opportunity of the mist rising from the Montgomery River. We then carried on along the riverside and were rudely awakened after about 4 miles when we got to the first climb of the day which was a short, vicious lung stretcher. That negotiated, we rolled through some pleasant countryside, mostly woods and trees, rolling up hill and down again on reasonably surfaced roads with exotic names such as Harmonyville Road, Pine Swamp Road, Haycreek Road and Cold Run Road. Others were Yellow Hill, Chestnut Hill, Kramer Hill, Peiffer Hill, Cinder Hill and Owl Hill Roads and I'll leave it to your imagination to work out what was on them.

First SAG (at the top of a hill!) came and went and the countryside changed from woods and forests to more farming lands. There was a lot of sweetcorn that was at least 10 feet high, but strangely had no more than 2 ears of corn on the stalk, potatoes, peppers, carrots, soy and for the first time ever, tobacco. I'll come back to the tobacco later.

We rode along and at one field a couple of the locals stopped to take pictures of a herd of cows; obviously to them it was quite an event to see cows so I didn't make much comment, but when I was asked, 'Have you ever ridden a cow? Do they ride cows in England?' I had difficulty keeping the astonishment out of my voice as I told the asker that, as far as I was concerned, cows were really for eating or producing milk etc. and certainly not for riding. He replied that it was great fun riding cows. I just had to inform him of the 'proper English' slang usage of the term 'cow' and 'riding' but it seemed to go over his head. One or two of the others got it though and there was much suppressed giggling going on.



At the second SAG stop, for the second time, we were met by another ex-rider from an AbB tour and he and his wife had supplied some goodies for the SAG. There were some cool fresh peaches that when you bit into them had the juice running up your arms (you know, like a good quality,warm pork pie!) and also these which are called 'Whoopee Cakes'. No idea why they are so named, I suppose people went 'Whoopee' when they were produced, but they are two pieces of chocolate sponge filled with (on the right) whipped cream or (on the left) whipped peanut butter. Unknowingly, I went for the latter and wished I'd gone for the former. Peanut Butter and chocolate cake? I never cease to be amazed at the delights of American cuisine.

We had lunch at a cafe near the SAG stop then moved on towards Lancaster. We were maintaining a good pace today and were going to be into the hotel early. There were a couple more steep hills, one just after 60 miles, but another couple of photos opportunities. One was by a disused quarry and the other was a tobacco field that was being harvested by two Amish men and their daughter who would be about 6 or 7. One man was lifting the prepared leaves onto the cart and the other was loading the cart; the girl, or course, was driving the three mules that were pulling the cart.


The picture shows the growing plants in the background and the plants in the foreground had been cut about 4 days ago to begin the drying process. They were held onto pieces of wood and they were being collected by the farmers who were then going to hang them in the barns to dry until about December when they would be sold and used to provide the outside leaf that cigars are rolled in. John and I spent about ten minutes with the farmer and he said that prices weren't too bad! He was a fascinating man and we were each interested in what each other was doing; hopefully we enriched each other's day.

Even with these diversions I was the last to arrive at the hotel just after 2.30pm which for me is a bit of a record. So much so that my room hadn't been prepared and I had to wait in the lobby for a while, but I do feel more rested after an early finish.

Another warning of a tough day for tomorrow, another early start and another 60-odd miles to do.