Day 34 Clearfield to Lewisburg

Our bicycles were so clean that it was not at all compatible with this morning’s rain, so we tried to wait it out. It was expected to cease around noon and become scattered showers and eventually sunshine or at least no rain.

Left at 11 am and had the ambition to reach Lewisburg though we were 15-20 miles short of meeting our original goal yesterday. With a late start and moderate tempo we reached a small town called Centre Hall around 4 pm and had our lunch. We still had 45 miles to Lewisburg but we did not need a referendum to decide to try to reach Lewisburg before dark. We both wanted to come in a good position for the final legs. At home 45 miles is a reasonable tour but our sense of distances has changed and it is something you undertake after a tuna sandwich on a Subway.

And then we had the most gorgeous ride with a small peak in the middle but mostly downhill. The weather forecast held and we had some moments of sunshine.

Our arrival into Lewisburg resembled our approach to Clearfield yesterday. You drive into a town where you think: “Not a bad place to spend the night”, just to find out that the nearby Interstate acts like a magnet to hotels so that you have to ride another 3-4 miles outside of town to stay on a highway which looks like any highway with a few fast food places and two or three hotels.

Probably just three legs left

We have booked our hotel in New York close to Penn Station, so we can easily get into Newark Airport on Monday. Reaching Lewisburg today makes it realistic to come close to New Jersey tomorrow and ride by Arla Foods Ingredients’ office on Friday and finally find out how to cross the Hudson River to Manhattan on Saturday. Mixed feelings: Approaching a goal which you have had in mind on the long rides is satisfying but that something so wonderful is coming to an end is also saddening. But if you do not want good experiences to end there is only one remedy which is not to engage yourself in adventures which might lead to good experiences.

The roads were wet and we got a few showers early on. Subsequently tonight is also about bike care.. The weather forecast for the coming days look promising. No rain and westerly winds.