Catch up

Rain quit during the night and skies cleared to a beautiful cloudless day.

Rode Salisbury, fun trails and well drained. Amazing for how much rain fell. Some rock gardens getting a little bit better riding over them. Again, PA rocks are smaller than further east. Learned that if I use a lower gear I can almost track stand when I need to.

At TH I encountered several gonzo riders finishing up. Very loquacious and sharing of future rides.

And a wandering drive down to Centerport to S’ house. Found his house. Wonderful visit w/ old college buddy and his wife. He makes long bows as a hobby using the same concept as Indians did. prefers osage orange wood. Crocket and he could swap wood stories.

Phillies smoked the Rays.

Cool, windy, & clear on Mon morn. Plan is to ride French Creek. S sealed my skylight to prevent rain leaking in.

Found french Creek SP. Hot showers and a site for out of state fee of $18.50. Splurged.

Started on ride, visited w/ a guy who was just getting started on his ride and I globbed onto him for his local knowledge. That lasted for about 25 mins and he said that was it for him and he left me to my own. I didn’t pay attention to where I was on the map. My solution again was to ride and try and find myself on the map.

The sky kept getting darker with potential for rain and I wanted to be under cover before rain started.  I finally crossed a road and sort of figured out my location and resigned myself to ride the road back. The EDGE saved me again to point the way back. I found a trail going at the same direction. I perceived the marker color as blue because of my tinted glasses. The color was green and I wandered just a little further than I needed to. By now it is sprinkling. Made it before being soaked. 11.97 miles and believe it 1560′ vert. All kinds of short climbs.

Drove up to shower, clean again. Drove into Birdsboro for groceries and then back to XG. Rain was now falling steadily. And it rained all night long.

I kept the heater on low all night. Comfortable sleeping under double summer blanket. Means burning more fuel.

Rain and high winds forecast for today. Perhaps a drive day to Manheim for tourist and hopefully mail.

Series game is in Philly and was called last night tied after 6. Again in a local with a team in a championship game.

Roof vent still has smal leak, maybe caused by it being cracked open and position of van.

The rest of the day:

Rain & high winds.

Drove cty roads till I hit Rt 23. Old stone houses along windy undulating 2 lane black top. Big field stone.

Visited Hopeful furnace. Closed on Tues. Raining hard anyway but walked around outside of foundry which was locked. Got in on a special tour of viewers into foundry. Like i remember it previously. Man’s ingenuity at the time was masterful. Again cutting of the forests to support the ravenous hunger for hardwood charcoal.

Still looking for a grease gun fitting for Turner bushings. Tried bike shop. No but an incredible collection of old bikes. Look out 29ers:

PA Dutch grocery store in Elm is gone. Looked forward to pickled red beet eggs and showfly pie.

Drove by my old house. Mill pond has been drained and creek just flows thru. Drained much land which is now grass. House has been added onto & repainted. Basement probably doesn’t flood. replaced handdug well water source:

Drove White Oak into town and then around Manheim. Asbestos is bust. 2 former residences are still occupied. Foundry building is something else. Rt 72 into Lancaster is built up. Drove rt 30 east, jus so many more people. farms galore on side roads.

Continued on rt 30 to my ride of the Wiss tomorrow. Stopped at Paoli, found a parking lot 1/2 block off rt 30 behind commercial bldgs that were made for short row houses. Quiet. Still windy. Series was postponed until tomorrow for better weather.