We are showered, fed, sitting in the lounge of our second B&B, both pecking away at our electronic toys. It was a beautiful, sunny day. It started off in the high 40's and got up to maybe 60 today. Great for riding. I wore my fleece jacket all day, tho up and down with the zipper a million times depending whether we were in the sun or shade. The trail was still in very good condition out of West Newton -- very flat and lots of trees. Unlike the day before, we went through almost no civilization. We rode all but 6 miles towards our destination before we found a place for a drink + snack. But we did pass many other riders-- some locals just riding, but lots of people touring like us.
Debra had a brake problem and we were able to solve it with my bike repair app and tools. That was cool -- standing in the middle of a trail miles from a bike shop -- successfully solving a problem with an ipad. 2012 pioneers. :) We later took her bike into a bike shop to look over our work for peace of mind.
The two guys in this bike shop were a story all their own. They had me cracking up. After about two minutes I had nicknamed them Tom and Ray -- a.k.a. Click and Clack -- the PBS Car Talk guys except for they repair bikes. We were rolling. I asked them what their business was like bc they are literally right on the trail. One said, "yeah, we even get international people who don't speak any English" and the other quipped, "we make fun of them..." It's a family business. Their 87 year old mother walked out of the building without them knowing and that became a funny exchange too. This bike shop is worth the stop even if only to get some air in your tires. (Bikes Unlimited / Connellsville, PA).
The two guys in this bike shop were a story all their own. They had me cracking up. After about two minutes I had nicknamed them Tom and Ray -- a.k.a. Click and Clack -- the PBS Car Talk guys except for they repair bikes. We were rolling. I asked them what their business was like bc they are literally right on the trail. One said, "yeah, we even get international people who don't speak any English" and the other quipped, "we make fun of them..." It's a family business. Their 87 year old mother walked out of the building without them knowing and that became a funny exchange too. This bike shop is worth the stop even if only to get some air in your tires. (Bikes Unlimited / Connellsville, PA).
Weather forecast continues to be great. Tomorrow we start climbing, about 500 feet. Meeting and chatting with other people. "Steve" is a Peace Corps director in Rwanda. When he heard what Deb and I do he wanted to recruit us. He's directed Corps programs all over the world. "Richard" worked 38 years at Anchor Glass, now defunct. When I asked him to photograph us with my small digital camera, he held it to his eye and said it was blurry. Then he asked if there was film in the camera and when I said no, he wondered how the pictures got out. He was cute. Asking others to take pictures is a gamble. You can't be sure your heads will actually be in the picture. We asked one woman to photograph us under a painted archway and we got six feet of pavement on the bottom but only half the arch above us! Till tomorrow!