Ramblings from a biker boy

In the beginning of this week, I managed to get around to go see a sports doctor to have a look at the knee. Since I came back, I have slowly started to bike and run again and I have also taken up kayaking. Thankfully I have not felt anything in the knee, but as I have both a long bike race across Sweden and the Helsinki Marathon coming up I felt that it would be best to get a professional opinion about the knee.

So, after having felt on the knee and done various jerks with the leg the doctor declared that there was no issue with ligaments, meniscus (my main concern) or anything else so I was “free” to continue any training I wanted (after having gotten rid of the cold I had). That felt good and after another couple of days to let the cold get out of the body, I am now back in training. I don’t know if I’ll get enough miles in the body for the bike race, but as things are now I’ll give it a try.

You want to know what was the problem with my knee? Well, I have no idea - I asked the doctor and all he said was that those kind of things occur sometimes when you’re active… My best guess is that it was a combination of many miles and a slight twist of the knee in my fall and that resting have resolved it. But I’ll guess I’ll have to wait and see if it appears again. Now I at least know that there doesn’t seem to be anything seriously wrong with the knee physically.

Last day of riding… Rode into Philadelphia without any major issues - was a bit concerned beforehand about the traffic, but it wasn’t so bad and it turned out that Philadelphia seems to be quite a bicycle-friendly city. There’s a lot of people on bikes, and it seems that more than half of them are riding on singlespeeds or fixed gear bicycles.

Anyway, got to the hotel without problems and my case (for the bike) was already there, so tonight I’ll disassemble the bike and pack it up. So the weekend’s exercising will have to be walking and running…

I’m finishing the trip in style - I am staying at the Crowne Plaza and being such a valued customer I have access to the Priority Club lounge with complimentary breakfast in the mornings and free drinks in the evening. Plus I got a gift bag full of various sweets and some Perrier. I think I’ll be OK the last couple of days in the US…

Don’t know yet what I will do in Philadelphia - have nothing planned except seeing a friend during the weekend - but there seems to be plenty of stuff to do so I am sure I’ll not go restless. I probably will not write for a couple of days now, but I’ll sum the trip up once I get back home.

If you want to see the route I took in to Philly, click here.

Tomorrow will be the final day of biking in the US for this time, and today I wanted to get close to Philadelphia (which I’ll be going into tomorrow) so that I would just have a short ride tomorrow. I’m sure it’ll be stressful enough with the traffic, so I figured it’d be better if I didn’t have too many miles in the legs (and head) once I hit the city. So today I rode to West Chester, a suburb of Philadelphia, which as far as I’ve been able to see basically consist of one huge university and not much more…

When I went to bed last night the rain was falling hard, but the forecast was that it would have passed in the morning and the day would be mostly sunny although not as warm as the last couple of days. Fortunately, the forecast was correct. So, I couldn’t complain about the weather, but the first half of the route was really awful, even though it went through Paradise. I was riding on a highway with lots of traffic, and it seemed to consist mainly of trailers. Thankfully, the shoulder was wide so there wasn’t really any problems as such, but the noise etc. you experience when riding in heavy traffic makes it quite unpleasant. Roughly halfway there, the road split in two and most of the traffic disappeared, so from then on it was much more pleasant.

I came a bit early to the hotel so the room was not yet ready, so I headed back to a shopping plaza a few hundred feet earlier on the road to check out the offerings. As luck would have it, there was an used books shop there, so I went in and browsed through it and ended up buying two paperbacks (I’m getting weary of watching TV):

Michael Chabon: The Final Solution

Kaye Gibbons: Ellen Foster

I have no idea whether they’re any good, but at least they’re small enough to fit in the back pocket of a cycling jersey, which is an equally important criteria at this stage.

As usual, you can see the Google Map of the route taken today by clicking here.

Today I took my trusty steel horse on a ride in Amish territory. I had considered taking a bus tour, but as the main villages were just a few miles away I decided to bike instead. I figured it would let me take in not only views but also smells in a better way. So I headed off along route 340 and was soon in Smoketown, which was quickly followed by Bird-in-Hand. I must say I like their naming of villages around here - although I do suspect that the Amish and Mennonites might not be as innocent as they appear: situated nicely between Blue Ball and Paradise is Intercourse… No wonder their families are often large.

It was a very nice ride where I passed quite a few buggies as I got closer to Intercourse.

Once there I also saw some Amish travelling by their other preferred method; by scooter - that’s a push scooter, i.e. propelled forward by leg power, not by a motor.

I’m not sure if it is just something I imagined, but it seemed like their slower way of life impacted also everything around them. The cars seemed to be going much slower - which is probably good as they quite often needs to pass the horse-pulled buggies, and the horses are just trotting along in an easy pace. There definitely is something to be said for living a simple life, although I know I would never be able to cope…

I thought it was very interesting to see the contrast between the modern way of living and the Amish way of living (well, the little I did see of it). It also seemed like the two can exist together in peace - even though I am sure many of the Amish must get tired of constantly having tourists watching them. On the other hand, the same tourists also buymany of the products they produce such as quilts etc. So I guess it is like everything else, there’s always two sides of the coin. You just got to take the bad with the good, and hope that the latter weighs over.

Once I got back to the hotel, I decided to walk down to Lancaster city - roughly a 3 mile walk. It was quite easy to find the way, basically just go along one road and then turn right and I was in downtown Lancaster. I walked around and looked at the architecture - lots of old (well, for the US…) buildings combined with more modern looking made for an interesting view. My favourite - just because it was such a clash between old and new - was the county prison building which was one part old castle/fortress and one part modern prison building. It was quite hilarious.

There was quite a lot of nice little shops - many vintage clothes shops, but as I am biking and do not want any extra stuff to carry around I didn’t go into any of them. I did however make brief stops at the two record shops I walked by - both seemed to be geared primarily towards the punk and emo scene. I guess the kids in Lancaster needs something to show their rebellious side with…

After a few hours of walking around in downtown Lancaster I headed back to the hotel, sweating like a pig. The whole day has been very humid and in combination with a relatively high temperature (high 70s at least) and very little wind, any activity (outdoors) leads to a lot of sweating. At least for me… And to be accurate, I didn’t sweat like a pig. Firstly, because I am not a pig and secondly, because pigs do not really sweat - they do have a few sweat glands, but they control their body temperature by wallowing in water or mud. But, I sweated a lot…

The Google Map of today’s excursion can be seen here.

Today was another short ride - down to Lancaster, PA. So now I am in the heart of the Dutch Country - with a day off. That means I should be able to squeeze in both some Amish countryside sighseeing and a visit to the downtown of Lancaster (the hotel is a bit outside). Apparently, Lancaster has been voted the 12th most walkable city in the US, which sounds promising.

Today I felt strong on the bike; I guess knowing that it was just a 2-hour ride helped as well. The roads were rolling, but not like in Connecticut where it usually was steep up-and-downs - here it is more stretched out, so you have a chance of getting into a good rhythm regardless of whether you’re going uphill or downhill. And inadvertently I must have ridden on a popular bike route, because I saw the largest number of bicyclists by far - I must have met 20 or so, most near Lancaster. For those of you that are not Americans; today is Memorial Day in the US, which is a holiday and (most) people are hence not working but can do more appealing things such as bicycling.

Me, I am heading out to enjoy the beautiful day - sunshine, light breeze and a temperature in the high 70s. What more could one want?

Today’s route looked like this.

Today I did a short (25 miles roundtrip) daytrip to Hershey primarily to check out Hershey’s Chocolate World. The weather was beautiful - an almost cloudless blue sky with the sun shining strongly and just a light breeze. The temperature was in the low 80s (that is around 27 degrees Celsius), so nothing to complain about there either.

When I got to Hershey and the Chocolate World, it turned out that there were a few other people who had decided to do the same thing.

Well, a lot were visiting the Hersheypark as well. Regardless, the parking lot were huge and there were cars and buses as far as I could see… Fortunately, there was a lot of things to do:

Do you think the Chocolate World and Hersheypark is popular with kid families? I would say so - just have a look at this stroller “parking lot” outside the Chocolate World.

There was also a Barking Lot next to the parking lot, and there was definitely a lot of barking going on there. Not that I understand why you would bring your dog along when you go to an amusement park…

I took the free tour, which starts out with some information on the origins of the Hershey company and city - turns out that the city was more or less developed by the company for their employees. Then the tour takes you through how the cacao bean is harvested etc. until you get to jump in a cart that takes you on a ride showing what happens in the Hershey factory - all to a soundtrack of happy, happy songs about Hershey’s milk chocolate. It even comes complete with singing cows:

It was quite an experience - complete with having your picture taken at the end (you can buy it when you exit - I didn’t). When you exit, you then come out into a Hershey “mall” where you can buy anything Hershey…

After having done Chocolate World, I headed back to Chocolate Avenue and started riding back to the motel.

All in all, it was a good day.

Today was another short ride in beautiful weather - it was the first day I rode totally without leg and arm warmers. Plenty of sunscreen on though… I managed to get into a good rhythm after the inital first miles and the miles rolled by quickly. Initially, the roads were rolling with lots of up-and-downs, but after a while it flattened out. I don’t know if it was the route or if it is because it is Memorial Day weekend, but there was definitely a lot more yard and garage sales going on than I’ve seen any other weekend. Otherwise, it was a day of smells - mostly newly cut grass (lawn mowing must be America’s favourite pastime) and cow manure. And I also saw my first Amish buggy.

Since it was a short ride I rode straight to the destination - Lebanon, PA - without any stops. After a quick shower it was time to take a walk around Lebanon. Seemed like there wasn’t much happening - they had a very nice farmers’ market though. And there was a bicycle shop, so it wasn’t completely dead. I guess a lot of people are doing other things due to Memorial Day.

Tomorrow I have planned a day trip to Hershey, the Chocolate Town. Then there’ll probably be some pictures as well.

The Google Map of today’s route can be seen here.

A blissfully uneventful day - just some nice riding in good weather. OK, there was a moderate to strong headwind about half of the time, but that was all. Otherwise, all was good - the road surface was fine, the sun was shining and the miles went by pretty fast. That said, it definitely wasn’t one of the days when you all of a sudden realise that you are pedalling; I could feel every revolution of the cranks in my legs so it was good that it was a short ride - just a bit over 50 miles.

I had decided to go through Amityville as I was a horror movie buff growing up - I should have done the research beforehand though; the Amityville Horror is based in Amityville, New York… Turned out that Amityville, Pennsylvania was just a small village with a few houses. However, someone must have tipped them off that I was coming and apparently they thought it was a huge thing. How else would you explain that they had named a road after me (well, kind of…):

Besides that there was also the following in a vending machine:

The best part is the “A FAT FREE FOOD” information! And for all Swedes who have wondered why the heck it is called “Swedish Fish” - here’s the background (see more here) :

“In 1958, Malaco, a Swedish confectionery manufacturer, decided to expand its business by exporting a few of their products to North America. Allsort Licorice, Ribbons and Laces candy were the first products to be exported to North America.

The Malaco exporting business grew and in late 1960’s and early 1970’s Swedish Fish and Swedish Berries were developed specifically for the North American market. As you have probably already guessed, it was named Swedish Fish because it was developed in Sweden.

Today this product is made in both Sweden and Canada.”

See, now you’ve learned something today as well.

After a short stop in Mt. Penn for an egg and cheese bagel, I continued on to my destination for the day - RDG. That’s the IATA code for Reading, Pennsylvania - just wanted to show that I haven’t completely forgotten everything concerning the travel industry…

Lastly, for those of you that didn’t catch Mates of State’s performance on Conan O’Brian, you can check it out at Alarm. It’s well spent time.

And, no I haven’t forgotten: the Google Map of today’s route can be viewed here.

Unlike the Democrats I have come to a decision - it wasn’t an easy one… And no, it is not whether I should support Obama or Hillary. Not that I think they care. The decision is of course whether to continue westwards or not, and I have finally decided for the latter. I don’t want to jeopardise the knee; even though it is fine for most of the time, it does “lock up” in a very painful way at times and I do not want to associate bicycling with pain. Well, not that kind of pain at least…

So, instead of riding cross the country, I’ll spend the next week doing short rides around the area, so it might not be as spectacular - instead of the “across USA” tour it’ll end up being the “going here and there in Northeastern USA” tour, but I am not too disappointed. There’s been many days of great riding (and hopefully some to come), and, provided the Apocalypse prophecies don’t come true, USA will still be around for another go later.

So what would I change for a next time? Well, not too much - maybe do some more research on possible side trips and have shorter mileage per day to allow such side trips. But most importantly, I’d try to get my girlfriend to go along - although I do realise that there’d be a problem with all the climbing (not that she cannot go uphill, she just doesn’t like it), but maybe we then just go back and forth in Kansas (yes, I do know it is not completely flat, but it is all relative)… And, of course, a knee transplant - I can see it before me: Torkel, the bionic tourer.

But that’ll be next time. I’ll still write the remaining days, so see you then.

Today was a pretty good day, even though:

• Almost immediately there was a steep hill, which made my knee hurt.

• In the descent from that first hill I got a flat – the upside being that my knee immediately got some rest. After having checked the tire, I put on a new inner tube, inflated it and off I went. After a minute or so I felt the back wheel being a bit wobbly – checked the tire pressure and it was a bit low so I inflated it some more. Then after a few hundred feet I felt that it was almost flat. I couldn’t believe it – a second flat! It was all my fault though – the second time I checked more the tire more thoroughly and found a small spike that just had gone through the tire. Removed it and then fixed the flat, inflated the inner tube and I was finally on my way again…

• Most of the day I rode against a strong headwind.

• It took me at least an hour and a half to find the hotel. I had put it as a waypoint in the GPS by selecting the Holiday Inn in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania – turned out that was not the hotel I had made my reservation at. In fact, it was no longer a Holiday Inn, but a Best Western… So, to find the hotel I decided to use the address instead – turned out there was no Cherry Lane in Bethlehem. Asked at a gas station, where they checked a map and it turned out that it was not in Bethlehem, but in Hellertown that is next to Bethlehem.

• When I finally got to the hotel, I could barely walk to the room because of my knee.

But, on the “plus side”:

• Great weather to ride a bike in – a slight overcast with the sun coming through quite often.

• Besides the first hill, the road was mostly flat or downhill which made the miles go by fast (despite the headwind).

• There was time for some activties off the bike. Admit it, you’ve always wondered how the crayons are created – well, all you need to do is to visit the Crayola Factory in Easton, Pennsylvania. And if you have kids, bring them along – there’s tons of stuff for them to do. And you don’t have to feel the awkwardness I felt as being the only adult there without kids…

• Tomorrow is a day off, and I have a jacuzzi in the bathroom.

So, all in all, for a moment today there was definitely hope. It was even a sign leading me on:

But I still have to see how it feels tomorrow. The fact that I was barely able to walk once I got to the hotel was a bit worrying…

Well, that’s it for today – the NBA Western Conference final beckons.

Google Map of the day (complete with the search for the hotel at the end) can be found here.