Heat and Thunderstorms

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DAY 5 Rest day
Arriving into State College yesterday afternoon, Bryan, Keith & Brenton all bought tyres which getting up today we fitted to the bikes. All finished by 10.30am before it got too hot.
Ubered to Walmart to buy a few odds & ends we needed, did our laundry and generally cruised for the day before walking up the road for a Japanese meal.
Day 6
Leaving our comfortable digs we were soon on back country roads through farming areas mainly run by Menonites or Amish people. We saw Amish children walking to school and a few horse drawn carriages on the road. The black wagons typically seen in photos always appear to be immaculate. We also saw carriages delivering crops from their farms to shops and warehouses. An unusual lifestyle only using horse drawn transport, no TVs or cell phones and living a generally simple existence. They are worth reading about. I think some of the people we saw were Mennonites as they had cars at their houses.
During this part of the route we went through a township called Menon. Most of this area is very religious and we saw many signs praising the lord, and "Jesus was the Way” (but with no GPX route) and one in particular on the roadside gave us hope. “If you have Iniquity in your heart, God wont hear you”. I take this to mean while your having some sinful fun, God will turn a blind eye (or deaf ear).
As usual we were in multiple forests during the day’s riding. Great roads, brilliant scenery varying from pretty tree lined lanes both sealed & gravel, alongside small streams and through picturesque farmland - all made for an enjoyable days riding. Many houses in the this area are mansions with acres of beautifully manicured gardens and acres of mown lawns. At the other extreme we also passed a few houses and trailers where people were living in squalor with junk all over their property.
Brenton had noticed towards the end of the day's riding that his rear wheel was making some noises that indicated a rear wheel bearing was failing. Arriving into our destination of Harpers Ferry, Brenton had removed his rear wheel, ascertained that the cush-drive hub bearing had failed and replaced it …all within around 15 minutes. Luckily he had thought ahead and carried spare bearings with him.
Today we had close but eventually safe encounters with around six deer, many squirrels which also seemed to have a death wish (we missed them all) and saw some magnificent scenery from up to 700m altitude. Most of the day was hot at around 31 degrees but as we neared the completion of the day’s ride the temperatures dropped at least 10 degrees as thunderstorms rolled in with some heavy showers.
Our destination of Harpers Ferry is, along with nearby Antietam and Gettysburg, very historic areas in relation to the American civil war. This is West Virginia (Blue Ridge Mountain, Shenendoah River, take me home country road etc)
There was a major battle fought at Harpers Ferry in September 1862, as part of the of the American Civil War. As Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee's Confederate army invaded Maryland, a portion of his army under Major General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson surrounded, bombarded, and captured the Union garrison here. All of these battles suffered huge casualties, fortunately we live in better times (unless you are in Ukraine) gruesome details can be found on Google.
Around 420kms today.

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Comments

[Bill]

Great read
Thanks for the updates really enjoying them