Lancaster to Kulpsville PA

Holy crap, was it hot today!! 97F was the air temp, and on the pavement, over 104F. Today was about survival, although survival while experiencing the beautiful Pennsylvania countryside. Most of us were on the road by 7AM- and many of us can never remember sweating so much before 8AM!! So what about the riding and that scenery you ask? We cycled through lovely Lancaster County, past many neatly organized Amish farms of corn, soy, and tobacco. Yes, tobacco- apparently a big cash crop for the Amish. We passed many horse and buggies- the sound of horse hooves on the pavement clopping behind as we passed by was a sweet sound. There were interesting conflicts between the multiple modes of transportation, with bikes behind buggies and cars looking to pass. Very interesting case study in transportation planning. The Amish and Mennonite cultures were interesting to observe- children waving from houses, buggies, men and women working around their farms. The rules are obtuse and not easily understood to an outsider- for instance kids apparently can use foot-powered scooters, but not bicycles. Everything though about the Amish farms and houses was so organized and orderly, down to the laundry flapping in the still breeze.

We rolled along, and the miles clicked by. And the sweat kept coming. We poured water over our heads, sought shade wherever it appeared, looked out for each other if we noticed that someone was getting a bit too fried. Lunch today at a highly air-conditioned pizzeria in Spring City was incredibly enjoyable. We rolled past the ominous and other-worldy Limerick nuclear power plant cooling towers, that appear out of place in this gorgeous countryside (sorry no pix- battery was too low). We rolled into Kulpsville, hot, sweaty, but feeling great. Sad that this was the last day on unfamiliar roads (to most of us). Tomorrow we make it back to NJ and cycle through our old favorite training routes.