Moosewood

Originally Posted October 5, 2004 by Mags

Sunday was an effortless, smooth ride of 100 miles. We rode from Lantz Corner, Pennsylvania to Lawrenceville, PA among hills with leaf colors and near a river for most of the way. It was mostly downhill. In Lantz Corner, a lady that we'd met at the United Methodist chicken and biscuit dinner let us stay at her motel so we felt all rested up. For dinner, we ate at Patty T's in Lawrenceville where they served a delicacy that we thought was unique to Utah- pistachio pudding/marshmallow/pineapple delight. We also had some homemade blueberry pie. We found a pleasant camping spot at the Cowanesque Dam overlook. On Monday we finally found a mechanic, Rich, from Gear-To-Go Tandem Bicycles in Elmira, New York who helped us fix the squeak (knock on wood). It hasn't come back after 35 miles of riding. We reached Ithaca, NY last night and dined at the Moosewood Restaurant (yes, the one that's famous for all those cookbooks). It was good food but we felt the need for a little more protein a.k.a cheese, butter ,cream and turkey. A woman (Charlene) saw us in the Ithaca Commons and offered us a place to stay in a vacant apartment attached to her house. She even set a table and put breakfast food in the fridge. It was so nice to be out of the cold and to take a shower. Ithaca reminds us of a smaller Seattle- lots of hippy types, street waifs and academics all mixed together. It's a fun town. 

Posted by Mags at 09:03 AM | Comments (2)

I Love New York

Originally Posted October 5, 2004 by Chad

ITHACA, NEW YORK. Last night we finally found fuel for our camp stove, even though the trendily dressed clerk at the outdoor store in downtown Ithaca was sure he didn’t have what we were looking for. I bought two canisters this time. Earlier, in Elmira we stopped at Gear-To-Go Tandems where Rich helped us eliminate that annoying screech. If you’re in the market for a tandem, his shop is the place to go. Check out his website here .

Rich at Gear-To-Go Tandems

We ate at the Moosewood restaurant last night, which is the first restaurant we’ve been to in a while that wasn’t all-you-can-eat. I thought it was good, but was disappointed by the small serving sizes. Mags was disappointed because she had such great expectations for it. We both agreed that when you work as hard as we do you need all the grease and fat you can get. She says she still loves the cookbooks. Today we continue north along Lake Cayuga before turning east again to the Adirondacks. The weather report is cool and sunny.

Posted by Chad at 08:59 AM | Comments (0)

Frequently Asked Questions

 Originally Posted October 2, 2004 by Chad

KANE, PENNSYLVANIA. I just ate a breakfast of fifteen pancakes and six sausage links. Last night I had three large helpings of chicken and biscuits with vegetables, then helped Mags finish hers before having two helpings of apple crisp with ice cream. We found all of this food at the Methodist Church’s fall festival. The food was hearty, healthy and abundant. It was a Godsend.

South of here, in Clarion, they were having an Autumn Leaf Festival. There we met a Baptist minister who spent about an hour with me trying unsuccessfully to hunt down some fuel for our stove. While we were at it he introduced me to twenty five or thirty people.

Southwest of Clarion, in Zelienople, we met a man at a bakery who told us he did some cycling too. Moments later we were approached by two little old ladies who said they had heard we were peddling across the country. They had come over to congratulate us and shake our hands. It was sweet.

Everywhere we go we meet interesting and interested people. Our bike piques everybody’s curiosity. Some have told us stories of travels of their own, but most just want to know about our journey. Everybody has the same questions, so I suspect some of you may wonder the same things. So here they are in the order they are usually asked, and with our now well-rehearsed answers:

Where are you from and were are you going?
We started in Seattle, Washington by dipping our back tire in the Pacific Ocean. We're going to Acadia National Park near Bar Harbor, Maine to dip our front tire in the Atlantic Ocean.

How far do you go in a day?
It depends on the terrain, the wind and our moods, but we usually go between seventy and one hundred miles each day.

Where do you stay at night?
We usually camp out. We’ve stayed at city parks, state parks, national parks. Sometimes we camp at the side of back roads. Last night we camped behind the Methodist church. Other times we meet people who let us camp in their yard, or even invite us into their home. We have stayed at hotels only five or six times.

How are you getting back?
Amtrak.

How long has it taken you?
Just less than ten weeks to get to Kane, PA.

How did you find the time to do this?
We both just finished graduate school, and don’t have jobs yet.

What will you do when you get back? 
 Look for jobs.

Did you train for this? 
No, but bikes were our main mode of transportation in Seattle. We each rode over seventy miles each week.

Are you doing this for a cause?
Not really. It has always been a dream of mine to cycle across the country. I think it is the best way to see America. Sometimes I tell people that I’m doing it to raise awareness that the bicycle can often be a better transportation choice than automobiles.

Does a tandem make it easier?
Yes and no. On flats and down hills we can go faster than a single bike, but up hills we are just as slow.

Who does the most work?
[I usually defer this answer to Mags, and she defers back to me. Nobody really knows.]

How much does it all weigh?
I don't know for sure, and would rather not find out. I'd say it's all about one hundred pounds.

Do you carry a gun? [Asked only on Indian reservations]
We carry everything we need.

If I pedaled four thousand miles, would I also look that sexy in spandex pants?
Try it and see baby!

What kind of nutritional supplement do you use?
You can read about that here.

Posted by Chad at 10:06 AM | Comments (4)

Original Comments: Frequently Asked Questions

Chad & Margaret:
Two to three times a week when I catch up on your journey I often wish they made a bicycle built for three. You've definatly had a grand adventure. You picked a great time of year to see the mid-west and eastern states. I bet that the fall colors are beautiful. I have really enjoyed reading about your adventure and living the adventure vicariosly through you. I sure hope you find fuel soon as I'm guessing your both pretty skinny these days. You'll need some warm food and hot cho. God bless the backcountry preacher as he shares his message of alternative transportation modes.

Vincent

Posted by Vincent Genetti at October 2, 2004 10:36 AM

 

I've emailed a copy of the news paper article to your other email address. It was exciting to see it. Love, Mom

Posted by shirley at October 2, 2004 12:34 PM

 

Chad's driveway!

Remember when we were little riding in the car and dad said that " All roads lead to your driveway"? We laughed because you had such a hard time figuring how that could be. With all the roads you've covered now I bet you've figured it out. Love, Devin

Posted by devin at October 2, 2004 01:40 PM

  

I hope you have fun in new york

Posted by kaden at October 3, 2004 03:49 PM

 

Squeaks, Power Plants and Reverends

Originally Posted October 2, 2004 by Mags

 The theme for the last couple of days has been bike squeaks, power plants and Reverends. Since we haven’t written in awhile and a lot went on I’ll provide a short synopsis in bulleted form.
Tuesday, September 28 Spent night in Weirton, West Virginia. Weirton is right on the Ohio River and the valley is filled with huge steel plant apparatus and cloud making stacks. While waiting outside the library a woman (Theresa) asks if we need a place to stay. We spend the night at Theresa’s house, a 100 year old building with a creaky wood staircase and heavy cherry wood doors. It’s a cool, old place and Theresa treats us great- she gives us a dinner of baked beans and franks, cole slaw and fresh tomatoes. The first real, good tasting food in days. We get to take a bath and hang out for the evening. It’s amazing that she’d offer her home and hospitality to us.


Theresa and Robert of Weirton, WV
Wednesday, September 29 Frustrating day due to the constant squeak and grating noise produced by the bike every time we pedal. Chad is going crazy with the noise. We pass through Shippingport, Pennsylvania which has 5 massive cement stacks gushing steam from the First Energy nuclear power plant.


First Energy Power Plant, one of the first nuclear plants in the world
Just outside Shippingport we stop at Charlie’s Kountry Convenience store and ask if there’s any bicycle shops around. Charlie’s wife, Billy, offers to drive us and the back wheel to a bike shop in Ambridge about 15 miles away to get the bearings repacked. Mechanics at bicycle shop puzzled by our problem but mess around a bit and tighten up the cassette. Billy takes us back to our bike near Shippingport when we discover we’ve left a crucial part at the mechanic’s. Billy then drives Chad the 15 miles to the bike shop again to pick up the part. By the time they return Billy’s spent the whole afternoon driving us around! How many people would do that for complete strangers?! Then since it’s too late to get on the road again she and Charlie let us stay in their barn and take a shower in their house. We LOVE showers. We set up our bed in the barn but then a spider the size of my palm heads for our sleeping bags and we pitch our tent outside.

Charlie and Billie in their store

Thursday, September 30 Squeak returns after 10 miles of riding and begins to drive us insane. We reach Clarion, PA where we spend the night camped out behind an Aldi grocery store and next to a cell phone tower. You really can camp just about anywhere if you’re not picky.
Friday, October 1 We wake to a very cold morning- damp, sunny and freezing. Ride into downtown Clarion where the Autumn Leaf Festival fills the entire Main Street. We stop for doughnuts and hot chocolate then Chad searches for a fuel canister for our stove. We have not been able to find one since Illinois. Chad meets Mark, reverend for the Zionlife Church in Clarion. Mark knows everyone and leads Chad on a wild ride through town trying to find the fuel. Several thousands of people are milling around looking at all the crafts and tons of people come up and talk to us. After more than 2 hours of looking around we give up and Reverend Mark and his friend Henry send us off with a prayer and a bag of organic dried fruit and carob balls.


Henry and Reverend Mark of the Zionlife Church

Towards evening we ride into Kane, PA where we find a chicken and biscuit dinner at the Methodist Episcopal church. The dinner’s not supposed to be all you can eat but the Reverend makes an exception for us and personally refills Chad’s plate at least 3 times. They bring us two huge servings of apple crisp with ice-cream and let us camp out behind the church.


Reverend Lake of the First United Methodist Church of Kane, PA

So there you have it- the going ons of the last couple of days. So far the eastern states have treated us very well. Our only problem is that our equipment is starting to break down i.e. the squeak of the bike, our Thermarest (sleeping pad) is growing a tumor and we can’t find stove fuel. But, you’ve got to expect that I guess after more than 4,000 miles. 

Posted by Mags at 09:53 AM | Comments (0)

Changing Perceptions

Originally Posted Sept. 27, 2004 by Chad

COSHOCTON, OHIO. We have never been to Ohio before, so when we rode into it on Friday we were eager to see how it was different from Indiana. Rather than seeing a difference, we smelled a difference. We were riding past pig farms, chicken farms, dairy farms, dead skunks and anything else that could produce a stench. Our first impression was, in a word, Ohio stinks! We were assaulted by a new noxious, insidious or foul smell every mile.

We were happy to finally reach the town of Coldwater so we decided to stop for dinner in the fresh air. There we met Liz Schriner, who’s husband, Joe, is running for president. You may have heard of him because he also ran in 2000, he’s the Average Joe that is taking "back roads to the white house." Joe came out and shook our hands, but was too busy schmoozing to chat with us. Liz asked us a bunch of questions about our trip, and took notes of our answers. She even took our photo, so I think we’re going to be in Joe’s next book about his 2004 campaign. You can read about his platform at his website: http://www.voteforjoe.com/

In Coldwater we also met a reporter for a small alternative newspaper. She interviewed us while we ate at the Chinese Buffet. When we told her we usually camp out she invited us to sleep at her house. In the morning she made us breakfast and gave us a map of Ohio (which we didn’t have because our original route didn’t take us through Ohio). Our perceptions of Ohio were changing.

Lisa and her sons, Ben and Aaron

On Sunday we went to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in the city of Delaware. We thought it would be a good place to sit and rest but we didn’t realize they do so much standing up and kneeling down during their service. I wonder what religion has the easiest service to sleep through.

East of Delaware we entered Ohio’s Amish country. Along a little country road I saw a vine of ripe tomatoes and had to stop. There was a table loaded with tomatoes on the front porch. As I approached a couple of dogs started making a ruckus so their owner had to come out to quiet them down. At first I though it was an old man with a shaggy beard and hat, but as he got closer I saw that it was a kid of about 16. I asked if the tomatoes were for sale and he told me that they didn’t sell them on Sundays.
“Mmm…that’s too bad” I said, feeling a little sheepish for asking without realizing I was at an Amish home. “Do you think I could just have some?” I finally asked.

“I guess I could just give you some,” he said with his slight German accent.

That broke the ice a bit and he started asking about our trip. He seemed impressed with the distance we had traveled but he was a still little reserved. I would have loved to talk with him more, because I know so little about his way of life but I just felt uncomfortable there in my skin-tight shorts and lycra shirt, with him in his heavy homemade pants and shirt that covered all the way to his ankles and wrists. I wonder what his perception of us was. He and I were obviously from different worlds. He helped me pick out four delicious tomatoes, I thanked him and we were on our way.

I guess Ohio doesn’t stink after all. Here in Coshocton we've met a few people that have convinced me that it definately doesn't, but for that story you will have to wait.

Posted by Chad at 12:15 PM | Comments (2)

Original Comments: Changing Perceptions 

Diploma arrived in mail today, guess that means your some of the best educated peddlers around. Seems you are moving accross the states fast now and will soon be there.

Posted by shirley at September 28, 2004 09:42 PM

 

That was a great newspaper article about your trip in the Coshocton news. The picture was good too, hope to be able to obtain a copy of the paper.

Posted by Shirley at October 1, 2004 08:12 PM

Where cool was born

 FAIRMOUNT, INDIANA. After crossing Illinois, which made Iowa look mountainous, we spent three days in Urbana. It was good to see our friends from high school and college and our bodies really needed the rest. When we left Urbana we followed county roads most of the way across Indiana. The roads we were on weren’t on the map so we only had a general idea where we were at any given time. It made it a little difficult planning breaks and restocking our supplies.
One of the towns we did happen to go through was Fairmount. When we stopped at the first stoplight we had seen in a hundred miles we heard oldies music and saw classic cars lining the streets. We stopped to look around and found that we were in the town that James Dean grew up in and that they have a festival for him every September. We ended up camping under the water tower and went to the car show the next morning.

The museum in town had a lot of Dean’s stuff, including the motorcycle he owned when he died. There was also a room dedicated to Garfield, because Jim Davis, his creator, was also from Fairmount. That’s how Garfield made it onto the water tower with Dean.


At the car show, called the Annual James Dean Run, there were lots of fifties-era Mercurys like Dean drove in Rebel Without a Cause. We decided to get our pictures taken in front of our favorite cars. Neither of us chose a Mercury, nor the replica of the Porsche Spyder that Dean was driving when he died.

Finally, on our way out of town we stopped at the cemetery where Dean is buried. It’s true, his marker is smeared with lipstick from loving fans. You can also see an unlit cigarette someone left for him.

Cow Psychology

Originally Posted Sept. 23, 2004 by Mags

Our main pleasure as we cross the dull, husked prairie (or, as one sign benevolently described it- “A Friendly Land of Infinite Variety”) is an investigation of America's most beloved and well-fed animal: the cow. Although range cows have been maligned by many as the laziest, fly-infested, chigger-ridden, land eroding, disgustingly bloated maggots ever to trample the earth, we intend to take a more objective approach in identifying their unique traits and psychology. Our field work into cow psychology is conducted in the plains and prairie states of the western and mid-western United States. A typical field experiment proceeds as follows:

Somewhere in the rolling hills of South Dakota, Nebraska or Iowa

We plow wind, our knee caps split with pain. Then they appear as we round a curve. Cows! Brown, black and white cows, all stationary with their heads bowed to the grass. Then the sentry cow lifts her head and looks at us. Her spoon shaped ears stick out on each side of the broad face, her two front legs are stanchioned beneath her torso. The torso stretches outwards and downwards within a huge ribcage. Soon the entire herd of 72 cows is staring at us. We are now 10 feet from the sentry cow separated only by a barbed wire fence. “GITONOUTTAHERE! MOVE IT MOVE IT! GIT-GIT!” The cows start and begin to stand. “GITONOUTTAHERE!” we yell again. We are jubilant. The sentry cow turns and trots up a hill behind the herd. Then all of them are running up the hill. Tremendous bellies of all colors swing from side to side. Cow flesh surges together in herd flight. At the crest of the hill they've all come together, they rub and brush each other as they run. 

Analysis of field experiment:
The first sign of the herd’s intelligence is the detection of the researchers before we speak. It is to their credit that the herd is able to distinguish us (brightly clad pirates on a long bike) from the 18-wheelers that rush past them everyday. The herd’s ability to identify something abnormal such as us suggests that the herd may still perceive danger although their capacity to avoid danger, say, in the shape of a grizzly bear has been greatly reduced by hundreds of years of human selection for massive torso size and small leg diameter. 

The next indication of the cow's intelligence is its ability to distinguish between different words. In early attempts to incite exercise among the herd we would yell the word "maa". In practice it sounds like a twisted, harsh version of "moo". A "maa" shouted in a shrill stacotto only ever illicited a glance from the herd but the phrase "GITONOUTTAHERE" caused a swift, organized stampede in 71% of the trials. 

In conclusion, we suggest that cows are not stupid, stinky beasts but are actually sensitive, community oriented hive organisms that respond well to repeated phrases and high decibel yelling.

Posted by Mags at 02:57 PM | Comments (1)

Original Comments:  Cow Psychology

Your cow story brought back memories of when I was dating Earl. He had spent the summer building a small boat and was eager to try it out on the Jordan River. As we floated down the river we saw a baby calf that had fallen into the water. The distressed mother cow was standing near the washed out bank bellowing for it to climb out. It was obvious there was no way it could get get up over that steep bank. I told Earl that if he could get the boat over to the bank and stable it there with the paddle that I could climb out and help the calf up. I had barely exited the boat when the whole herd that had been grazing not far away came stampeding right towards me. GETOUTOFHERE was exactly what was going through my mind as I almost tipped the boat over trying to get back in. Then I heard Earl say Stop!Look! I turned and watched as the bull or master of the herd came down and got in front of them and they all stood frozen in place. He certainly had control over them and it was obvious that he recognized I was going to help.I climbed out again and took hold of the front legs of the little one and helped it up over the edge. It immediatly ran over to its mother and began nursing and the others returned to their grazeing.

Posted by Shirley Harris at September 24, 2004 10:49 PM