Day 5: Lewisburg to Hazelton- DJ country

Day 5, wow this week is going fast. We were at two hotels this morning and lucky for us we convinced DJ, who was staying at the other hotel,  to bring our "chits" over since our place is more on the way). DJ clearly had his chit together this morning as he brought our chits over on time. (Chits are with the riders during the ride and get put back on the "chit board" so our Anchor House friends know who's out on the road and who's in).

Chits Ahoy

Joe Drulis not minding his own chit
We left charming Lewisburg (really like this town) and headed out through rural terrain and nice roads. Once again the rain gods were on our side as severe thunderstorms were predicted late in the day but cloud cover kept us cool once again. Super humid but not super hot.

We have been seeing our share of covered bridges in PA. They seem like relics of a lost time and I'm always excited to come upon one.


Other scenes from the day as we cycled through small towns, including the charming town of Bloomsburg where everyone seemed to be smiling. We even got high fives as we rolled past one local man. Must be something in the Susquehanna River water. We crossed the Susquehanna today- always a sign that we're getting closer to home.



My friend Joanie was cycling with long time Anchor House riders Kate and Kathy. Kate and Kathy are taking a break from their 6 month hike of the entire Appalachian Trail to do the Anchor House. Crazy kids, huh?

Joanie (right) and AT hikers Kate and Kathy
Today was a 65 mile day, with a thousand feet more of climbing than yesterday (3500 in all). We had some steep climbs today for sure, good training for tomorrow's hillier course.

Gabe pulled ahead of Jack in the flat tire competition, as Gabe got his third today (Jack had his second yesterday). The rest of us are happy to not be participating in this competition!

Gabe fixing yet another flat while Jim Brady gets the assist
The main story line today is that we are in DJ and Chrissie's home territory in and around Hazelton. Chrissie is from Bloomburg and she definitely had an extra spark in her step today as she cycled on familiar roads. DJ was born and raised in Hazelton and many of his siblings live in the area. After a long climb, we biked right past Chrissie's house, where she lives with her Mom, Elizabeth, DJ's sister. We of course stopped by as we were greeted with cookies, gatorade and lots of Chrissie's and DJ's nieces and nephews. A family SAG!  Loved the signs!

DJ, Chrissie and family!

Chrissie and her Mom Elizabeth and a niece and nephew

After "SAG 4", we road the remaining 15 miles up to our hotel in Hazelton at the "Top of the 80's". Most of those 15 miles were uphill, and we hit those last hills pretty hard to "get 'er done". It was good we did that, as it just started to rain as we got in and has been pouring every since.

Tonight I get the honor of having dinner out with DJ's and Chrissie's family at a local Perkins and then desert at DJ's sister Julia's house. They all know me as the guy who is writing the bike blog. I am locally famous as DJ Varner's official biographer! It's been great riding with two members of the Varner family. Chrissie is one more example of a great person from this awesome family.

Personal note- I have now passed $7200 in fundraising for the Anchor House kids. Thanks to all my donors! My sore legs are earning their keep! Need to rest those sore legs since it's onto Bethlehem tomorrow, our second longest day and climb-heavy.  Oh, by the way, my broken bike frame story appeared in a Planet Princeton article the other day. That's all from Hazelton!

Written by one of the Anchor House kids




Comments

  1. Keith "Nurse Keith" Carlson, RN, BSN, NC-BCJuly 13, 2017 at 9:27 PM

    I hear there's Prozac in the Susquehanna River, so that would explain all the smiles!

    ReplyDelete

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