Cycling The Globe

Distance: 132.1 km
Ride time: 7:07:33
Average: 18.5 km/h
Max speed: 53.6 km/h
Total: 40446 km

It had been a great stay with Kamal and friends in his nice house in Sparks. Apart from radio Kamal is also interested in drones. As I was about to leave in the morning, Kamal shot this video – beautiful green countryside out here!

Things were hilly right from the beginning of the day – and by the end I had climbed a very solid 1560 m. That’s the same as some of the big climbing days in the Andes mountains. Today the climbs were not long, but they were steep and it was up and down the whole day.

Kamal had mentioned that I would be cycling through Amish country. Even though I knew I would be in the area, I was still very surprised when I saw the first farmers working their horses in the fields. It was like being in a museum, but then again, this was real farms, real life, and certainly not a museum.

I’m not sure if I stared more at the Amish people ride their horse carriages, or if they stared more at me riding my bicycle. I guess we are both using a somewhat unusual mode of transportation. I was following a family riding their carriage between the villages, and interestingly enough I realized that we were travelling at the same speed. The horse would outrun me on the uphills, but I would be cycling faster on the downhills; I ended up riding with the Amish family for half an hour 🙂

Then the Amish farm and villages slowly disappeared, and everything looked more normal again. What a nice bonus to have experienced this interesting part of the US.

In West Chester I was going to meet Mike KF3CD, a long time follower of the trip. I have been in contact with Mike for a couple of months, and now I had finally made it to his house – a moment I had been looking forward to. I was welcomed into the family with open arms, and a healthy pasta dinner. I was tired after the long and hilly day on the bike, but when Mike told that there was a local bike racing going on, I was of course eager to go.

West Chester is a charming old town with a lot of history. It seemed like everybody was out in the streets watching the bike race or just hanging around, enjoying the nice summer evening. After watching the bike race we went into a bar and met several of Mike friends. What a perfect way to end a busy day on the bike.

Thanks for the great welcome Mike!