Bike trip to DC, the first 26 hours

Peter, Kris and I (Jon) are relaxing now at the Outreach center of the United Methodist Church in Orbisonia. This is a town of 450 people and 7 churches, with some pretty, old homes and many houses in poor repair. Pastor Ed Seeley greeted us just as soon as we found the church and gave us a warm welcome, as well as a tour of the facilities. It’s so amazing to be met by strangers, taken in and be made to feel immediately a part of the family.

Altogether, our trip is going very well. We had a terrific send-off at St. Andrew’s in State College with more than two dozen friends and family members seeing us on our way. Barb Ballenger led us in song, Pastor Bonnie read the old Irish blessing, perfectly modified for cyclists, and Father Richard read from the Book of Common Prayer. See the festive send-off on YouTube here to get a sense of what we heard as we started our ride out of town.

Several State College bikers, including my son Noah, accompanied us five miles to Pine Grove Mills where Kris, Peter and I started up the mountain on our own. The climb is grueling, but then we had a smooth ride to McAlevy’s Fort where we felt profoundly embraced by the warmth of our friends Micah and Bethany at Ploughshare produce. We helped Micah put on row covers against the frost and had a truly lovely evening of music, stories and delicious food.

Saturday morning (I have to remind myself that it was just this morning – seems so long ago) was cold, and the day never really warmed up. I finished putting together our presentation for the talk at Juniata and we started out for the first leg of our trip only to discover that Peter’s tire was losing air – so back to Micah and Bethany’s for a quick repair. To be on time for our talk, we picked up the pace, covering the 16 miles in just over an hour – such beautiful country, but we were grateful that there was no wind or rain.

In Huntingdon, we met up with Sharon Yohns, professor of chemistry and co-leader of the sustainability circle at Stone Church of the Brethren. At 10:30 we had a great conversation with members of the campus community about PA IPL and the ethics of climate change. Then we walked together to Stone Church of the Brethren for lunch with Sharon, her family and the pastoral staff. It seems there are great possibilities for a fruitful collaboration between PA IPL and a couple of Huntingdon churches.

After lunch, the weather seemed even grayer and colder – we stopped for a few groceries and then went to Standing Stone Coffee to get something warm and comforting. Kris and I were surprised to run into colleagues of ours (Kate Baldanza and Christopher Moore) from Penn State – it seems far too great a distance for a casual outing! Thus fortified, we pressed on to Orbisonia. It was a good ride, though a light rain began to fall toward the end.

We feel that we’ve already accomplished a lot and we are grateful for your many thoughts and prayers. (We are also grateful for ice cream!). Tomorrow should be a stunning ride – the forecast is for sunny skies and 60 degrees – as we go through both Shade Gap and Cowan’s Gap and on to Waynesboro!

Peter, Kris and Jon