Ohio-West Virginia-Pennsylvania-Maryland

The title of this post may sound like an excerpt from Howard Dean's famous election trail rant, but it is in fact an account of one day's riding ... Seems like the boys are beginning to believe their own hype & doing some showboating as they cruise towards the Triple Crown Alehouse (See use of word 'Monumental' in Chris' note today..).

CT's blackberry is back in action ... The first bit covers Monday & may be old ground for those of you who are regular visitors..

" Hi DC,

A mixed day for us yesterday. We got an early dawn start and it was bitterly cold for the first hour or so. After it warmed up the riding conditions couldn't have been better - sunny and clear blue skies with no wind. We had a route problem however in that our road (Route 40) literally disappeared and turned into an Interstate Freeway for about 10 miles that we can't go on.

So we had to find an alternative road which wasn't very direct and we had to ride up a dirt track for a few miles (this is rural Ohio). Awful for cycling and I picked up a puncture and a slight buckle to my back wheel, which is rideable for now. Nowhere near as serious as the buckle that put Bugsys bike out of action in Utah.

So anyway, all of that slowed our progress. We did 90 miles and stopped just east of Wheeling in West Virginia. Great to see some communication from Southport, Lancashire. Thanks to Derek Macklam for trying to introduce my parents, Jim & Alice, to the technological 21st century. They're not too familiar with t'internet (as one says int' north of England) or blogging, as borne out by Mum saying "why does your sister tell us to look in the bog?".

Special mention to all the other good folks in Churchtown Southport who may be reading, inc the St Cuthberts crew, the Hopwoods, the Kirks et al. Bugola's mum, Gaynor, and my mum Alice are both exceptional singers and special hello's go out to all in their respective choirs: the impressive Morriston Tabernacle Choir in Swansea and the sensational Southport Bach Choir http://www.southportbachchoir.org.uk/ in Southport.

(Surely a "Sing Off" can be arranged?- Ed)

Tuesday evening: Monumental day today. We've just checked in at the Casselman Inn in Grantsville, Maryland after a very hard, and cold, 105 miles in the Appalachian Mountains. Dave - did I mention before how tough the Appalachians are? (Answer; YES) There's a lot of talk about Halloween this week but if you want something really scary try riding some of these Appalachian hills (Per my previous comment, you've told us that already). Long, steep climbs, and harder than those we had in the Rockies (Hello? Are you listening?). We were going up Jimmy and down Jim all day (poor gag for UK readers). Possibly the hardest day's riding of the trip so far. Some beautiful scenery though and tremendous autumn colours.

Hoping to get close to Baltimore tomorrow. We started in West Virginia this morning, moved into Pennsylvania and then sneaked into Maryland this evening.

Lucy: Christmas gift ideas for Buggy, number 1: A map folding course."

It makes you wonder what all the fuss was with Edmund Hilary/Chris Bonnington/Into Thin Air etc. when we have the Appalachians so close. I'm looking forward to the movie version of this trip as Chris & Paul (played by Eddie Large & Max Boyce) ascend the monumental Appalachians in biting cold with only a thin layer of spandex between themselves & an almost certain hypothermic demise brought on by sheer exhaustion & altitude sickness.

Thanks to Jurg & Adele (See earlier post from Nevada) who supplied some new photos, including this action shot to the left and the one which has replaced the long time blog header at the top of this page and ... A controversial change of branding which I hope does not drive traffic away from the site. Jurg & Adele are now back to their Safe European Home - it just shows you that doing this on a Harley is the easier (& arguably smarter) play. They didn't send a photo of themselves, but this is how I imagine them to look;