Gift Cycle /// blog

DAY 17

Ohio is really treating us right. We arrived in Columbus on Friday and had a great event at Mahan Gallery with Colleen. Thanks Colleen! We miss you already. She and Josh threw a spontaneous little dance party in the gallery after the event was over and then took us out for drinks. We loved Columbus.

The next day we departed and left our friend Harrison, who had been traveling with us for a few days. Goodbye, Hawwison! Thank you fow being with us! We weally wiked having you!

Yesterday, we biked into some really serious winds in the morning. Prevailing winds are no joke. It just blows over the fields and you just bike as hard as you can into it... really slow. Trees and corn were blowing at 45-degree angles as we rode by. Birds trying to fly in our direction were tossed all over that sky. What I'm trying to say is, it was mad windy.

Today we rode into Cincinnati and had a little gathering. We are staying here tonight and have two new friends biking us out of town tomorrow! It'll be nice to see some new faces along the trail. Some new scenery, if you will.

xoxoxo
m + s

Suburban Camping

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Originally uploaded by melissaberyl

...like we do

Country Line Dancing

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Originally uploaded by melissaberyl

Sarah is a natural.
Lancaster, PA

Our Brooklyn Friends

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Originally uploaded by melissaberyl

They biked to our event!

DAY 14 /// TWO WEEKS /// COLUMBUS /// CHEATERS

Well hello!
We just emerged from the woods and are happily enjoying internet and showers in Columbus Ohio. The past week has been mostly good, very dirty. There has been lots of bike-riding and lots of camping. We have lots of B.O. We are on new bikes (uprights, heck yes!) and are making much better time.

DAY 9
After a 5:30 am breakfast spread, we were escorted out of town by Neal and Tammy and the Landis's all on bikes. On day 9 we started calling this trip the Get Cycle because of the immense generosity bestowed upon us again and again by complete strangers. We passed through East Berlin and (being Sunday) the whole town was closed down. We were nearing the end of our water supply and starting to worry, when an adorable and nice couple, Jan & Daniel, were sitting on their porch and hollered to us "You look thirsty!" and invited us into their backyard for what turned into a two-hour snacking session and impromptu art exchange. It was so sweet! Their yard was so beautiful. Full of happy cats and chickens and a treehouse. We didn't want to leave! We rode through Pennsylvania until dark and slept in a lovely yard (because again were not to our campsite by dark, this time because of the visit as opposed to our slowness.) Thank you Cindy and Chuck!

DAY 10
We rode our bikes a lot. We started out five miles from the Appalachian mountains and walked up a lot of hills that morning. Lucky for us, Pennsylvania at least has beauty going for it. Around noon we stopped in a bike store because we got a little turned around on our route, and it was suggested to us that we take a southern detour to bike along the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, and we did. It was so pretty. FLAT AS A PANCAKE!!! We biked into Maryland (over the Mason Dixon line) and made it to a nice campsite by dark (yessssssssssss!)

DAY 11
We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. The C & O was beautiful and shady, but a gravely surface. It really slowed us down. We made it to a YMCA where we showered and camped.

DAY 12
We rode our bikes. We rode our bikes. Oh, and we rode our bikes. There was also some bike riding and a little bit of panicking, induced probably because of all the bike riding. We realized we were not going to make it to Columbus on time because of the detour we took. We biked so many miles a day, but it was all wiggly, so 75 miles on the trail didn't actually get us 75 miles west. Bummer. We camped in Ohiopyle. (Pronounced Ohio-Pile. Like a whole pile of Ohio.) So so so so so beautiful there. Who wants to go back and take advantage of the natural waterslides!?

DAY 13
We biked the Allegheny Passage to Pittsburgh. SLEPT IN A BED! DID LAUNDRY!

DAY 14
Cheaters. We took a bus to Columbus. Our event is this evening at Mahan Gallery. Sitting feels good, the kind where you sit and don't pedal but still move forward.

We miss all our friends and family!
We love you!

xoxoxo
m + s

DAY 8: REST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're in BEAUTIFUL Lancaster Pennsylvania, Amish town! There are horse-drawn-buggies all over these beautiful rolling country roads. Farms everywhere. Interesting fact: Floyd Landis is from this town. (Slept in a signed Floyd Landis t-shirt last night thank you!!!!) Also, they make their own potato chips & pretzels here. Best we've ever had. Here's a recap of the last couple days:

DAY 5: We left New York after sleeping in a little (7:30!) and took the ferry into Staten Island. Biked along the coast and then were delayed by an impressive lightning storm in Edison NJ, where we got a motel room. AND ENJOYED THE CABLE.

DAY 6: We biked the rest of the width of New Jersey, which was a treasure! New Jersey, we're sorry we ever said anything bad about you! It was all shady, tree covered roads with wide shoulders. We crossed over into Pennsylvania at Washington's Crossing and saw some turtles napping. Day 6 was kind of rough becuase we were behind schedule and Pennsylvania is HILLY. Our lady legs are TIRED. We biked for 14 hours trying to make it to a state park to sleep in, but at 8:30pm the sun was setting fast and we pulled over and knocked on a suburban home to request their yard as a place to set up camp. Judy obliged.

DAY 7: Waking up out of a tent is a lot harder than waking up out of a bed. Our sleeping bags are gross. We got these bags made for sleeping in arctic temperatures (wouldn't want to be cold, no!!!) and we were both slipping all around in them covered in filthy sweat. We packed up and made it into town so we could splash some water on our disgusting faces in a bathroom and then headed to Lancaster. When we got here, Neal and Tammy pointed out every food they had in their home and we sampled all of them! We showered and laundered and Tammy took us out country line dancing. We LOVE Tammy and Neal.

DAY 8: We just woke up to the smell of local eggs cooking. Tammy has invented a new sport, which is feeding us and she's giving it all she's got. Today we will have our event in town at Central Market and NOT go on a bike ride! Today is wonderful.

xoxo m + s

DAY 4

We crossed into New York state around 9am, and arrived in Brooklyn at 3:30.
Lots of hills, lots of red lights.
Looking forward to the countryside.

xoxo
m + s

(p is now back in Providence...thanks for riding with us, p! We love you and miss you.)

DAY 3

Today we arrived in Norwalk, CT. It was a short day, but was also short on scenery. However, no flat tires!!!
We are staying with our friends Nichole + Tim. Nichole and Tim have a beauuuutiful place (on top of the largest hill we have encountered yet! Walked it.) Their fridge is full of beer and their couches are full of naps. MMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm naps. HELL yes.

Our butt-cheeks are sore, but we're happy.

xoxo
m + s + p

Oh, and we're going to pick up a camera cord soon and hopefully upload some pictures we've been taking!

DAY 2

Things we've gotten out of the way:

-our first flat tire
-our first diarrhea in the woods
-our first rainstorm to bike through
-our second rainstorm to bike through
-our second flat tire
-our third flat tire

LOADS OF SUCCESS!
Today we made it to New Haven and are staying with our lovely friends, John & Jemma.

Oh, and we saw a wild turkey this afternoon!

xoxo
s + m + p

DAY ONE: DONE.

Did it. New London. Done.

Goodnight.

xoxo

m + s + p