Day 5: 60 Miles

East Stroudsburg, PA to Hazleton, PA

Today started off much like the previous days. I quickly packed up my things, headed to the motel lobby for some breakfast and got out on my bike as quickly as possible. I knew the day was going to start and end with some climbing, so I wanted to make sure I gave myself enough time to complete the 60 miles I had planned today.

The route started by going through East Stroudsburg and Stroudsburg. After 5 miles getting through those 2 towns I reached a very scenic 10-mile stretch with a stream to my right and mountain views to my left.

I reached the 15-mile mark by 10:30am and although I wasn’t that hungry, I decided to stop at a Wawa to grab some food to last me the rest of the day. I packed a sandwich into my bag for lunch and had a banana and Gatorade before I left. While I was eating, a guy exiting the store struck up a conversation with me. He was one of those guys that is probably 55 years old, but 40 years of heavy smoking made him appear to be 70. He told me in the 70s he bought a bus ticket from Pennsylvania to California just so he could have an adventure and hitchhike home. He wished me well and I then I was off again.

Miles 15 to 22 were relatively flat, but I was riding into a strong and cold headwind. I can’t believe the temperature has been in the low 50s everyday thus far. At least today was rain free. The riding became harder again as I entered the Beltzville State Park area. There were a few houses along the road and it seemed like a pretty quiet area until I heard a couple dogs barking. I looked behind and found 2 Pit Bulls had started to chase me. At this point I was going up a pretty steep hill and the dogs caught up quickly. I’ve read about dogs chasing cyclists in rural areas, but I had never dealt with them first hand. With a dog on either side of me, I unclipped one of my shoes and kicked the dog on my left. While I did that the dog on my right grabbed a piece of my right calf with his mouth. Luckily there was a small grass embankment on my right. I rode up the embankment and put my bike between me and the dogs. They didn’t want to leave me alone and having already been bitten once, I had to quickly formulate a plan. I grabbed my water bottle and squirted one of the dogs in the face. They immediately ran away like a couple of bitches. I took a quick look at my leg and it didn’t seem too bad so I continued.

Not more than 2 miles later, I went to put my sunglasses on and found that they were no longer in my pocket. They must have fallen out during the battle with the dogs. Having just made it up a pretty big hill and knowing there were vicious dogs behind me, I decided to let it go. I had a cheap backup pair of sunglasses that I guess I’ll be using for the rest of the trip.

By mile 40 I had made it out of the state park and into the small town of Jim Thorpe. Seeing that it was still before 2:00pm and with just 20 miles to go I figured I would be at my stopping point in Hazelton at a reasonable time. After passing the bridge in Jim Thorpe the climbing started. While I knew I’d be climbing some more, I don’t think I was prepared for the 2 huge hills ahead. The last 20 miles took almost 3 hours and involved a lot of walking. The climb was too steep for me to pedal up.

I reached the motel around 5:00pm and was ready for a shower and some food. I had forgotten about the dog bite, but when I took of my compression tights it became evident that the dog had done more damage than I had realized. The tights had stopped the puncture from bleeding too much, and as soon as they were off it began to bleed again. I’ll have to monitor it for the next few days and make sure it stays clean.

Tomorrow I’m off to Bucknell. I’ll be riding on an official PA state bike route, so I’m hoping the terrain is more suited to cycling than what I did today.