I washed the caked dirt off the bike last night (in the hotel parking lot). I woke up early to lubricate the chain and cables.

I found a broken connection on one of my panniers (saddle bags). I tried to rethread the plastic nut using a spare bolt but my fingers began cramping from the detailed nature of my effort.  So I MacGyver’d it using a couple of zip ties. Without this critical repair, the bag could have fallen off the mount.

As an aside, I experience finger and toe cramps pretty frequently when bicycle touring, especially when I subject these digits to unexpected moves. They’re used to simply going along for the ride.

Weather is clear today but winds from the North are fairly strong. When I started my ride, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  I reveled in the sunshine!

I rode through some quaint Pennsylvania towns like Columbia and Lancaster.

I crossed the Susquehanna River into Columbia.   I was struck by the massive width of the river.  It supplies fifty percent of the fresh water in the Chesapeake Bay, and is the longest commercially non-navigable river in North America.

In Columbia during a water stop, I was engaged in conversation by 86-year old Bob Snyder, a retired businessman.  I could see the sparkle in his eye as he talked about his town. He was fascinated by my adventure. He guessed my age to be in the 40’s.  Thanks, Bob!

Lancaster had a more modern vibe, and lots of hills.

The second half of my ride was through farmlands and Amish Country. Lots of horses, cows, and chicken farms (which I could spell from a great distance away).

I observed several Amish horse drawn buggies, but followed the custom of not taking pictures without permission. One buggy driver actually waved to me.  I did snap this picture:

For twenty miles or so, I had to beware of horse droppings.

I also came across this covered bridge:

As expected, the winds picked up as the day wore on.  Clouds populated the sky.  And hills populated the entire route, but my legs didn’t seem to mind as much today.  All in all, it was a pretty enjoyable day.

Tally for the day: 63 miles; 2,900 feet of climbing