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Rescued
Brookville, Fern, and Clarion, PA

Day 9 - Tuesday - June 11, 2002

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In Brookville I stop at Fred's Bike Shop operated out of garage. John fixes my rear derailleur and trues my rear wheel for free. We talk about my route and he recommends I stay on 36 north. He tells me about two men who came through here last year on road bikes and were cycle-touring like I am except all they had was a saddle bag and credit card. They mumbled something about midlife crisis and wives leaving them before they were off again.

Along a deserted stretch of 36, a length dominated by logging trucks and dump trucks, a spoke breaks. There is nothing I can do but go on. And then another spoke breaks. I finally come to a crossroads in Leper where there is gas-mart. I use their phonebook and locate a bike shop in Clarion. The lady, Diane (maybe she can see total demoralization in my eyes), offers to give me a ride into town. I am astounded and accept. We go into Clarion where one of her children went to school at the university to become a teacher. She tells me about her family, Doreena who makes straight A's and plays on the town softball team and hopes to get a scholarship for college, and her son who has just graduated high school and is getting ready to join the Army Reserves.


Tim and Justin at the High Gear
bike shop in Clarion, PA
At High Gear in Clarion I meet Tim and Justin who rebuild my wheel. At this point in my journey it seems like I am touring the hills of Pennsylvania, bike shop by bike shop. I am frustrated, yet the people I meet keep me going. Something wonderful happens each day that rejuvenates my spirit just enough to keep going. Without these people I would not be able to continue, or worse, I would continue but with a bitterness which would threaten to fester. Now, I know this is not a voyage of self-discovery--this is not some grand introspective Thoreavian quest.

Tim is "the Everything Man" and Justin works part-time at the shop and goes to Pittsburgh University. Tim tells me about his travels in Oregon and about the poor riding conditions for cyclists in western Pennsylvania. I have to agree. Pennsylvania is not meant to be cycle-toured.


Diane and Dave Kurtzhals of Fern, PA
I ride to Fern, PA where Diane has invited me to meet her family, have dinner, and sleep over. We have iced tea and chicken stir-fry. Her husband Dave is a mechanical engineer who designs coal mining equipment. I see his company brochure advertising a yellow vehicle that looks like it could belong in a Sci-Fi movie, something that could delve into the center of the earth. "But its very slow," he says, perhaps seeing that I need some grounding in reality, "You can walk faster than it moves." We all lounge on the front porch talking about school and current events as the night falls and the yellow moonflowers blossom.

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