Punxsutawney, PA

Early on July 13, 2006

We have been visiting and training in our home town of Punxsutawney, PA, for the past 10 days. Both of our mothers live here along with about 90 other relatives in this home of the Groundhog population 5000. In 1963 Millie and I were king and queen of the Groundhog Celebration. But now we live in Pensacola, FL, where our town and home were devastated by Hurricane Ivan 2 years ago. Millie and I are still living in the kids bed room as the rest of the house looks like a warehouse. Now last week someone put an explosive in a Pensacola neighbor’s mailbox and today we heard on national news that the Punxsutawney Groundhog Zoo was listed along with 27,000 other places as a potential terrorist target.

Now back to the training. I rode southwest out of town on the Mahoning Shadow Rails to Trails about 15 miles to Fordham. The trail is beautifully done at the cost of several millions of dollars. Along the way I saw about five other bikers, some coke ovens, old abandoned coal mines, the Mahoning Creek (a major contributor to the Allegheny River and then the Ohio River), and one deer. The bike rides very well, for a bike. Today I will ride the trail to the east out of town to a place called Devil’s Elbow. I remember it as a youth when Millie and I went out there to get wild flowers for our senior science project. The elbow is a very major switchback in the county road that crosses the tracks there. The ride is up hill all the way for 11 miles and then coast all the way back, THEY say! We’ll see if they are right.

The bike is a new Bianchi Strada purchased at Truly Spokin in Milton, Florida for $800. It’s a fine piece of machinery for that low price. To those who don’t bike, I could have easily spent $2500 for a bike. I’ve known Victor the store owner for 20 years and he is an expert who would never steer anyone wrong. I used to ride a bike a little in my running days--enough so I wouldn’t fall off during a triathlon. In those days I would have rather run the extra 56 miles as opposed to riding the darn bike. But this bike is a better fit for me now. By the way, I still have the old one and it’s for sale. It’s about a 1985 model Centurion Pro Tour 15 with a 22 inch frame and 27 inch tires. (That means it fits about a 5’ 7” to 6’ person.) It has 15 speeds, weighs about 20 pounds, and is in perfect condition with near new tires. It preceded index shifting. The bike was purchased back then in hopes of riding across America as I knew I could never run the route (my first choice), but it never made it out of Pensacola and rarely out of my garage. That one cost about $600 in its day. I want $175 for it.

We carbo loaded last night at the Anchor Inn, a famous restaurant in town where we formerly held the pre race dinner for our Groundhog Fall 50 mile run that Millie and I directed for 10 years. Anyone remember that adventure!

I'll report about today's ride later.