Day 4: July 13th, Binghamton, NY to Clarks Summit, PA

Hills, hills, hills. Luckily, I love hills. I actually prefer to ride a rolling terrain than all flats. We saw on our cue sheet that SAG 1 was at mile 16 (usually it is at least 20 miles in) and knew that wasn't a good sign- those first 16 miles must be worthy of some relief. And boy were we right. Right from the start of the ride, we were climbing. Our first ten miles were total hills. Sweat was pouring from our helmets even though it was 7am and the weather was overcast. At mile 6, the hill was so steep you could see the curve all the way up to the bright blue clouds ahead. By SAG 1, we had climbed a significant amount and were ready to rehydrate. Between SAG 1 and 2, we immediately started climbing again. Our cue sheet even said "begin climbing 5 mile hill." Luckily, the hill was a rolling terrain. The first excitement of the day happened during this 5 mile climb - we spotted a bear and her cubs! I pulled over to take a picture of a pretty lake and in front of me a rider informed me that he spotted a bear. We let the bear cross the street and then continued on (although a little hesitantly). SAG 2 was a BLAST! It was the most fun SAG so far. People were in a good mood and psyched about the pretty route and conquering the hills. At SAG 2, they had gator pong which was a spin off of beer pong but with gatorade. They also blasted music and we did the Macerana on stage - even Bernie!!! It was a sight and the talk to the day. We also got our hair sprayed blue because it is the Anchor House color. All around the enthausism was high and the day was very difficult but beautiful. SAG 2 to SAG 3 was 20 miles straight on one road. It was somewhat of a boring stretch after such a happening SAG. SAG 3 had a beautiful view of a cow farm with a BBQ stand. This provided us with plenty of shade to get ready for the hardest part of the day. From SAG 3 into Clarks Summit was UPHILL. As you can imagine, we were going to a town with the name Summit in its name so there was no way around the hills. We rode through Keystone College which was a nice stretch, but it was one hill after the next. Even the last 2 miles of the ride through a country club was a muscle burner - your legs are shaking and the pull is so intense to get up the hill. In fact, one rider came halfway down a horrendous hill to warn other riders about loose dogs at the crest of the hill. The riders commented that by the time they passed the dogs, they were going so slow because of the hill that the dogs were just standing there wagging their tales, bored. It wouldn't have been a fun chase :) Today was hump day - we are officially over halfway done the 500 miles which is promising. Today was considered the hardest day of the ride, but I especially enjoyed it because I love the challenge of the hills mixed in with the beautiful scenery of the states of New York and Pennsylvania as well as the enthusiasm among everyone that were breached the halfway barrier.