No horror stories from this year’s ride, no rookie mistakes, resulting in road rash, no regrets. Well, mostly no regrets, except for not bringing a pillow for the dorm room on Allegheny College’s campus. Oddly, they don’t provide pillows. Oh, and I regret not get a photo of the 3 Mennonite girls.
There is a farm that we pass on the second day of the ride where, just before a bend in the road, you can see a ruined barn off to the right and the farm house on the left, then you come around the bend and BAM!, there they are.
The whole family is sitting on a long bench, under a tree, watching the riders pass by. They make an impression, because they are at a bend in the road, so you don’t know what’s coming, then, all of a sudden, there they are, just off to the right of the road, there they are, close, only fifteen or twenty feet away. They are dressed for Sunday, the women wearing dark, solid color dresses, aprons and white lace caps, the men wear black hats and pressed shirts. There are a bunch of them, maybe 7 or 10, it seems like. All ages. Little five-year-old boys, little girls, pre-teens, teenagers, Mother and Father. They just sit there, big as life, still as death, just watching. It’s a little intimidating, their sudden appearance and their stillness; not really creepy, but startling. Sometimes I wave, but the older ones don’t react. The younger ones will give a low-key wave and maybe a little smile, but that’s it.
A couple of years ago, two of my teammates, Anna and Anne Marie, were riding together there, no idea that they were there. Anna saw the ruined barn and the farm house and, as they approached the bend, she said to Anne Marie, much too loudly, “Holy shit, that looks like a haunted house!”. Then the whole family popped into view. She almost pooped a chalupa.
This year when I went by, it was raining and, having been past that farm 6 times before, I was ready. Actually, I didn’t expect to see anybody, with the rain and all. To my surprise, there were three teenaged girls sitting there under a big, black umbrella. I waved and so did they, so I asked “Are you keeping dry?” to which they answered, “Almost.” I’m really sorry that I didn’t stop and ask if I could take their picture. If I had, I would post it right here, but it was raining and I was on a mission to be done, so I missed a great opportunity.