Leaving Bill’s hometown of Chester Springs, Bill and I started our 6-day bike across Pennsylvania to reach Pittsburgh. The first two days we crossed scenic farmland (check out Bill passing an Amish horse drawn carriage on the right) before butting into the Appalachian Mountains.

We were warned by another cyclist that the Appalachians would ‘break your heart’ because of their steep grades. And yes, the hills were steep — on the right Bill is pushing his bike up a 17% grade. Over the six days crossing Pennsylvania, we stayed at two cheap hotels, camped in one backyard, camped at one campground, and stayed on the floor of two people’s houses (thanks to both Bill and Rob). We also had a story and photo in the Daily American of Somerset County. When we arrived in Confluence, PA two people eating ice cream at a roadside stand asked if we were the cyclists riding to talk about global warming.

My favorite part about bicycle touring is that it is easy to meet people along the roadsides (the conversations usually start by someone staring at our loaded touring bikes and asking us what the hell we are doing). If we tell people we are riding to riding to “promote action on global warming” we often receive strange looks and few questions — especially in the countryside. One man who said he did not believe in global warming (more accurately, said he thought it was ‘horse crap’) suggested we begin by talking more about energy efficiency. Taking his advice, Bill and I have started to say we are riding to “promote energy efficiency and other solutions to global warming,” which has then led to conversations over energy efficiency, even with people who may not agree about global warming.

Nearly everyone we talk to agrees that Pennsylvania is warmer than it once was, but only a few make the direct connection to burning fossil fuels such as oil and coal. I talked to Dwane and Bonnie, who we passed on a bike trail (photo right). Dwane is a beekeeper (has 800 hives), and told me that the winters have been getting much warmer. “Most people think that warmer winter would be good for the bees, but it isn’t.” Dwane told me. “They don’t hibernate if it is too warm, so they need more food to survive, yet there isn’t enough food for them in the winter — it’s a big problem.” Dwane thought that it was getting warmer because of “all the chemicals we are putting into the atmosphere,” but also, surprisingly, argued that global warming is “Just a theory – you can’t prove it.”

The end of our trip to Pittsburgh followed a bike trail along Youghiogheny River. The last night we shared a campground along the river with a group of boy scouts on a canoe trip, and, using my laptop, we gave a short presentation. The following morning, Tim Kelly, a cyclist who helped to coordinate all of our Pittsburgh events, met us and led us into the city, where we will be staying and giving talks for the next few days.

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