"Only 278 miles"...Bike2Build Day 4

Day 4 - Monday, September 12th- Shamokin Dam to Lockhaven [60-mi, 5:41, 3353-ft]

My front tire was flat before I got out of the motel parking lot! UGH :/

I carry two spare tubes and it didn’t take long before I was rolling again. The little hills between Shamokin Dam and Mifflinburg were a little hard for me requiring standing in the pedals in the lowest gear. I was able to meet my grandson, Jay, in Mifflinburg for an early lunch. We talked about track and field, his daughter Ashley who is on the track team at IUP, and my adventure. There’s a nice bike shop, Brookside Bikes, in town and I went there to buy another tube and have them up the pressure in my front tire. Then I proceeded across the valley to PA192.

There’s a long gentle climb on this road that requires a bit of work before making a turn to cross the ridge to Loganton. It was raining and I decided to change plans because I just didn’t like the idea of doing that hard climb. So, I continued ahead on PA192 to Center Hall (I called Cathy to meet me there instead of Lockhaven) and it turned into a pretty nice day. The ice cream shop, which had motivated me for 20 miles was closed for the season. When Cathy arrived, we sat on the bench and discussed my knee issue which I’d been conscious of the whole day. It was now inflamed behind the knee – a symptom of a blood clot. We decided to go to Mt Nittany Med Center’s emergency room for evaluation. It was not a blood clot, rather a condition called Rhabdomyolysis which releases a dangerous protein into the blood as muscle tissue dies and decays. The protein is not absorbed and can damage the kidneys. In my case this was caused by over exercise – who knew there was such a thing? The physician prescribed a week of rest and drinking 3 quarts of water daily. So, my ride had to end here after only a total of 278-mi in 4 days.