BARB

Barb was a viola teacher and a fellow bicycle tourist - I found her on warmshowers.org, which is kind of like a CouchSurfing site for bike people. She fed me steak and pancakes and ice cream, and for the first time in my trip I could finally vent to somebody who truly understood what I was doing. Nasty drivers, lousy shoulders, gnarly hills, achey knees - she had seen them all herself on her trans-America tour, and her knowing nods were worth even more to me than the tons of food she gave. Her home in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania was modest and warm, and all the cozier because of Barb’s maternal care. I slept like a baby and woke up refreshed, ready to ride on.