Day 2 - Serendipity and first Amish encounter

It was a cold night and I did not get a very good rest. Accuweather indicates 1 Celsius  at 6 AM as with freezing hands I pack my tent quickly and start pedalling to breakfast dressed up with almost all my clothes: rainpants, thermal shirt, fleece, rain jacket, gloves, headband, shoe covers (been sleeping with all these on too)

At a McDonalds I refresh myself, write a blog post for the day before and arranged my stuff packed in a hurry so I don't get spotted.

In Conshocken I take a bike path along the Shuylkill River, which stretches out of town ondulating with the hills. Grass is cut everywhere, it's neat, looks like a golf course.

Only two small problems bother me on this sunny day (actually three if I count the headwind) as I enter Amish country.
First, the chain which jumps from one sprocket to another or even falls of on several occasions. I check it but cannot figure out what's wrong. Only a few gears work fine and I decide to stick with these until I find a bike shop.
Second, my solar charger falls off my handlebars on a bumpy descent. I gather its pieces and manage to put it back. Still charges the phone but some leds are broken.

I enter soon a very hilly forest area. There are still houses but more isolated. These finally look like homes where people live in, with stuff in their yards, all kind of contraptions, signs, bells, flags, rocking chair on the porch, small flower gardens, as opposed to the New Jersey where most of the houses seemed to be for vacation, fancy but empty.

All people I make contact with at grocery store, pharmacy, gas station, are curious where I come from and look amazed, then worried ("but where are you going to sleep?") and encourage me once I tell them.

I climb hills using one of my middle rear cogs, otherwise chain falls off. So I have to get up the saddle all the time and push hard on the pedals.
I guess this is why at some point on such a hill my chain breaks. It takes a while to remove the broken link and then to put the pin back on because I accidentally take it out completely and you're not supposed to do that. Somehow I manage to put it back on in like 20 tries, really testing my patience.
Happy I managed to fix it I see a lady moving around a nearby house and ask her if I could wash my hands all black with chain oil. She kindly takes me into her house where we have a conversation while I use a degreaser to wash my hands. As I leave, Rachel writes me a note with a number to call her and her husband Ed if I get into trouble finding a place to sleep.
So a broken chain actually turned out to be a good occasion to meet a nice person. Thanks Rachel!

The day gets even better when I notice that after I removed the broken link the chain issues are completely gone, I can use all gears fine now. So either the defective link caused it or the fact it was too long.

I just feel like I got a new set of legs and could keep going into the night if I have to. It's a beautiful evening as I exit the forest hills and enter a more agricultural setting.

In next town Bowmansville the Italian owner of a pizza shop wants to know what drives "us people" to do this. He's seen many cyclists on this route, some even two months ago when I guess it was still winter. John is chatty and informs me that there is a bunch of motels a few more km on my route.

Pedalling throuh fields and farms I see a man climbed up a plough pulled by horses. My first Amish encounter. I was afraid I leave Amish country without seeing the people that make it famous.

Around sundown I reach the motel and so a very beautiful day ends with a hot bath and saddle soreness preventive measures :)