“You Would Not Last”

Dear friends and family,

I am one day away from finishing this Ohio to Erie Trail. The weather held up wonderfully, starting each day about 40 degrees and then getting near 70 by afternoon, and sunny-perfect touring weather.

And yet, I have only met five other touring bicyclists. And only one going further than this Ohio Trail. She started upstate New York and is racing the weather to get to the Gulf of Mexico before winter starts. I find it hard to understand why there are not more, as this is the perfect time to ride for weather and beauty, and I guess low crowds.

Yesterday I spent the majority of my day riding in Holmes County, where there are about 39,000 Amish living, the highest concentration of Amish in the US. And it was Sunday, so it seemed they were all out going and coming from church and then a ride on the trail with their family. Half of them embraced the electric bike thing and the other half not. Their kids were pushing their way along the trail on old fashioned scooters and surprising to me, roller blades.

Since I was traveling by bike and we were passing each other, it made it easy to visit and discuss our different ways of life.

I must have spent nearly an hour talking to a young man of thirty seven years, in his buggy with his wife with baby in arms and three kids on the scooters and blades. He has been married for sixteen years and is in the strictest sect of the Amish, minimal technology.

I asked him whether it was possible for me to join his group and he told me, that yes, I could but “You would not last”

My reply was “Oh, I guess it is too hard a life for those not brought up in it”.

He quickly replied: “No, it is not a hard life”, to my surprise.

“It is just very different than what you have known”

Of course I accepted that as a challenge and signed up on the spot. They do not use bicycles at all, so I have one for sale. Kidding of course.

The “Not a hard life” so quickly thrown back has really set with me. And the happiness he conveyed also impressed me. 

There is a lot of growth in this community and they continually must seek out more land for their growth as they spread to nearby counties.

He expressed interest in my lifestyle and asked about my books and took my card to somehow be able to buy one. They are only available on Amazon, and they don’t use computers or iPhones, so not sure about his plan. He expected that their cash only society would soon have to adjust to credit cards since there are purchases that are only available that way. 

He asked how I would travel to leave Cleveland and I told him that I would get on an airplane and fly to Seattle. It felt very weird to say that to someone who plows behind a horse. 

The trail I was on had two halves, one for walkers and bikes and the non-paved portion covered in road apples for the buggies. I saw hundreds of horse drawn buggies filled with families on this trail and on the country roads of the community.

The houses and barns here were immaculately groomed, all recently painted and maintained. I guess all the time not spent scrolling give you time to take care of your stuff. But really, there was a decided difference in the look of the houses and barns here. Quite impressive.

And lots of signs for home built solid wood furniture and crafts, including clothing and baskets.

I asked this young man how he thought his community would do if there was a period of social unrest and instability in the rest of the country. He hesitated for almost thirty seconds and then remarked that since they grow almost all their own food and the community takes care of each other, they would do fine. And then he said that he had never been asked that before and had never thought about it. 

A few miles riding after that discussion I ran out of water and asked an elder if he could fill me up. He invited me into his yard, where the extended family was picnicking. They, dressed in their black and white Sunday best clothes, surrounded me and peppered me with questions about my bike, touring and lifestyle. I was hoping to get invited to dinner, but did not happen. My fluorescent outfit probably would have clashed too much.

I had a little fun two days ago when checking into my hotel. As I walked in with the bike, I could hear an argument between four women guests and the front desk clerk about them thinking they reserved two rooms and the clerk denying that. She told them to wait a moment and came to help me check in.

She asked for ID and I reached for the zipper of my shorts and found that hard as I could tug, I could not free the zipper. I told her that I would love to show her ID but had a problem. Then the four women, all quite old, about my age, went to work to try to free the zipper in a front pocket in the shorts I was wearing. Let’s say it was sensitive, but soon turned into a laugh fest and even the front desk clerk joined the humor. She let me check in without the ID and I had to go to my room to remove the shorts and cut the pocket open, but the good news is that the argument over the room was solved by the joint laughter. Jeez, what I have to sacrifice just to change the tone in the room!

I sure am enjoying myself on this tour.

Sending love,

Charley