Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Sweet Home Alabama

"Pennsylvania is Philadelphia on one end, Pittsburgh on the other, and Alabama in between." So goes a popular phrase summing up the Keystone State. While it's a clever comment, it's both inaccurate and a slam at rural PA by dragging in stereotypes about the alleged 'backwardness' of the South.

That said, I did come across some 'Alabama' moments as I rode the Thun trail from Pottstown to Reading and back yesterday. For instance, I saw a trailside memorial to a faithful dog. Winston is now in a better place:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3371/3475673550_80953538d9_b.jpg

A swamp that reminded me of Deliverance:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3627/3474951727_fe603ea570_b.jpg

And a rowdy bar. Only the sign advertising Yuengling tips us off this is Reading and not Mobile:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3322/3474914215_4da4d64c24_b.jpg

The Schuylkill River near Reading - perhaps we should rename it the Schuylkillippi or the Schuylkilloosa. (If it were near Pittsburgh they'd call it the Schuylkillgheny.) Note the fellows in the boat fishin' for catfish.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3384/3474885735_334c025ba3_b.jpg

The trail conditions were dry and a little rough, which is the best to be expected from the Thun Trail. I did 34 miles in a bit over 4 hours, including breaks to eat, drink, take photos, and at one point adjust my saddle. As I loaded the bike into the car following the ride, I was tired and happy. I swear the trail said to me, "Y'all come back now, hear?"

Beer Pong? Yeah, you're in Alabama!

It was definitely not Alabama. I did not see any pictures of cotton fields or pine trees. I also did not see any photos with a half million dollar house, a shack, and two mobile homes all within 100 yards of each other.

Nice pics.

I grew up in York county, until I turned 18 and joined the navy, and left for good.

I always thought York country and and surrounding counties were backward. However, while driving through rural Alabama on the way to my first duty station, in Meridian, Mississippi, I saw what backward truly looked like.

That was 1975, but there were places that surprised me with how much it still looked like pictures of sharecropper farms after the civil war.


"Pennsylvania is Philadelphia on one end, Pittsburgh on the other, and Alabama in between."

I don't know about that. However I am fond of saying that the midwest starts just west of US 202.


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My wife's FJ has a bumper sticker that says "If heaven ain't a lot like Dixie, I don't want to go". She lived in Tennessee for 20 years.

But when in Rome........

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp331/homeairdirect/NASHVILLE%20TN%202007/IMGP1423.jpg

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp331/homeairdirect/NASHVILLE%20TN%202007/IMGP1435.jpg

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp331/homeairdirect/NASHVILLE%20TN%202007/IMGP1438.jpg

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp331/homeairdirect/NASHVILLE%20TN%202007/IMGP1439.jpg

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp331/homeairdirect/NASHVILLE%20TN%202007/IMGP1440.jpg

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp331/homeairdirect/NASHVILLE%20TN%202007/IMGP1442.jpg

It was definitely not Alabama. I did not see any pictures of cotton fields or pine trees. I also did not see any photos with a half million dollar house, a shack, and two mobile homes all within 100 yards of each other.

BTW, here's the trail itself:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3356/3474956443_a8d413389b_b.jpg

And the obligatory bike photo:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3541/3475689264_289e2ac914_b.jpg

The saddle break in isn't going as smoothly as I had hoped. I had to raise it a bit on the ride, and I need to drop the nose a little. I had numbness problems in my hands, and my butt was sorer than I thought it would be. Also, 34 miles is the longest distance I've ridden since October, and I'm only now realizing that I'm very out of shape for the sort of riding I normally do. Despite taking what I thought were a lot of fluids, I still had a mild thigh cramp hours after the ride.

My wife's FJ has a bumper sticker that says "If heaven ain't a lot like Dixie, I don't want to go". She lived in Tennessee for 20 years.


Oh man. Nothing has ever made me happier to be an athiest than the idea that the afterlife could be like the south. Two years living here, and I can't wait until I move (36 days).

Oh, and Historian, Yuengling is widely available on draft down here. And in bottles of course.

EDIT: But, yeah, that looks nothing like the south. Flora is all wrong and the countryside isn't nearly "never been repaired since the 19th century" enough.

Oh man. Nothing has ever made me happier to be an athiest than the idea that the afterlife could be like the south. Two years living here, and I can't wait until I move (36 days).

Oh, and Historian, Yuengling is widely available on draft down here. And in bottles of course.

EDIT: But, yeah, that looks nothing like the south. Flora is all wrong and the countryside isn't nearly "never been repaired since the 19th century" enough.

I've never been further South than Baltimore, Maryland, and West Virginia. Can you tell? A Southern man don't need old Neil around anyhow.

I'm glad Yuengling is available in the Southland. It's brewed locally.

Please don't judge the whole south by southwestern Alabama and any part of Mississippi. The area you mentioned is pretty bad. The South has pockets of redeeming areas as well as pockets that we are all ashamed of just like almost any part of the country. I live in the Huntsville area which is a great high-tech, low crime area with some fantastic cycling. Like Jeff Foxworthy says, we just can't seem to keep the stupid ones off of the television.:D


Nice pics.

I grew up in York county, until I turned 18 and joined the navy, and left for good.

I always thought York country and and surrounding counties were backward. However, while driving through rural Alabama on the way to my first duty station, in Meridian, Mississippi, I saw what backward truly looked like.

That was 1975, but there were places that surprised me with how much it still looked like pictures of sharecropper farms after the civil war.



I don't know about that. However I am fond of saying that the midwest starts just west of US 202.


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Tracey and I are planning on moving to North Carolina in a couple of years. We have a need to escape our Yankee Hell. Or maybe we just need to separate ourselves from the Blago stigma:twitchy: of Illinois politics.

We are planning on an area around Asheville. "A Little Country In The City"

Another 'Alabama' item, one I couldn't photograph, is the extreme heat. 90 degrees is very uncommon for April here in PA. It's over 90 now, and between that and being wiped out from my ride yesterday I've canceled my planned camping trip to French Creek State Park, 16 miles away. I'd never make it up all those switchbacks with a loaded trailer, let alone the three mile climb just outside Elverson.

Please don't judge the whole south by southwestern Alabama and any part of Mississippi. The area you mentioned is pretty bad. The South has pockets of redeeming areas as well as pockets that we are all ashamed of just like almost any part of the country. I live in the Huntsville area which is a great high-tech, low crime area with some fantastic cycling. Like Jeff Foxworthy says, we just can't seem to keep the stupid ones off of the television.:D

Unfortunately I used to do just that. It's a Northern prejudice that bike touring helped me break. I realize Maryland and West Virginia aren't particularly 'southern', but they were enough to show me most of my prejudice was wrong. Perhaps one day I'll ride in the "Deep South."

One stereotype that rings true, however, is how openly Southerners talk about their lives. Folks above the Mason-Dixon line are a lot more reserved and private. For instance, I doubt a northerner would tell a complete stranger about her husband overdrawing their checking account because he went out and bought dog food without checking the balance. Yet I got this story at a gas station checkout in West Virginia as I purchased Gatorade.

I think the fact that we are less "reserved" makes us more personable and easy to talk to. You may get too much information sometimes but we are not afraid to meet new people. I have never understood what makes us so backwards? My experience is there are hicks in every state, not just below the Mason-Dixon.

With my limited travels I have seen "hicks" everywhere. Some places just seem to have more, just like I saw more 85+ year olds in Florida when we went for an early spring break once. Most of them were driving and doing a very poor job of it. See how the stereotype happens.

In every stereotype, there is at least a small element of truth, magnified for effect.


With my limited travels I have seen "hicks" everywhere. Some places just seem to have more, just like I saw more 85+ year olds in Florida when we went for an early spring break once. Most of them were driving and doing a very poor job of it. See how the stereotype happens.

Please don't judge the whole south by southwestern Alabama and any part of Mississippi. The area you mentioned is pretty bad. The South has pockets of redeeming areas as well as pockets that we are all ashamed of just like almost any part of the country. I live in the Huntsville area which is a great high-tech, low crime area with some fantastic cycling. Like Jeff Foxworthy says, we just can't seem to keep the stupid ones off of the television.:D

I don't.

I loved my time in Meridian, MS in 1975. Went down to Hattiesburg for a weekend, which was great.

I spent nearly 4 years in Norfolk, VA. And I have relatives in Greensburg, NC and in rural FL panhandle.

Also, my family hails from a farm in Carroll County, MD. Not exactly the South, but compared to the philly area, it seems like deep south.

:thumb:

It was just in the backwoods areas of 'Bama that I really felt like I had gone back in time 100 years to the real Old South.

Funny story: April 1975, I checked into a motel outside of Birmingham -- the Bama Motel -- and was hungry. I found a catfish fast food place down the road. I had the hardest time ordering. The girl behind the counter couldn't understand me, and I couldn't understand her. We both had a larf after I finally managed to place my order for catfish and hush puppies.


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More photos.... Riverfront Park in Pottstown, PA. Note the fish-shaped bike rack:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3302/3475778578_1cf18e00d3_b.jpg

Norfolk-Southern trains on the outskirts of Reading:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3615/3475705370_b632ed6220_b.jpg

Mount Neversink behind RT. 422 and the fence on the trail bridge. Neversink is home to several good mountain bike trails.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3318/3474889995_72c6ee0315_b.jpg

That is so funny. When I was in college we had a new chief flight instructor that moved in from Long Island, NY. We had several discussions about this topic. My impression of Northeners at that time was that they were all stuck up, because they would not talk openly. He and his family all thought that Southerners were rude and nosy because they were constantly asking how you were doing.

My in-laws still claim that I made their daughter a Yankee because we moved to Louisville, KY for four years after college.:lol:


Unfortunately I used to do just that. It's a Northern prejudice that bike touring helped me break. I realize Maryland and West Virginia aren't particularly 'southern', but they were enough to show me most of my prejudice was wrong. Perhaps one day I'll ride in the "Deep South."

One stereotype that rings true, however, is how openly Southerners talk about their lives. Folks above the Mason-Dixon line are a lot more reserved and private. For instance, I doubt a northerner would tell a complete stranger about her husband overdrawing their checking account because he went out and bought dog food without checking the balance. Yet I got this story at a gas station checkout in West Virginia as I purchased Gatorade.

I think the fact that we are less "reserved" makes us more personable and easy to talk to. You may get too much information sometimes but we are not afraid to meet new people. I have never understood what makes us so backwards? My experience is there are hicks in every state, not just below the Mason-Dixon.


With my limited travels I have seen "hicks" everywhere. Some places just seem to have more, just like I saw more 85+ year olds in Florida when we went for an early spring break once. Most of them were driving and doing a very poor job of it. See how the stereotype happens.

Yep, being more open and persoanable can be misinterpreted. I've lived all over from Texas, Florida, Connecticut, Washington State, Hawaii, and Souther California. My time in the Northeast and the Northwest was interesting. My landlord in Connecticut happened to be my neighbor as well. I remember whn I signed my lease he asked, quite tongue in cheek, if this meant we were gonna have to talk everytime we saw each other, lol. We got along great, but I remember getting very strange stares when I would say hello to total strangers when out walking around.



Funny story: April 1975, I checked into a motel outside of Birmingham -- the Bama Motel -- and was hungry. I found a catfish fast food place down the road. I had the hardest time ordering. The girl behind the counter couldn't understand me, and I couldn't understand her. We both had a larf after I finally managed to place my order for catfish and hush puppies.

On my transfer back to Groton, CT to be be an instructor at Submarine School I went to a national restaurant chain that's known for pancakes. When my waitress came to take my order I asked if they had bisquits and gravy. She put her hand on her hip and assumed the stance to inform me, "Son, you're above the Mason Dixon Line now and going to have to learn to eat what we eat."


That is so funny. When I was in college we had a new chief flight instructor that moved in from Long Island, NY. We had several discussions about this topic. My impression of Northeners at that time was that they were all stuck up, because they would not talk openly. He and his family all thought that Southerners were rude and nosy because they were constantly asking how you were doing.

My in-laws still claim that I made their daughter a Yankee because we moved to Louisville, KY for four years after college.:lol:

My wife is from Connecticut. When I got out of the Navy and we moved back to Texas her first trip tot the grocery store was almost a disaster. When she finished paying for the groceries the bagger grabbed her cart and started to push it away, she grabbed it from him and asked what the h3ll he was doing, lol. the concept of having her groceries pushed out to the car and loaded was totally foreign. It took her years to get used to strangers saying hello and asking how she was doing.

In contrast, the first time I went to a grocery store up north, after I paid I stood there for noticeable time until the check out person asked me if there was anything else I needed. I was waiting for the bagger to grab the cart, lol.

I can say without a doubt that there are "hicks", "rednecks", and "jerks" in every part of the country. Likewise most folks whom I've met would be welcomed as my neighbor any time.

+1000 I know this thread has gone way off topic from Neil's original post, but I have enjoyed the discussion of this great melting pot we call the USA. Neil thanks for bringing your great journalistic style to this forum.



I can say without a doubt that there are "hicks", "rednecks", and "jerks" in every part of the country. Likewise most folks whom I've met would be welcomed as my neighbor any time.

I still want to go ride in Neil's little corner of the world. His photo accompanied ride reports have sold me on one day visiting the area. I've spent some time up around Fredericksburg and out in Gettysburg, but didn't really visit anything other than battlefields.

I wish digital cameras had existed when I lived up in Washington state. What a magnificent place, and I weighed considerably less so the hills didn't hurt as bad, lol.

+1000 I know this thread has gone way off topic from Neil's original post, but I have enjoyed the discussion of this great melting pot we call the USA. Neil thanks for bringing your great journalistic style to this forum.

I'm glad the post didn't give offense, if only because I live in the 'Alabama' section of PA. Or at least the transition zone to it. A few miles past my house the signals of the Philadelphia area radio stations disappear and it's country music from there to 40 miles outside Pittsburgh. Many of the locals drive old pickup trucks with gun racks. I live two miles from an Agway, for goodness sake! :)

No offense taken. I have traveled extensively enough because of my career, that I have seen a lot. I could be comfortable in most areas of the country, but I am most at home where my immediate and extended family is located, and that is now, and probably always will be, in the deep South.


I'm glad the post didn't give offense, if only because I live in the 'Alabama' section of PA. Or at least the transition zone to it. A few miles past my house the signals of the Philadelphia area radio stations disappear and it's country music from there to 40 miles outside Pittsburgh. Many of the locals drive old pickup trucks with gun racks. I live two miles from an Agway, for goodness sake! :)

I think this is a pretty cool thread, certainly no offense taken (and despite being an Ozarker first, and thus a Southerner instead of a Yank) at all.

I drove thru PA on 70/76 en route to Rhode Island the first of last March. Stopped to get gas at a itty bitty place called Eighty Four. Yes, that is correct. Eighty Four, Pennsylvania. By the map it's probably 25 miles as the crow flies to downtown Pittsburgh, yet you would scarely know it. It's barely even a big ditch much less a small ravine with a couple gas stations right off the exit ramp. Most of the parking lot was still dirt pack, and several of the kids running around were equally dusty despite the cold and windy conditions (this was the day after the big nor'easter).

Central PA was largely a very beautiful and of course mountainous drive all the way to Carlisle, and when I missed the exit to 78 via I-81 and got off at Lebanon, it was a very pleasant and quaint drive thru PA Dutch country up to 78. Nice bike/motorcycle riding for sure, although there was a fair amount of traffic.

Coming back, I drove from DC thru Maryland into West Virginia, by way of I-68 over to I-79. I'd heard stories about Appalachia, coal mining country and all that, but even here in the Ozarks (which is in many ways very similar) you don't usually see extremely dilapidated shacks right next to the interstate or other main road. Yet I saw a number of them in WV, and wondered about some of the poor folks who lived there, or hopefully used to live there. Eastern Kentucky was kinda sorta similar, just not quite as hilly, but there were still some pretty old and run-down properties.

Oh yeah, and I might also add - I lived with one foot here in Missouri and the other foot in Arkansas for 11 years during the 80s and early 90's. Went to high school and college both in Arkansas. Arkansas is a very beautiful state, but also in many ways a very different place from much of the country, even today. That's neither good nor bad, just the way it is :)

And oh yeah, I'd LOVE to take another trip back up North - in fact my sister lives in Brooklyn, and I've been scheming ever since then to somehow rent a car and drive to DC, then hop on the shuttle and ride up the NYC and give her a shout. Maybe rent a bicycle in DC so I can see more of the town than I got to last time :)

Tom

I still want to go ride in Neil's little corner of the world. His photo accompanied ride reports have sold me on one day visiting the area. I've spent some time up around Fredericksburg and out in Gettysburg, but didn't really visit anything other than battlefields.

I wish digital cameras had existed when I lived up in Washington state. What a magnificent place, and I weighed considerably less so the hills didn't hurt as bad, lol.

We should make this happen. You can come and ride the Neil's Covered Bridges tour, crossing all three of the French Creek spans (Kennedy, Rapp's Dam, and Sheeder-Hall), riding up and over the mountain, by 200 year old churches - Vincent Baptist was built in 1812, and there's one that dates to 1736 - and numerous horse farms. Then I can take you to Tim's Ugly Mug in Birdsboro and you can play beer pong with the local Harley-riding hicks. :)

You just may be onto something here Neil. Every adventure I had planned for this year has gone down in flames due to scheduling conflicts with fixed date "other obligations", or bad health.

I really wanted to join Tom in Indy this year but one of those pesky off spring type people is graduating high school that weekend.:p

Now if one of the guys in the boat in your picture was in the water reaching down and sticking his arm in the mouth of a 5 foot catfish and flinging it into the boat then I would believe it may be Alabama. Being a transplant to the mountainous areas of Central PA from your neck of the woods I can see where you are coming from. I live in a College town but when you drive about 30 minutes or more out side of town it does get very hickish. Pick'em up trucks with confederate flags somewhere on it and a gun rack and dog in the back. I was in Danville, PA about 10 years ago and felt like I stepped back in time 20 years. There was still a main street with a lot of mom & pop stores and no malls. The people were pretty friendly as well. Some of the bike routes I travel I do come across the run down house or mobile home where some folks live and the seedy looking bars. Yuengling is actually on the verge of becoming the USA's largest brewing company along with being the oldest(I guess since the Belgium Company -InBev- bought Anheuser - Busch). As always, thanks for sharing the pictures and the stories. Keep 'em coming.

Mmm, noodlin'.....good times. Yummy too.

Nuttin' wrong with Rebel flags and/or gun racks on pickups IMO either.

Never had Yuengling, but I hear it's excellent beer. Maybe someday I'll try the specialty package store.

Great pics all, btw!

Tom

Good ol' Pennsyltucky. I sure do miss Yuengling - you just can't get it out here in CA. :(

Mmmmmmm ........Yuengling !! :beer:
When I lived in CT I had to make a road trip to PA every 2 weeks and pick up a case of Lager and a case of Porter for myself and a case of "Black and Tan" for a co -worker !! I was born and raised in Minersville, PA just a few miles from the original home of the Yuengling brewery (in Pottsville).

You just may be onto something here Neil. Every adventure I had planned for this year has gone down in flames due to scheduling conflicts with fixed date "other obligations", or bad health.



OK, let's make it happen.

Closest airport is Philadelphia, I assume?

Closest airport is Philadelphia, I assume?

Pottstown, actually. But it's a local, not an international, airport. So Philadelphia International is the closest, 30 miles from me.

Good ol' Pennsyltucky. I sure do miss Yuengling - you just can't get it out here in CA. :(

Pennsyltucky...hah, heard that just yesterday.

+1 for Yuengling being the bomb.

As a resident of Pennsyltucky I am in the minority of people who don't enjoy the Pottsville Pond Water (Yuengling). I'd take a Straub over a Yueng any day.

As a resident of Pennsyltucky I am in the minority of people who don't enjoy the Pottsville Pond Water (Yuengling). I'd take a Straub over a Yueng any day.

I will have to disagree with ya there Wink. Straub over Vitamin 'Y'? I am not a fan of Vitamin 'Y' but Straub is bit rougher. There is a fine brewery in your neck of the woods called Troegs and they have some might tasty beers. (Yes, I am a self-proclaimed beer snob). :cheers:

Victory lager is my favorite pennsyltucky beer at the moment. I've never been a huge fan of vitamin Y.

I like Yuengling lager fresh from a keg, but avoid the bottled and canned stuff, which I think tastes sour with hints of dirty dishcloth mildew.

I will have to disagree with ya there Wink. Straub over Vitamin 'Y'? I am not a fan of Vitamin 'Y' but Straub is bit rougher. There is a fine brewery in your neck of the woods called Troegs and they have some might tasty beers. (Yes, I am a self-proclaimed beer snob). :cheers:

I know...I'm just biased because I grew up in Bradford and St. Mary's is just a stone throw away.

I do love the hop back by Troegs (which probably explains my preference of straub over P.P.W). Also, Lions Head brewery in Wilcox Pa makes an awesome line up called "Butt Monkey", I love the "Chimp Chiller Ale". Give it a try next time you find yourself in the obscure isle at the beer distributor.