Day 3 Valley Forge National Historical Park, PA to Lebanon, PA

68 miles

I was surprised it hadn’t happened already, but this morning when I woke, I felt incredible stiffness in my legs. It felt like I was walking around with boulders pressing down on my legs.

After a quick breakfast, maintenance check and clean of my bike with Tom, he very kindly drove me back to the exact spot where he picked me up. He gave me a few bits of equipment and some sound advice as we said goodbye.

It was good to know that I would now be solely on a bike trail all the way until Reading avoiding the highways. The journey was a good 40 miles away and most of the time the route was shaded from the sun, the temperature was beginning to climb and was now getting to around 32 degrees C.

Maybe it was the heat, maybe the aches from my legs but after reaching Reading, I was so exhausted that I kept falling over.

The worst fall came just after lunch as I tried to avoid scraping along a hedge, I lost my balance and fell onto the pavement. I knew I had to stop. I stopped for a quick lunch at a little cafe and before heading back onto the road but I still felt exhausted.

After 10 miles I pulled over to call home. I was bombarded with questions about why I hadn’t called, why I hadn’t done this and that. Not what I needed!

After been persuaded to call it a day. I cycled on another 15 miles to a motel my brother had booked for me.

It just didn’t have the same feel as the other nights had, the nearest diner was a couple of miles away and the last thing I wanted to do was get back on the bike.

So dinner consisted of a few cashew nuts and granola bars before I called it a night.