The Factory Tour Capital of the World! (February 1st - February 4th)

February got off to a very slow start. I rode a couple of miles on the 1st, but that only brought me to a different part of Columbia, PA. On February 2nd, I didn't ride at all, which made it three straight nights in this small town on the Susquehanna. I was 193 miles southeast of Punxsutawney, but things we're starting to feel a bit like my own personal Groundhog Day. Here is a photo from my time in Columbia:

After learning to play the piano, sculpt ice, speak French, and finally getting Andie MacDowell to fall in love with me, I decided it was time to hit the road again. As an aside, for an interesting analysis of how many days Phil Connors spends in Punxsutawney click here. On February 3rd, I was back to my old trick of riding 10.4 miles per day, this time ending up in the greater York, PA area (East York, PA).

York is a nice little college town with a ton of history. One of the most interesting facts about York is that it was once the capital of the United States. In fact, Yorkians like to claim that they were the first capital of the United States. This is erroneous, since Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Lancaster preceded it. York was also the origin of a political faction that tried to replace George Washington during the Revolutionary War, and the largest Northern town to be occupied by the Confederate army during the Civil War. After that, not much happened in York until local band, Live, released the album Throwing Copper in 1994. Oh, and for some reason there is also a house shaped like a shoe, so I checked that out while I was in town.

Another 10.4 miles on the 4th took me to Thomasville, PA. Please take my word for it when I tell you that there is not much to do in Thomasville. BUT! Thomasville is home to the Martin's Potato Chip factory, so I had to go check out a tour. Sure, I had never heard of this specific brand of potato chip, but it was definitely the most exciting thing to do in town. And, while I was now a bit outside of York, it was on the Martin's tour where I learned that York is also known as the "Factory Tour Capital of the World". So, if you love factory tours, this area of Pennsylvania is where you should go on your next vacation!

D - East York, PA
E - Thomasville, PA

Real life: As I teased in my last blog post, February started off a bit differently than January in Chicago. It snowed from the evening of January 31st until the morning of February 2nd without stopping much at all. I got a couple of miles in through the snow on the morning of the 1st, but I worked from home on the 2nd and did not ride at all. By the 3rd, the streets were fairly well plowed and I had my normal commute the next two days. My pace was now just barely staying in the black. February 1st - 2.2 miles, February 2nd - 0 miles, February 3rd - 10.4 miles, February 4th - 10.4 miles. Total annual mileage - 349.8 miles (1.2 miles ahead of target pace).