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An unexpected treat this morning. People whom none of us knew, came out to greet us. That's John in the foreground. Noted photographer and ride-mate on my first Cross Country Challenge three years ago. |
They used to say that the hardest of all the AIDS Rides (which included Boston to New York, San Francisco to Los Angeles, etc,) was the Florida ride from Orlando to Miami. But wait, you say...isn't that a flat ride? Why yes, it is. And that's the point! Beyond the notorious headwinds, riders on that Orlando to Miami ride could never stopped pedaling. Other than the occasional coasting from the downhill side of an overpass on I-95, it was flat as a pancake and it required the rider to constantly pedal.
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We entered the Heritage Rail Trail in York, Pennsylvania. The paved beginning quickly gave way to crushed gravel. |
Such was our lot today. The original route included over 7600 feet of climbing today. That was changed in favor of riding along two rail trails, one in Pennsylvania, the other in Maryland. And while both included long, slow climbs, that was nothing compared to the grueling hills that used to be this route.
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You can see the consistency of the gravel and hard pack that we rode on this morning. An interesting comparison...we rode along the existing rails on the Pennsylvania trail. On the Maryland trail, we rode on what used to be the train line. No rails, just dirt and grass for much of the trail with gravel towards the end. |
The first twenty miles of today's route were through the towns in South Central Pennsylvania and across the Susquehanna River. I've driven across the river many times to get to Washington, D.C. and farther south, but never got to see it up close as I did this morning. It's majestic and much wider than I would have imagined.
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The Susquehanna River early this morning. So much bigger than I imagined. At least as wide as the Hudson River. |
As I mentioned yesterday, the original forecast for today was about an 80% chance of early morning thunderstorms and potential hail. By late last night and confirmed early this morning, that changed to virtually no rain in the morning and the major line of thunderstorms blowing through Hunt Valley by 2:00 PM. Someone got that "virtually" way wrong!
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Bike sculptures at the park where we had our SAG stop today. Still dry but looking menacing. |
Given the relatively easy day, doing 62 miles on a bike trail shouldn't have been a problem to stay dry. We all left the hotel at 7:45 this morning. That should have put many of us into the hotel by 12:30 or 1:00 PM at the latest, assuming stopping at the only SAG stop of today around mile 29.
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This beautiful mural along the Pennsylvania rail trail reminded me of many I passed while riding across the country. |
One quick note about riding on unpaved rail trails on a road bike. Our tires aren't really meant for gravel and it required much more work to pedal as our tires kept wanting to gain purchase on a surface as was shifting underneath the wheels. And, as was the case with the Florida AIDS ride, we had to constantly pedal. There was little opportunity to coast as the gravel would grab the tires.
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Grabbed a smoothy at this train station cafe while waiting for some of the heavy rains to pass. To no avail as, no sooner had four of us departed from our shelter under the overhang, it started raining hard again. But the smoothy was quite refreshing. |
By mile 37 this morning, the heavens opened up. Only a light rain for the first 10 minutes or so. Then the sun came out again, giving us all a false sense of relief. By mile 41, it began to pour. Heavily. The crushed gravel track that was the Pennsylvania rail trail could handle the earlier light rains. The narrower packed dirt and grass rail trail in Maryland couldn't handle the onslaught of water and quickly became a quagmire in low-lying spots, making bike handling a priority though slick, muddy spots along the route. (Sorry, no comparative photos of the Maryland trail as I was too busy riding hell bent for leather trying to both get to our destination hotel as well as keep my bike upright.)
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No official "Welcome to Maryland" but this was at least an acknowledgement of the famous Mason Dixon Line, the border between the two States. It was too wet to take any other pictures along the remainder of today's route. |
By the time I got to the hotel, around 1:15, a number of riders were already hosing down their bikes (and themselves -- we were all covered head to toe with dirt and mud) and trying to clean chains and re-lube their bikes before the thunderstorms rolled through (almost on cue at 1:45 PM).
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Drying out all my clothes from today. The bike shoes are stuffed with newspaper which wicks away the excess moisture. |
Tomorrow we arrive in Washington, D.C. and get the next day off to rest, sightsee and, for most of us, do laundry!