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Chip, Clint and I departed a B&B just over the Bay Bridge on Saturday for their second annual Bike to Ocean City Journey and my first ever century!
Prior to Saturday 70 Miles was the most I rode in one day. At @8:00 AM Saturday, Chip, Clint and I set out from the East side of the Bay Bridge and to routes 18 to 304 to 312 to 14 to Rt 1. 114 miles later we were in Ocean City. I think I felt pretty good until the last 20 miles or so where I just wanted it to end.
Things started out ok and 2 hrs into it snow flurries began to fall and we were near Greensboro. We wanted some coffee so we pulled into this place called “Dave’s” which turned out to be more of a bar than a coffee shop. They catered to bikers, but I think the usual type were of the Harley variety. They didn’t know what to make of us, but we got some strong coffee and breakfast sandwiches and learned that Dave was buried across the street (hopefully in a marked grave, but we didn’t ask).
As soon as we left Dave’s the snow was coming down strong and an hour later I had quite a frost buildup on my jersey. Unfortunately the snow was very wet and soon the roads were wet and then we were wet. I had planned on flurries, not wet snow/rain. I didn’t even have a jacket, just layers. In a short time my shoes, legs and butt were soaked and the lower half of my jersey. It really was miserable. We stopped for coffee and a donut at one place and used like 100 paper towels to dry off, road grime and grit were everywhere. It was really hard to put on wet clothes and go back into the cold with half the trip still ahead.

The snow let up but the roads stayed wet all the way to Ocean City. Chip got a flat and then the poor guy had the cold greasy “tire change hands” for the next 1+ hours until we found a place to wash up. The extra large coffee I had probably wasn’t smart either as I was stopping every 5 minutes. Those things slowed us down and for a while there it seemed like we stopped as soon I was warming up each time. My hands and feet felt really cold. Later, we ate lunch and dried off/warmed up as much as possible. One of the ladies working at Burger King asked us if we were scuba divers! I can’t remember when we got in, but the moving average speed was 18MPH. Chip met his wife down there and Clint and I stayed at my In-law’s Condo. We had a big dinner at the Bonfire all you can eat. It cost $27, but I bet Clint at $50 worth of food. We dried all our clothes in front of the gas fireplace and tried to clean the bikes and chains a little, but the grit was everywhere. (And I had completely removed and cleaned/lubed my chain Friday night…)

I had serious doubts about making the ride back Sunday. I was really tired Saturday night and the legs were fried. We got up early the next morning and I felt a lot better. The temperature was @ 18 degrees with a 9-10 MPH Headwind. We ate breakfast, had 10 people say we were crazy and got on our way. Right away my left knee was killing me. I thought it would warm up a bit and I also took some ibuprofen. After a few miles we stopped and got hand warmers. I put one on my knee but it didn’t help. After @ 7 miles Chip’s wife called to check on us and I packed it in, I knew the only bail out option was then and I didn’t want to get 1/3 into the ride and be holding them back with no other way to get home. I rode back with Katie and they continued on. When I got home, I decided to go out for a short ride. I felt OK, so I rode down to Annapolis and back. I at least got 35 miles in so I was happy since last night I thought I might never pedal again. The original plan had been to stay in OC Sunday and ride home Monday. I might have been able to do that, but I am happy with how I did either way. It was fun.

Chip and Clint pressed on without Mike, despite temps that never reached 30. They stopped several times to defrost their water bottles and refuel, once at a Moose Lodge bar, using their microwave! They fought headwinds all day averaging only 14 mph for almost 8 hours. Clint was on his new aero bars from Mike O most of the 14 hours on the bike (Sat+Sun). Some say we are crazy, but unless you have the bike gene, it’s hard to comprehend how three guys could have so much fun doing something few have ever done in such frigid temps. At least it was sunny and dry, there were no attack dogs along the route, the scenery was great, and we made it back to the B&B by sunset. I met the guys with hot coffee and ibuprofen and ferried them back over the bridge.

Our sincere thanks go to Katie for taking us over the bridge again this year and hauling our luggage to the beach. We could not have done it without her. And for those who wish they could have joined us (yeah right!), we’ll do it again in warmer weather April 1-2 (seriously).

Here is a link to all the pictures:
Pictures are Here