I started out Thursday morning 10/26 at 6:20 and rode over to Pasadena to Meet Greg Cantori (www.cantori.com) at Ft Smallwood and Edwin Raynor to head into downtown Baltimore. Greg regularly commutes 22 miles each way to work and has had 10000 mile years as a result. We had a cold but nice ride downtown. The temps were @ 38. We met Dave T. at Pratt street. He related some road rage story to us about getting cut off and having to lock up his rear wheel and his “animated conversation” with the driver afterwards.
We headed north on Calvert street through traffic and things got quiet after we crossed Franklin. We got on Falls road into Hamden and stopped off at Greg’s work and he volunteered to take some of our gear which was very helpful. I got rid of my tights, jacket, light, battery and clear glasses. Dave and I rode over to Starbucks and got some coffee and breakfast. Starting out again took a little while to adjust with less clothes but we made our way up Falls Road which had a decent shoulder most of the way.
We made our way through some quieter roads North of the city and ended up near the Timonium fairgrounds. We stopped for food and drink somewhere just South of the NCR trail in Hunt Valley. In MD there are few if any places to restock food and drink supplies along the trail this time of year.
Another few miles and we joined up with the NCR trail and at first the packed gravel took some getting used to. Dave and I traded off pulls since we were feeling the headwind against us. When motivated we could go 19 but 17 was more comfortable. There were two sections on either side of the trail that were smooth but there were also rocky sections or areas covered by leaves and sticks. I got stung in the face a few times with stones and twigs. Dave was riding 700×23’s so I imagine he was getting more vibration than my 700×28’s. Maybe that was the cause of his water bottle bracket cracking. With a few quick stops we made our way 20 miles to the PA line and at that point the trail is parallel to the train tracks as opposed to on the old rail bed in MD and the surface is finer stone chips and it seemed smoother overall but the very top layer was loose. It almost made a sound like a leaky tire and a few times I paused to check mine. Thankfully no flats on this trip due to Bontrager hard case tires and spin skin liners from Bike Doctor. In PA we stopped in New Freedom to get Dave a new bottle cage and eat lunch and resupply. We got a pizza with everything on it and it was really good..
After lunch we headed north into PA and several times I had to tell Dave to slow down a bit. He rode until we had been on the trail for 30 miles which when he rode those 30 back to catch the light rail would give him 100. We parted and I headed to York alone. One thing about the PA side of the trail is that it goes through more towns and populated areas. In PA also the trail crosses over the tracks a bunch of times at a 90 degree angle. One of the times crossing I tried to coast (unsuccessfully) through the second part of the turn this caused the rear wheel to momentarily lock and slide on the gravel. No crash but needless to say I didn’t try that again.
I made it to York, but not before trying the most awful tasting cliff shot – “Cola” flavored. You know how most energy gels are sickening sweet? This was sickening bitter with a hint of cola flavoring. I tasted that awful thing for miles. The ride through York and to Lancaster was OK but in many places the shoulder was lousy. It was a nice break from the gravel surface to ride on the road.  I don’t think I heard a single horn or “get off the road” comment the entire trip.
From Lancaster I got on more rural roads with no shoulder which I liked better since cars were forced to go into the other lane (or hit me) I was getting tired at this point but only the hills hurt. At the same time, the hills were the time that my butt got a break and I was thankful for that. There was a nice smell of manure hanging in the air after I arrived in Lancaster. All the way from York I was following the well marked PA bike route S that made navigation easy as for every turn they have a sign before, at and after the intersection.
I reached the bed and breakfast “Harvest Moon” in New Holland @ 5:15 and ate a few peanuts and tried to call Becky. She didn’t answer and I didn’t have clothes to change into so I went back out and did another 10 miles on PA bike route S. When I got back everyone was there and we went to dinner but I was falling asleep at the table. Friday I did feel pretty good. My left knee was giving me a little trouble and I was tired but not so bad that I didn’t enjoy the rest of the trip.

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