Day 4 – 32 miles
Day 5 – 36 miles
Day 6 – 35 miles
Day 7 – none
Today we rest a
lovely, well appreciated rest. This week's total distance was 208
miles.
On Day 4, after
leaving Wayne, Brenda and Lisa's house, we rode to the York Heritage
Rail Trail. Along the way, we passed a Taco Bell...and could not
resist. I haven't eaten at Taco Bell in about 8 years. It was
different. York County from the vantage point of the Rail Trail is
pristine and heritage is the right word for it. So many historic
buildings, fields, rivers, streams, wild-lands, old bridges, etc.
What a special trail it is. I loved every moment of it. At around 4
PM, we passed over the Mason Dixon Line. The night was spent in the
Bee Tree Reserve which was wild and perfect. Shortly after arriving,
the temperature began to drop sharply and the wind picked up, which
it continued to do until the rain began after we went to sleep.
Day 5 – The night
before was challenging. While getting settled, Naomi pooped herself
and Etienne was super cranky. He didn't go to sleep easily and we
all went to sleep feeling very sour. Waking up, we found a steady
downpour and chilled air. Riding on the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail
yesterday, we noticed a lot of muddy spots. With this rain, we
didn't know if our road bikes could ride on it at all. After getting
some road directions from my father-in-law, we began riding with much
hesitation around 10 AM.
We did cross back
over the rail trail and found that it was gravel again, so we traded
the hilly, difficult roads for a downhill, flat, straight, 10 miles
of trail. At 12 PM, we stopped at the Monkton Bike Cafe and had an
amazing lunch and impromptu play date with some new friends. What an
uplifting time! At 4 PM, I fell and hit my head pretty hard (thank
goodness for helmets). I got to add a few more scrapes and bruises
to my legs and arms. Then I stood, on the side of the road, with my
husband, head throbbing and legs shaking from adrenaline, in the
rain, and we got a phone call. It was a reply from a
www.warmshowers.org email. We had a place to stay for the night!
With new determination, we rode fast and energetically for a little
over 20 miles. After making great time, we arrived in the town of
Westminster and visited Race Pace Bicycle Shop. We spent the night
(in a warm bed!!!) (after a warm bath!!!) with our new friends Sean
and Barb. It was a pick-me-up for all of us, and we were exhausted.
Unfortunately, Etienne did not sleep well that night (a rare
occurrence) and we slept in well past our usual 5 am wakeup, to give
ourselves some love.
Day 5 – While
getting the bikes packed up, our new friend (Naomi says he's from Les
Miserables) from the bike shop, brought his little boy Eli over while
riding around on their bikes. Naomi got to ride a kids bike and
played for about an hour or more. After leaving, we rode 35 miles on
a ridge (MD 27-S) of rolling terrain, constant easy to moderate up
and downs, without any flatlands. Today my knee got a little sore,
but that went away after a while. The weather was gorgeous. Sunny,
breezy, blue skies with puffy white clouds, rolling hills, fields of
gold and green, swaying in the breeze, orchards, etc. You get the
picture! It was nice, we kept a good pace, and got a bit of sunburn
(yikes). The sunburn is healing nicely, and is almost ceasing to be
red. It is getting brown, fast. Today we should be getting our
sun-hats in the mail, and I am very excited to have some nice
protection for my nose!
We arrived at the
home of our friends Steve and Jenny. Now we get a full day of rest,
and set out tomorrow morning. This last week was enlightening,
affecting our balance, patience and mental status'. We are feeling
so revived in life, by a slower pace and by the necessity of
communicating with other humans around us for all of our needs-
emotional, physical and spiritual. I can't believe we waited so long
to go all-bicycled-out.
