Day 49: On my own

57.83 mi max 38.0 5:02.45 avg 11.4

Weather was perfect. If only it could have been like this for the entire summer.

The hardest part was getting out of the city, on the bike path. It was slow going around all the people. I ended up calling a Big Rider from just south of Baltimore, Rick. While we were still on the ride, he told me to give him a call if I needed anything. I realized that my map had two options, including a Baltimore spur. Originally I hadn't planned to take it, but it meant a safe place to stay. As it turned out, I didn't make very good time today so I figured out where I was and Rick came out to pick me up. I'll probably lose about 40 miles in Maryland...but I GUESS that's ok.

It was weird climbing with my pack on my bike. It was shimmying, especially when I stood. I've eliminated as much stuff (junk) as possible: all my "cold weather" gear - even though I used it all yesterday - my sandals, extra Clif bars, even the key for my Kryptonite lock and the 2 extra scoops of Cytomax. I'm probably destroying my frame.

The three pics you see above are somewhere in Maryland. My DRG told me to take this road. It never said anything about the bridge being under construction. I had no plans on backtracking and taking the detour. I had to cross the bridge - good thing it was Sunday, because the construction workers probably would have made me turn around.

Yeah...so tonight, I'm roughing it in a house in a bed in Maryland. I confess to taking a shower this evening. What kind of hard-core cyclist am I??