I definitely set a new distance record for myself yesterday. I left downtown Baltimore at 11am and pedaled north. I took my usual route out into the county and into Owings Mills. From there I took Rt 140 (Reisterstown Road) which is the Hanover Pike, all the way into Hanover, PA. After refueling at a 7/11 (Two big bite hot dogs and a Poweraid) I hooked west on Rt 116 and took it the last 15 miles into Gettysburg.Gettysburg National Military Park was pretty amazing. I squinted my eyes and tried to envision what it must have been like back then, as I slowly rolled through the very same battle fields. The battles took place on the first three days of July in 1863, so the weather must have been about the same as it was while I rolled along... except I was wearing extra light breathable material and they were wearing heavy wool uniforms... I tried to imagine how about 51,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, captured or unaccounted for in those three days. ... amazing.
After a powerful stay at the battle fields I headed back to Hanover for more fuel before I headed south to Baltimore. A Snickers bar and another Poweraid would get me going again. The going was much slower on the way home. My legs were getting pretty tired. My shoulders were pretty sore from hunching over the bars for so many hours but I trudged along and kept reeling in the pavement.
I had one flat tire on the way home. A pinch flat cause by a sharp rock or shard of metal delayed my slow crawl home by 5 minutes. I didn't mind, I swapped the tube out and was on my way.
By the time I reached Owings Mills I was just about lifeless. I was turning the cranks with all the ferocity of a limp noodle. It was 8pm. I decided to take the train home. Luckily for me, I live right on the train line so I had only to pay the $1.10 fare to get dropped off at my door!
All totaled; I put in 120 miles and spent 9.5 hours in the saddle.
Ready to do it again (in a couple weeks)
Mike
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