Day 10: I can't believe I ate the WHOLE thing

June 24, 2024

"You ate it, Ralph..."

I awoke and packed up early and was on the trail (literally) by 6:10 in the morning. While the heat was hot last night and I did toss and turn I was able to get some sleep. Enough to know that the first mission of the day was to get to Waffle House in Williamsport for some breakfast.

One of the nice things about being on the trail early is you have the trail all to yourself.

I realized I may have been a bit too hasty in deciding to ride the 11 miles to Waffle House on an empty stomach. My plan of eat when you come across a place where you can do so is now causing me to rotate those pedals so I can get food. And then there's the stubbornness of having Clif Bars in my possession and NOT eating them because I know Waffle House is < hour away. But during the time it takes me to get to the breakfast spot I get to enjoy the trail all by myself.

The Potomac is glassy smooth this morning, with nary a wisp of wind

I've always loved how when the sun rises or sets, the landscape casts a shadow, and there's a well-defined delineation on trees or mountains marking the day's beginning or end.

Conococheague Aqueduct. Interestingly, this is restored to its original state. Originally, this used to be a gravel path where the water now sits.

To give context, this is what the Conochoteague Aqueduct used to look like before restoration (Google Street View April 2016)

I make it up the 1 mile detour from the trail and the 150' climb (the biggest climb I've had in several days) and get to the Waffle House. Now, normally I order coffee (that's a given), waffle (because that's the namesake of this whole place), and a side of bacon (because, well, it's bacon). But today, as I perused the menu, I saw a breakfast that was truly worthy of being titled a bikepacking breakfast. There, on the menu in front of me, was two eggs, any style, toast, hash browns, bacon, and a waffle. AND, to top it off, the normal price of $15-something was crossed out and marked in red "$11.40". Plus, it had a special name. And while I cannot remember the exact moniker, it was something like "super-gargantuan-special-value-fantastico-lesUltra-pinnable-alpha-breakfast" or something like that. So I ordered it. It took me longer to order it than it probably did to cook it. "How do you want your eggs?" "over medium" "Hash browns or grits?" "Hash browns, please" "White, wheat or sourdough?" "Wheat, please" "Do you want any jelly on the toast?" "Yes, please" "We have grape, Strawberry, mixed fruit" "Mixed, please" "Bacon or Sausage?" "Bacon, please" "What do you want on your waffle?" "Syrup, please" "Do you want more coffee, hon?" "Yes, Please"

Now if you've ever been to Waffle House, you know that a waffle isn't a waffle and eggs and toast are not eggs and toast. They have modified standard English and use codes to communicate to the cooks to make the ordering simpler. For example, to place my order, my server did not simply say "Two eggs over-medium, hash browns, wheat toast, side of bacon, waffle" they much simplified it with "Double ova in the middle half softness yellow slight ooze crash mash hash halfway sepia gluten portion in between white brown pork sideling trinity size waffle" See how that much simplifies it so there's no confusion?

"I can't believe I ate the WHOLE thing..." "You ate it, Ralph..."

Now I'm not a big eater, so ordering this was a huge leap of faith, but to say I wailed on this breakfast would be an understatement; I raged on it. In those 15 minutes or so to engorge myself on the breakfast, I realized I'm burning some serious calories on this trip that I need to replace. Fully refueled, I headed through the streets of Williamsport at 8:00 to return to the trail.

Fully sated from breakfast, I ride with renewed vigor and energy

Interesting sights today. I pass by an RV with travel trailers, fifth-wheels, and mobile homes jammed into something of a glorified parking lot. The irony of the RV names struck me - wilderness, mountain house, "solitude" (jammed in among all the others), "Wanderlust" (parked there for what looked like a long time). Ah, Marketing, you're still doing well.

A little after 9:00, I reach the midpoint of the C&O. 92.25 miles behind me, and 92.25 in front. That's what makes it the midpoint. On my YouTube video, I sing Bon Jovi's "Half way there". Of course I make sure to sing it a little off-tempo and out of key so I don't get a copyright mark on my video. But I really can't sing very well anyway so I'm not too worried.

I'm half way there, and I'm livin' on a prayer

At 33 miles in, I detour off the trail to visit Antietam National Battlefield. On my first ride-through I decided to forego the excursion because my saddle was the most uncomfortable thing ever and I just wanted to get to Harper's Ferry and off the saddle (plus, rain was in the forecast). My next ride through I was again trying to beat the incoming rain with Hurricane Ophelia so I was putting on trail miles instead of excursions. This time, though, I made the detour, did the climb, and made it to a point of history. This was the first major engagement of the US Civil War in September 1862 (information about the clash).

Dunker church, then and now. Knowing the historical significance and history behind a site or structure gives it so much more context.

The battlefield today. Now it's a remembrance of once what was and a stark reminder of what could come to pass if we don't learn from history.

12:30, I pass by Harper's Ferry. I've been there multiple times so I didn't feel the need to visit. If you want to know more about my last visit, you can read about in my 2015 tour journal. Suffice to say, I was happy merely cycling on. I did do something I've never done before, and that was wander down a herd path to the water to see the town from across the other side.

Harper's Ferry WV. If you've never been, it's absolutely worth a stop.

After that, it was a 5 mile ride to Brunswick where I stopped in Beans in the Belfry to get a sandwich around mid-afternoon aligning with my meal time-shift strategy. I also recharged devices for a bit. I didn't want to get to the campsite too early because I would just be sitting in a tent or at a picnic table.

The view of the last 20 miles of my day encompassed in one picture.

I make it into camp around 4:00. There's another rider there across the small hiker biker site. She's riding a Cattrike with a full Bimini cover over the seat and it's pulling a large Burley trailer. Next to it is a 1-person tent containing the rider. Now I'm fairly social in small doses, but from the time I arrived until I climbed into my tent to call it a day, there was no exit from the tent at all. I heard movement here and there, and a few coughs, but nothing further. Didn't exit the tent for anything - she must have a bladder the size of Wyoming. Maybe she got out while I slept at night but I don't know because (a) I was sleeping and (b) I didn't set up any infrared trail cameras.

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Today's ride: 77 miles (124 km)
Total: 741 miles (1,193 km)

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