Day 25: To Ocean City, MD

May 10, 2017

Today is a day of incredible contrasts, starting on an isolated fishing village in Chesapeake Bay and ending at a bustling resort city on the Atlantic ocean.

It's a long day and I have to catch the 8 AM mail boat. I got up at 6:30, and had a home cooked breakfast at 7. That left me a few minutes to wander through town one last time before getting on the mail boat to Crisfield, MD.

At 8:45 I got off the ferry in Crisfield and began pedaling across the DelMarVa peninsula. The first 21 miles was familiar, backtracking to Pocomoke City. Traffic was light.

MD 413, the bike friendly main street in Crisfield, MD.

1921 drawbridge across the Pocomoke river.

In Pocomoke City I stopped for an early lunch at a fancy waterfront bar and grill. Very good lunch. Good thing because there was no other restaurant until Ocean City.

I was immediately on low traffic roads once I got out of town. Once again, a delightful day of cycling on the DelMarVA peninsula. I biked 3 days here and it was all great. Just stay off of US 13, US 113, and US 50.

Typical farm on Maryland's eastern shore.

Today I saw painted arrows at most intersections. Mass bike rides use these roads. I presume the seagull icon is for the famous Seagull Century bike ride which has 7500 participants. I followed the seagulls for most of the afternoon but saw no other long distance cyclists.

I went straight, following the route of the Seagull Century.

My back roads route from Pocomoke City to Ocean City is mostly forest and marshes. No villages. Only a few houses. Very few farms. Traffic was very light. Pretty darn nice for bike touring.

Today is mostly sunny but there is still a northwest wind. I traveled north most of the time, with a headwind. Only a few miles went east with a tailwind. The high temperature was 68F. Warmer than the last 3 days, and warmer than the forecast for the next few days. My last semi-warm day of the tour. For the first time in several days I shed the tights and thermal layer during the afternoon.

There were no real towns on my route from Pocomoke City to Ocean City. So of course the roads have almost no traffic. Nassawanga road was especially nice. All the traffic is on US 13 and US 113.

Navigation was complex to stay on back roads from MD 354 to Ocean City. I stopped often to confirm where to turn using the RidewithGPS smart phone app. The last 8 miles to Ocean City was on MD 376 and MD 611 which had moderate traffic and a paved shoulder. I expected the traffic to be worse.

All the roads are great as long as you stay off the US highways.

I saw fewer farms and more forests and swamps today. There were few villages in the countryside and I only saw a few abandoned houses.

I had to pedal a short distance on US 50 to get to the barrier island that is Ocean City. I had read about the famous "US 50 milepost zero" sign, but didn't notice it because I was watching traffic instead.

US 50 connecting to the barrier island. Somehow I missed the milepost zero sign at the end.

I arrived at the Ocean City boardwalk at 6:15 PM. It was a long day on the road thanks to the headwind.

Ceremonial entrance to the Ocean City, MD boardwalk.

Ocean City has a delightful boardwalk. Unlike in Virginia Beach, this boardwalk is actually made of boards! 2.5 miles long. The south end has the oldest buildings while the north end has the newest and tallest buildings.

Unlike Virginia Beach, this boardwalk really is made of boards.

It's a week night, so I didn't make a motel reservation. I walked into the Americana Hotel and asked about the room prices. I was quoted 3 prices, with the most expensive room being oceanfront for $79 plus tax. So I took an oceanfront room for the first time in my life. Only 2nd floor, but the view is unobstructed and the room has floor to ceiling windows directly facing the ocean.

2nd floor view from the balcony of my oceanfront hotel room.

First time in my life to stay in an oceanfront room.

Dinner was stromboli at a boardwalk pizza joint. I spent most of the evening walking back and forth on the boardwalk. It's interesting to watch the people, the buildings, the beach and waves. Not every place is open yet. I noticed that several restaurants and bars open for the season on Friday, the day after tomorrow. The boardwalk wasn't crowded at all. It's Wednesday night during a cool spell, weeks before the peak summer season.

The boardwalk is about 2 feet higher than the beach and there is a low concrete wall between the beach and boardwalk. The boardwalk is about 4 feet higher than the city streets. Yes, the streets are lower than the beach. Ocean City probably floods often. Nearly everything is built on stilts.

Ocean City is the first place that seems "northern" on this tour. No southern accent now. And the intense commercialism of the boardwalk is very different from what I saw in the southern beach towns.

Ocean City also has a diverse population. On the boardwalk I saw many blacks, Indians (from India), Latinos, Caribbeans, East Asians. A Muslim woman stylishly covered from head to toe pedaled a pink beach cruiser with obvious glee. Most were tourists like me.

The buildings are taller at the north end of the boardwalk.

Ocean City is an old beach resort but tourism really exploded when the Chesapeake Bay Bridge was completed in 1952, providing a direct connection from Washington D.C. and Baltimore.

Nearly all of the old wooden beach hotels have been replaced. The old hotels really stand out. Wood structures painted white, with with no balconies. Standards have changed. Nowadays it's inconceivable to have an oceanfront room without a balcony.

On the left is one of the few remaining old hotels. The old hotels don't have balconies. The street is several feet lower than the boardwalk.

The temperature was about 60F, so nobody was in the water. A few people walked on the beach. Everybody wore jackets because of the brisk northwest wind.

Beware, the eggs of this leviathan might hatch soon!

The south end of the Ocean City boardwalk has a wider beach, retail stores, and an amusement park.

Today was a great day. I saw a historic island fishing village, great Maryland Eastern Shore countryside, and one of the nation's best Atlantic beach towns. The weather was also great. Tomorrow is forecast to be colder and much wetter.

South of Ocean City is a long undeveloped barrier island that sprawls into Virginia. It belongs to Assateague Island National Seashore. North of Ocean City is a very long string of barrier islands that continue almost to New York City. The islands are heavily developed and contain some of the nation's most famous beach towns. For the final 2 days of the tour I will pedal a continuous string of beach towns from here to Atlantic City.

Distance: 67.3 mi. (107 km)
Climbing: 376 ft. 114 m)
Average Speed: 11.0 mph (17.6 km/h)

Today's ride: 67 miles (108 km)
Total: 1,161 miles (1,868 km)

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