May 30, 2008
Day 18: Washington Grove, MD to Delta, PA
90.16 miles, 7:03:37 Ride Time, 12.77 Average Speed, 39.03 Maximum Speed
After a good night's sleep, I was riding out of Washington Grove fairly early, anxious to get away from the traffic of the last few days. John had made me a hand-drawn map the night before, and his directions for getting back on the Adventure Cycling route worked great.
Soon I was on my first country road in Maryland - a narrow, shady (and hilly) lane that led me to Brookeville (pop. 120). Unfortunately, I had either left too late (or too early, who knows) to avoid the commuter traffic. As I had said to John when he met me near his home yesterday: Who are all these people, and where are they going? I really had no idea how congested this part of the east coast is. I don't think I could handle three days in a row of riding in these conditions.
The next few hours were more of the same - "back" roads that seemed awfully busy. By the time I approached Marriottsville, the maps no longer agreed with what I was seeing. This whole area has obviously grown in the last several years, and what were quiet country roads are now busy highways connecting the cookie-cutter subdivisions I was growing so weary of. Finding my way out of that mess was the low point of the day.
I arrived in Reisterstown, a nice looking town (pop. 22,438), around noon and stopped at a Dunkin' Donuts. I went inside into the air conditioning and had a sandwich and a smoothie. When I emerged, my mood was vastly improved. The last few days I hadn't stopped for lunch anywhere; I'd just been rushing through the day, stopping at the occasional convenience store for a snack that I would eat while straddling the bike. This was a reminder that I need to slow down and enjoy the ride.
My mood was not the only thing that improved in Reisterstown; the traffic finally thinned out and the scenery improved. For most of the rest of the day, I rode through quiet country roads, sometimes passing pretty horse farms, sometimes climbing up (and coasting down) hilly, shady lanes.
I ran out of water somewhere on Corbett Road, just in time to see the first person out in their yard I'd seen in miles (I had passed by dozens of fancy horse farms all afternoon, but never saw signs of life, except for the occasional tractor off in the distance). The lady was happy to fill my bottle with cold water.
I stopped in Jarrettsville (pop. 2,756) for a Gatorade to fortify me for the fifteen miles to the Pennsylvania state line. Still mostly light traffic all the way to Delta, PA (pop. 741). Maryland redeemed itself this afternoon with some great roads and scenery.
I had called the Peach Bottom Inn earlier in the day, to verify that they still existed. The outside of the place, and the nice restaurant attached to it, looked good, so my room was a disappointment. The place wasn't scary or anything (it apparently catered primarily to contractors working at the nearby Peach Bottom power plant), but it was pretty shabby. I haven't had the good luck with cheap motels that I did on my 2006 trip.
I walked over to the restaurant and was shocked at how much nicer than my room it was. There was also an attached banquet hall that looked well maintained. In fact, the restaurant was fancier than the places where I usually have dinner. After my dinner of chicken parmesan, I asked the waiter what the deal was. Apparently the people who own another restaurant in town bought this motel and restaurant a few years ago. It doesn't look like they're investing much in the motel, if my room is any indication. I suggest they spend less money on the linen tableclothes in the restaurant, and more on refurbishing the rooms.
(Also - In what has become a weird tradition on this and my TransAmerica trip, I turned on the TV to find the show "Grounded for Life" on. Is this show constantly being shown on cable TV, or is it just a coincidence? I'm not really a television watcher, but I must have seen every episode of this thing multiple times by now.)
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Today's ride: 90 miles (145 km)
Total: 1,371 miles (2,206 km)
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