May 21, 2017
Day 24: Bethesda, MD to Westminster,MD
Our days are getting hillier and hillier. We had over 3000 feet of climbing today. The grade weren't steep enough to think about using our lowest (four on the ground) gear, but the hills just kept coming.
The first 20 miles leaving Bethesda were not relaxing because we were trying to follow bike paths, sidewalks called bike paths and closed bike paths. Kerry would much rather ride on the street than on a community bike path. We're not talking about dedicated rail trails or real cycling lanes, but those single lane, bumpy, twisty paths through local parks and sidewalks along the side of a highway of varying width and pavement quality. Since it was Sunday morning, the traffic wasn't bad, so we rode on the street wherever we could. We saw a number of local cyclists our riding this morning - most of them using the roads, not the paths. It took both of us to navigate and watch traffic, so we didn't take any pictures in the morning.
The second half of the ride was much better, but the hills were getting tiring. Fortunately, we had plenty of places to stop and rest (and drink Diet Coke). It was nice to get back into a rural area after the two nights in the Washington area. We knew we were back out in the country when we saw the Mail P:ouch barn and found bait for sale in the convenience store.
We rode past this beautiful farm. There were a few young women riding with someone in the center who seemed to be giving instructions. They also had signs advertising the farm as a wedding venue.
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After riding for six days straight, we're looking forward to a rest day tomorrow. We came through a small downtown area we'll explore if the weather is OK. We may just stay in our comfortable room and watch it rain and that would be fine, too!
Today's ride: 54 miles (87 km)
Total: 1,211 miles (1,949 km)
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