Sunday, May 21

Rockville to Towson, MD. Note to self: just because the map doesn't show any elevation changes, doesn't mean the ride won't be hilly. And today's ride was exactly that. We started out early, and in my mind that translates to an easy ride, finishing early and feeling refreshed. Since we were a little off route today, we thought that today's mileage might be around 50 or so. It took us about 5 hours to ride 56 (did I mention hilly?) miles today. Just for comparison, the "boys" riding the Giro d'Italia today will cover about 125 miles in about the same time. But they have media coverage, team chase cars, and matching uniforms--none of which we have. On the other hand, we will never be caught by the peloton. The weather today was (and is) georgous. Mid-60's, sunny, and warm with NW winds. Just about perfect riding weather. We made a stop around 11am and met a family who has biked a lot on the C&O Canal Bike Path. We met a cyclist in DC who had done that path and really enjoyed it, too. We got to talking about our route, and when we mentioned going to New Hampshire, the woman supplied us with her sister and mother's phone numbers. "My sister had 5 kids, so she might be busy (ya think?), but call my parents. They are always taking in strays." The goofy thing is that we forgot to ask her name . . . guess the conversation with her sister will be really interesting. We stopped for lunch on the outskirts of Ellicott City--we had some time to kill before their library opened at 1:00pm. Back on our bikes, we followed a family of 5 on their bikes to the library. We had a nice chat with them; they are just introducing their kids to cycling. Their oldest daughter is riding her first 2-wheeler; one of the boys rides a tag-along which is attached to the seat post of another bike. The other boy is still young enough to ride in a bike-seat behind his dad's bike. They were very enthusiastic about our trip, and checked our route into Baltimore for us. More later.