The Return of the Scenic Ride – And Hills

Today started with another first. In this case, it was the date – as in the first of October. That’s significant because it means I am officially in my fifth calendar month of my current crisis. I’m still not sure where the time has gone but it’s definitely gone by quickly. And I still haven’t found what I’m looking for (that’d be a good name for a song). So the pedalling continues.

After spending the night in Elkton, the goal for today was Baltimore. Actually, the goal for today was the Baltimore area – specifically Lutherville-Timonium which is about 25km (15 miles) north of Baltimore and about 105km (65 miles) from Elkton.

For the first time in a while – and not just because I spent two weeks in Philadelphia – I found myself riding on roads that weren’t highways or city streets. And I have to say it was a refreshing change. The downside is that country roads frequently have steep, winding hills – and that was certainly the case today. That’s not to say there weren’t highways as well. There were. And they too were hilly. But it wasn’t a day of exclusively highways which meant I had more to look at than just a steady stream of passing cars. Another upside of the day was that when there were hills they weren’t as extreme as many of those back in Quebec and Newfoundland (like that’s possible!). And even if they were, did I mention it was nice to be cycling through more scenic landscapes again?

According to Google, my ride today was supposed to take six hours and 19 minutes. I’ve noticed that Google’s estimates are remarkably reliable when the terrain is relatively flat but, when hills are added to the equation, things get more complicated. Today continued that trend. Fortunately, the difference is usually in my favour as I seem to be able to pedal faster than Google thinks I can. Further proof that Google doesn’t know all. And for those that don’t want to wait until the end of this update, today’s ride time was four hours and 56 minutes.

My plan for the day was to arrive at George and Michelle’s place around 4:00. So, when I had covered 60km by noon I was in a good position for a leisurely afternoon ride. And that’s exactly what I had (hills not withstanding). I stopped for lunch at Wendy’s and stayed there for about 45 minutes. And two hours later, despite my leisurely lunch, I stopped again to eat when I arrived in Timonium. I really don’t know why. By that point I was less than 10km from my day’s destination. And yet I stopped. Truth be told, I was lured in by Little Caesars. They had a deal for a $5 large pepperoni pizza. Now, the real question is, “Should you really be able to buy a large pizza for $5?”. But rather than ask that real question I simply said, “I’ll have a large pepperoni pizza please.” And all that’s left to say is, “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.”

Even with all my stops along the way, I still arrived at George and Michelle’s shortly before 4:00. With no one home yet, I let myself in and was promptly greeted by one of two cats. We exchanged looks of suspicion before going about our business. In my case, bringing in my bags. For the cat, it was smelling said bags. Side note, currently two of two cats are staring at me – still suspicious. They’re probably wondering why I smell like a Portuguese Water Dog.

Fast-forward a few hours and an excellent dinner was being had with George and Michelle. Apparently the pizza didn’t fill me up as much as I thought. But dinner certainly did.

In addition to the return of scenic landscapes, another significant milestone was reached today. I actually didn’t realize it until the end of my ride but the milestone moment actually occurred very early in today’s ride. When my ride started this morning, my total distance pedalled for the trip was 5,994km. That means by the time I reached the highway this morning I had crossed the 6,000km threshold (or 3,750 miles). Hard to believe that only 2,300km ago I was in St. John’s. And now, depending on my route, I’m about 1,750km from Quest Air in Florida.

Today’s Totals:
Distance travelled: 105.87
Time on bike: 4:56:20
Maximum speed: 60.23 km/h
Average speed: 21.42 km/h