Day 10 - Final Trek!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Williamsport, MD to Baltimore, MD

~72.17 Miles

Our expected route for the day:

Finding WiFi & Customer Service

The further away from Michigan we get, the more I learn that free WiFi is nearly impossible to come by. So before I begin with today’s update, I thought I’d share a little story. Ready boys and girls? Okay. Once upon a time there was a guy named… well never mind that format, it’s me. This is a story about me. I just came to McDonald’s for free WiFi to update the blog because our hotel wants me to pay for it. Most people would pay for it and do what they needed to do. We all know that I am not most people. Upon entering MD’s I proceed to the counter where I ask if they have free WiFi (I asked because no where here seems to offer FREE WiFi and the poster in the window indicated that I would have to buy an arch card to get WiFi at all). The MD’s Employee (#1) looked back at me wide eyed and filled with, not wonder, but confusion. I asked again. He leans over to his co-worker (employee #2) and whispers something. Employee #2 proceeds to pass on the precious little secret to the manager who immediately walks away and disappears into the back. #1 looks at me as if expecting me to order. I indicate that I’m really only interested in WiFi, so I am going to wait to order until I know if I can pick up a signal here or not. At this moment, which seemed to confuse #1 yet again, the manager reappears on the scene, handing a piece of paper to #2 who hands it to #1 who hands it to me. A WiFi code. Okay, I’ll have a large iced tea, ½ sweet, ½ unsweetened. “$1.06 will be your total.” I hand him 2 $1.00 bills. #1 whispers into #2’s ear again. #2 whispers into the manager’s ear. Manager disappears into the back. Employee #3 shows up on the scene behind me and another customer in line. #1 informs me that he is waiting for quarters unless I want my $0.94 of change in nickels. I indicate that I would in fact prefer 3 quarters, 1 dime, 1 nickel, and 4 pennies rather than 18 nickels and 4 pennies. I can wait. #3 proceeds to step in front of me and begin a vital conversation of no importance with #1 and #2. I stand and wait, keeping my thoughts to myself for the time being. While the manager goes to Bangladesh or somewhere not local at all for quarters, wouldn’t it make sense for #1, #2, or #3 to get my tea and or possibly even simultaneously serve the next customer in line? I thought so too. Instead what progressed was their conversation about nothing, the next customer approaching the counter thinking the same thing I was, only to receive an awkward look from #2 as if to say, “What?”. Manager returns from Bangladesh with quarters and speedily disappears again. I am handed my 3 quarters, 1 dime, 1 nickel, and 4 pennies. Then… nothing. #1, #2, #3 continue their little convo. When I don’t satisfiedly (no that isn’t a word) walk away, #1 realizes that no one has gotten my tea in the 7.832 minutes that have passed by and instructs #2 of this discovery. #2 grabs a cup, fills ‘er up and gives me my large sweet tea. Wait, I’m not from the south and can’t stand sweet tea, thus my asking for ½ sweetened, ½ unsweetened. Never mind. I just want WiFi. As I walk away to find my WiFi I hear “May I help the next person in line?” after which I hear #3 ordering a meal. He slid right in front of the customer who had been behind me in line long before #3 even showed up on the scene. So my question in all of this is this; What instills character in us? Work ethic? Compassion? Servitude? Gratitude? Joy? Passion? Perseverance? Honesty? Integrity? A desire for Righteousness and Justice? Etc. etc. etc. I don’t intend to go into my response to this question, I just thought I’d share the question and how it came to mind. Now to the happenings of today prior to me trying to find free WiFi.

Day 9 - Evening Report

“It’s never too early in the day to start using granny gear”. This is how our day began as we tackled our first accent soon after starting our day. When we shoved off this morning, we were grateful for the warm temperature and the fact that it wasn’t raining anymore. The roads were saturated from a solid rain during the night, but we could deal with that compared to yesterday’s water extravaganza.

Going into the day we knew we had three significant long, steep climbs. You’ll be glad to know that we were able to find each of these waiting for us accompanied by multiple sets of slightly less extreme undulations in the terrain that seemed to keep on a commin’ one after the other after another and another.

Another great quote from today comes from Caleb. After we reached the top of a tough climb, we break, regroup, hydrate, try to level out our breathing and such. Not Caleb. We get to the top of one of our longest climbs of the day, and we get to partake in a dialogue that went something like “ ‘That was fun.” “Fun? What do you mean fun, like let’s go do that one again just because it was so much fun?” “Well you have to admit it was pretty.” Upon hearing Caleb’s response, the only reaction Bob could muster was spewing his mouthful of water all over as he tried to hold back the laughter.

After our last big climb, we got to spend 10 miles on the Western Maryland Rail Trail. You see these rail trails all over the states. There is a great one from Grand Rapids, MI all the way up to Cadillac, MI. Basically they take a stretch of abandon rail road and pave over top of it to form a nice path. Since trains can’t handle steep grades up or down, they are nice and straight with slow, wide turns and shallow grades. All of this to say that the Rail Trail was a cake walk (john would call this “patty cakes”). It was like a red carpet had been laid out for us and for these 10 short miles, we just cruised. No crazy hills to maneuver. No insanely slow average speeds of 4-8 MPH. Just crusin’ along at a steady easy goin’ 17-18 MPH without a care in the world. And then it ended and we were tossed right back into the undulating backbone of Maryland. Oh well, that’s what granny gear is for.

We arrived at our hotel unscathed yet another day. We grabbed some dinner at the American Trough, I mean Golden Corral and called it a day. It is amazing to each of us that we only have one more day of riding left. I think it’s safe to say we’re all ready to get back home, but this trip has flown by and we’ve all had a blast thus far. We’ll have to see if we can muster up a few more stories tomorrow and Thursday. Till then.

Today’s Stats:
Ride Time: 4:24:14
Today’s Distance: 51.70 Miles
Total Trip Distance So Far: 641.10 Miles
Average Speed: 13.50 MPH
Max Speed: 38.90 MPH
Flat Tires Today: 1
Flat Tires So Far: 4
Total # of Dog Chases Worth Mentioning: 0 so far
Road Kill Tally: Keep guessing. Our average has dropped significantly the last 2 days.

Here’s some pix:
A cool B&B from the 1920's atop our highest climb this morning.















We found a park with adult sized safety swings & figured we oughta try 'em out.






























I think Cliff is trying to figure out why he let Mark talk him into this trip.















Figurin' things out.















Coming off the Western Maryland Rail Trail.






























We've arrived at our hotel.

I updated posts all the way back to the Evening Report for Day 3 with pictures if you want to check 'em out.

In addition to the post for yesterday's evening report, I was able to go back and finally add some pictures to the posts for day 3 all the way up to today.

Thanks for your patience.

Day 8 - Evening Report

As I stated in a previous post, with each new day comes new experiences, adventures, and challenges.

As we set off this morning, it was raining, it had been raining for a good portion of the night so everything was nice and saturated, and the forecast called for rain. This was not exactly ideal from the perspective of cyclists in the middle of a long trip such as this one. If I were at home and I was getting ready for my Sunday morning ride with Bob and it were raining, we would text back and forth, letting each other know that we wouldn't be riding and we’d just see one another at church in a few hours. Unfortunately, on a trip of this nature, the option of saying “guess I won’t be riding this morning” and rolling back into bed simply doesn’t exist. We do after all have a quota of miles we need to meet each day so we make it to Baltimore on Wednesday.

So, resist as we might, we geared up best we could for riding in the rain and proceeded as normal. The thing about gearing up for riding in the rain is that you get wet no matter what you do. Option 1: Gear up with rain gear and sweat to the point that you are just as soggy wet as the guy not wearing said gear. Option 2: Don’t gear up with any rain gear and get just as wet as the guy wearing said gear who is sweating like it were his job. So some of us geared up, some didn’t. Personal preference + trial and error I suppose are what it comes down to.

All that to say that we began riding and were all soaked very shortly following our departure. It’s amazing how much road grime (john would call this goopis) you pick up when it’s raining. This stuff gets everywhere and I mean EVERYWHERE. Bike and body being completely saturated only adds to the experience, or something like that. Basically it makes riding pretty miserable, at least this is my personal opinion. I’m sure you could find cyclists who don’t mind or even enjoy getting’ all nasty soggy wet, but not me. So needless to say our bikes are all pretty nasty right now. We figure we'll leave 'em that way so that all ya'll believe we actually did this upon our return.

To give you an idea, here’s how cycling in the rain plays out: you coast down a hill riding your brakes the whole way as to not lose control or get going so fast that your wet brakes don’t assist you anymore. On the down hill you’re freezing cold and can’t wait for the next up hill climb so you can get back to producing some core body heat, then you’re too hot and want the next down hill and so on and so forth. It’s confusing and really makes you wonder if you know what you want at all anymore. I actually heard Cliff say “Man I’m cold, I hope we get to climb a hill soon so I can warm up.” Don’t worry, Cliff was able to warm back up, we were able to find another mountain or twelve to climb throughout the rest of the day.

By about 2:00/2:30 the sun came out, things dried up, and we shed our layers. We once again found that our directions don’t always jive with the reality of how the roads are laid out. That’s okay though, we made friends with many of the locals who unfortunately don’t tend to invoke our trust when it comes to their sense of directions, communication or knowledge of how to get from their town to the next one over.

All this in a good day’s ride. Thanks for your prayers today and throughout the trip so far. God has definitely stretched each of us in various ways as well as blessed us repeatedly. Remember that what we are accomplishing on this trip is beyond any of us without the strength, endurance, and perseverance that God gives us each new day. May we each shine Him in a manner of which He is worthy.

Today’s Stats:
Ride Time: 4:57:13
Today’s Distance: 62.50 Miles
Total Trip Distance So Far: 589.40
Average Speed: 12.3 MPH
Max Speed: 35.10 MPH
Flat Tires Today: 2
Flat Tires So Far: 3
Total # of Dog Chases Worth Mentioning: 0 so far
Road Kill Tally: Keep guessing, Cliff will let you know upon our return.


Here are some pix from today:

Maybe you can't see it, but it's raining, trust us.

We're in Maryland, we must be getting closer.

Coming out of a down hill freeze session, headin' into a up hill thaw.

These kids had themselves a bucket of 9 water bugs they was tryin' to sell for 25 cents each. We were their 1st potential customers all day. We didn't buy any, though later we wished we had just to boost their rainy day a bit.

Detouring through a town.

Day 9 - Almost There!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Flinstone, MD to Williamsport, MD

~54.25 Miles

Our expected route today:

No Internet, update hppefully 2morrow.