I rode on Saturday. Just 30 miles, but with steeper hills than I've ridden in months so it was quite a workout. Another club in this area had its annual century on Sunday out in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, which is just over the river from Sharpsburg MD and the Antietam battlefield. They have started a tradition of holding a ride around and through Antietam the day before the century, and this ride is open to anyone regardless of whether they paid for the century ride. I've been wanting to explore Antietam so I decided to make the drive, about 1.5 hours and more than 80 miles. Fortunately the start time was at noon so I didn't have to get up insanely early for it.
The weather was sunny, humid and warm, very nice actually, and the first time since July that I've had really sweaty helmet hair after a ride. Several of my friends were there and we stopped several times in the park to visit significant battle sites. It was a very good ride. There was traffic near the battlefield which was to be expected, especially since Sunday was the 155th anniversary of the battle, but enough of the ride was on quiet roads. The first and last few miles were on a road next to the C&O Canal, a part of the canal that I've never ridden. We talked about planning other rides in that area in the future, since it's definitely worth making the drive now and then.
The rest stop on the ride was at an ice cream parlor in Sharpsburg. I had peach frozen yogurt, delicious with big peach slices. After the ride I went with a friend to a pizza place in Shepherdstown. The crust was a little thicker than I usually like but it was still foldable and quite good. It's hard to find really good pizza in DC but sometimes when you get away from the city you find some that surprises you. Shepherdstown had a bunch of restaurants that looked good, and on the drive to and from the ride I passed a few others in the small town of Boonsboro. I suspect the proximity to a major battlefield site draws enough visitors to help support them.
Antietam and Gettysburg are roughly 50 miles apart. It's possible to tour both of them by bike. There are some areas of both battlefields that are only accessible on foot, but both have paved roads with designated auto tours that could also be done as bike tours. One of the friends I was with on Saturday estimated that a full bike tour of Antietam would be 9-10 miles whereas a tour of Gettysburg is about twice and long. It is also possible to cycle between Antietam and Gettysburg, though there are a couple of mountains that would need to be crossed.
So that was my weekend. Last night I went for a ride after work, about 16 miles. It's still warm and humid. I had planned to take tomorrow off as a part of the furlough time that I have to take before the end of the month, and was going to do a club ride in a nice area near the Patuxent River in southern Maryland, but today I had a change of plans. A colleague is out from tomorrow through next week and they want me here to cover for him, so I no longer have to take the last 3 furlough days that I thought I had to take. This is a good thing overall since it means 3 days of sick and vacation time that can keep for the future. I am kind of disappointed about not being able to do that ride tomorrow, though, since I haven't ridden in that area in months and I was looking forward to enjoying a warm sunny day outdoors. I will do a shorter ride after work instead.
- Gray 2010 carbon WSD road bike, Rivet Independence saddle
- Red hardtail 26" aluminum mountain bike, Bontrager Evoke WSD saddle
- Royal blue 2018 aluminum gravel bike, Rivet Pearl saddle
Gone but not forgotten:
- Silver 2003 aluminum road bike
- Two awesome worn out Juliana saddles