Cinco de Maryland

Four states in just five days. Another great day of riding. We're at Barefoot Bernies in Hagerstown, MD. Feels good to have gotten this far down the road. The moto here is, "it's always a weekend at bernies."

GPS. Giant piece of shit. That's the real acronym. I'm selling this thing as soon as I get a chance. My iPhone has all the same tricks and then some. I should have invested that money into an IPAD. Should have taken one of those on this trip. My concern was breaking it or it getting wet. Live and learn.

Today was almost a 70 mile day. Rain was expected all day agian, yet we were sparred. Just grey luminous clouds hanging over our heads all day. That doesn't stop the sweat from pouring down but it is more comfortable than the sun blaring down.

Today we also had another day of hilly terrain. Felt so much better than I did two days ago. It's amazing day five of this trip already, it's becoming a reality! The first few days were novelty. Still pretty close to home. Now I'm really feeling excited about it.

Its fun talking to all the animals as I'm riding. Been trying to get them to lift there heads to stare at me. So far they are pretty responsive. I've seen cows, horses, chickens, rabbits, ground hogs, pheasants, llamas, goats, sheep and a few other things. Along with a ton of road kill and old carcusses. Unlike Philly and Newark where the old torn out weaves looked like road kill.

Everything is still holding up. Today I had my first technical difficulty. Biking up a steep incline changing into my small chain ring the chain overshot and came off. Otherwise smooth sailing. Was almost tempted to stop at a few post offices I saw today to ship some stuf home. i.e. The extra bag I'm not using and my heavy lock. Since I've only locked my bike up once.

My legs are really feeling it. Hopefuuly they will keep up with the ride. It's so dangerous on the road. You really have to be in the moment. Any crack, pothole, curb, branch or anything can take u out. Including your gps taking u off course.

Listened to the "Power of Now," by Ekhart Tolle for most of the day. His voice and teachings were really good to listen to. Very basic and he pulls from all the religions to share his views. Then towards the end of the day it was some rock and roll to get through those last 5 or so miles.

Broke the speed limit twice today. Got just over 35 in a 35 zone. That's the beauty of climbing those hills, you get to motor down. Yesterday my top speed was just over 38. Think those tour de France guys get over 60. The bike feels really solid in all conditions.

Not sure where we will end up tomorrow. Have to do some reviewing of the maps. We've been staying at Super 8's and they don't have a business center. Then when you ask somebody a question of where to find something and nobody knows. So u have to be very resourceful. This iPhone is great. The aps I'm using most are maps, kayak, warmshowers.org, where and blogpress. They provide pretty much everything I need.

Have not seen one internet cafe. But have seen plenty of fast food joints, gas stations, we buy gold and tattoo shops. Also haven't seen any Starbucks since Philly. I've also seen a lot of characters and some interesting outfits. Still a lot of cars on the road that u don't see in NY. People seem to keep up and hold onto thier cars for a lot longer.

Thanks for reading along. I know this was a bit lenghty but had to share a few things on my mind.




That's Robert E Lee in Gettysburg.





What the bike looks like geared up. Then a farm house iPhone bike by picture. Tomorrow I'll actually stop and take some legit pix.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:U.S. 40,17, Hagerstown,United States