Entered Maryland, my 7th and last state!   Day 17 101 Miles

If you have been following my blog, then you would know right away that I intended to do 110 miles today. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, I missed today's goal by about 9 miles. The day started off with me in the saddle at about 6:45am. As usual, the setting was picturesque with the sun coming over the mountains and the morning mist still hanging in the low lying areas. All was going well, except for some small Garmin issues. And despite some major climbs right out of the gate, I took it in stride, paced myself and tried to focus my attention on the family and getting home. 

By the time Sharon caught up with me at about 9:30, I had knocked out over 30 miles of my ride. On normal terrain, 35 miles in almost 3 hours would not normally be something to publicly boast about. However, the day was full of mountain climbing and very slow speeds, so I was happy with my progress. I still had a lot of fuel in the tank and felt prepared for the remaining 75 miles. I went to bed last night after carefully studying the elevations on the course. There were about 6 climbs to 1500 feet, 4 prominent spikes to 2000 feet, and many small foothill climbs at between 500 and a 1000 feet. All leveled off at about mile 65 as I dropped into Maryland. It looked like a great way to finish the day. I thought to myself that even though the distance was longer, the lower elevations of 2000 ft vs 3000 ft from the day prior, would allow me to save some energy for the end of the day. I learned by mile 50 that what I know about course planning and preparation was lacking and I very much underestimated the workout for the day. The fact yesterday's climb to Altoona and the sprinkling of climbs ahead of it was small compared to today's barrage of mountain climbing. I was like a local amateur boxer released into the ring with Mike Tyson (in his prime). 

I was hot, tired and sore. With my current pace, I was going so slow that the gnats and horse flies could easily keep up with me and they were feasting on my sweat. Ironically, one of the worst parts is that the descents were dangerously fast and I had to ride my breaks to keep myself from going too fast. Not knowing the course, I couldn't risk hitting a pothole or a guard rail and having a potentially serious injury. Ironically, when your bike wants to go 45 and you are slowing it down to just over 30, that takes a lot of effort and my hands and shoulders were / are aching a lot. This work on the way down the mountain really takes a lot of pleasure away from enjoying the satisfaction of having made it to the top. The first 65 miles took me about 8 hours, including many rests. With the heat and humidity rising, I was physically fading. For the first time on my entire trip, I stopped for a quick nap in the shade. It wasn't my intent to nap, but with a nice breeze, some shade and my helmet under my head, I closed my eyes and woke 20 minutes later.  

After 65 miles, I was happy that the maps had told the truth and I rather enjoyed being dumped into the southern PA farmlands and pedaling up and down the rollers. With about 9+ hours of biking for the day, I crossed the Maryland line at about the 80 mile mark in temperatures exceeding 90+ degrees. At about mile 82, my right foot was in extreme pain, so I had to stop and ice it down. Heavy exposure to sun in the open fields, high temps and the day's long workout were quickly eroding any stamina I had left. With 30 more miles to go, I could tell I was struggling. I had a hard time staying hydrated and was moving more slowly with each mile. 

At a stop in Hagerstown, MD, a resident told me that I had two major climbs that lay between there and Frederick. He mentioned a climb that I had done earlier in the day from McConnelsville, PA and said that the Frederick climbs were both a lot like that. I cringed and while I didn't show it, I couldn't believe that I had missed that on my charts. This was a game changer and I knew that if he was right, there would be no way that I could pedal over these mountains. At about mile 90, I started climbing again. At first, it was subtle, but the mountains in the distance were not an illusion and I knew that I had to get over them. My only hope was that the roads would somehow wind around and not go straight over as the other roads had earlier in the day and yesterday. For about 10 miles, the climbs were steep but gave me some relief on the plateaus. I was moving slower than ever and at this point and was beginning to feel clammy and overheated. Steady hydration didn't help and I was fairly sure that I was spent and possibly close to heat exhaustion. At mile 101 or 102, I came around a turn and looked at the road going straight up as far as I could see in the distance, and I knew that I was done for the day. I planted my rear in the shade on a guard rail and did something that I have not done the entire trip; I called for a ride. Sharon, who waiting at the top of the mountain came back down to get me. Depleted, I loaded my bicycle in the back of the van and watched every climb to be sure that I had made the right call. The last thing I wanted was to get a bump up the hill only to see that I had mostly conquered it on my own It felt better to know that the stranger in town was right. There were two serious mountains to climb with many smaller but very challenging hills in the middle. I had only made it less than half way up the first climb. These mountains and hills lasted for 13+ plus miles, so I was sure that I had made the right call. I half thought that I would get out of the van as we dropped down into the flats of Frederick, but I had been out in the sun for too long and with nothing left in me, I asked Sharon to just take me to the hotel. She dropped me off at the Days Inn Motel in Frederick for a total bump of about 20 miles. If you're doing the math with me, then you probably figured out that the course for the day was not 110 miles as I had thought, but over 120 miles. The extra 10 miles came when I intentionally ignored my Garmin after it repeatedly tried to take me down rough roads. 

Side note... this place is a dump. As I write, there is a guy sitting outside my door and smoking. He seems to be blowing smoke into my wall mounted air conditioning unit and I feel like I have lit one up myself. The place is alive with live-in tenants who have their laundry hanging off the railings. When they asked me, 'would you be interested in a pool side room', I gobbled it right up. I was looking forward to a swim and how convenient to be on ground level and have the pool right outside my door. I had no idea that the waterfront festivities would last well past the 9:00pm supposed closing time of the pool. It's now approaching 11:30pm and the guests are enjoying the pool as if it were their own private beach. With booze, smokes and music, I am wondering if someone will break out the grill and some tiki lamps at any minute. Never has saving $40 seemed like such a bad idea...  

I have mixed feelings as I post tonight. I considered today to be really my last serious day of biking because my last two days are short distances. For that reason, I had no issue with scheduling the 110 mile distance for today. Obviously, I wanted the bragging rights to say I did 100% of the distance from Topeka to Davidsonville. Even though 20 miles over 1500 is not significant and my decision to stop was the right one, it will probably always be a bit irritating to me. To stay on the road today would have been foolish and dangerous, and as romantic as it sounds to be able to say, 'I pedaled the entire way', this is not a movie and extreme heat and physical duress when you're 46 is not something to be toyed with. I don't consider myself to be athletic, but I have done many physically challenging things to test myself. I know that the last 3 days combined was the hardest that I have ever pushed my body in my entire life and for that I am proud. By way of comparison, I did the Tough Mudder race a couple months back and today's ride alone made that race look about as physically challenging as a walk on the beach. 

After biking for over 2 weeks with no SAG rides and getting faster and more efficient with each day, I believed that I was ready for the challenges of Pennsylvania. Missouri had taught me a lot about giant rollers, but nothing about mountains and long climbs. Illinois and parts of Indiana had taught me about enduring in extreme heat but all while biking on relatively flat terrain. Ohio was a nice mix of everything, but nothing compared to the last three days. It was a learn as you go experience for me that required me to completely rethink how I started each day. Overall, I did well and adapted, but in hindsight, I should have made today's trip much shorter. 

Big shout out to Mom (Sharon) for her help. I greatly underestimated how much I would need her and thankfully, her strong common sense prevailed and she was there whenever I needed her. Thank you, thank you, thank you.  

Tomorrow, I bike from Frederick, MD to Laurel, MD on the eve of my final day of riding. Can't wait to share my hotel story from Laurel.. might dedicate an entry to that. 

Some Pictures from the road:

From the top of my biggest climb

Arrival in Maryland. This was the only sign they had out in the country. 

Never thought that I would be so happy to see a sign that had Baltimore written on it. 

Thanks for all of your support!