Thurmont, MD to Timonium, MD:

May 17, 2012

The World is Coming to Thurmont... right after we get out of town!

The weather was a lot colder this morning. I started with just a jersey, resisting Rhona's suggestion that we stop so I could put something warmer on. Within 1/2 mile, I had to put on a sweater... I hate that she is always right. We checked out of our nearly empty motel. The clerk said they had 35 reservations for Thursday night, in effect they were full because of the G8 Summit. We were so lucky to get through town when we did. Rhona read a headline on the Thurmont newspaper on a doorstep, saying "The World is Coming to Thurmont". Last evening, we saw protest messages stenciled neatly in the road in several languages. My plan was to stop this morning to take pictures, but they seemed to have been removed overnight. 10 Miles from the start, Rhona had to stop to use the roadside facilities. She heard a unique bird call and turned in time to spy a Bald Eagle flying behind us. I'm usually the one watching for birds of prey.

Downtown Thurmont, before the G8 Summit arrives. We did see armed law enforcement types. We stopped in front of the local Bank of America building to pry a sweater out of our B.O.B. bag in the trailer. Perhaps that wasn't the best place to stop. Rhona claims an armed policeman was standing looking at the brick wall of the bank building. Why he would be doing this, I didn't ask... sometimes it is best to not question a tandem partner/wife when they make implausible comments.

Continuing on east we had pleasant roads and courteous Maryland drivers. Perhaps it was because the local sheriff department had units waiting everywhere to ticket speeders. We kept passing them hidden away from vehicular traffic. As much as I tried, we were not able to exceed the speed limit in any of the areas they were monitoring. I would have loved to have had a "warning ticket" to show off. ****Editor's final note on the subject. I know it's another day with no picture of Rhona. I swear she was with me, I couldn't have gotten up some of the hills without her. Also, she is the one that prevented me from making unseemly comments and gestures to passing motorists who crowded us into the curb coming up the hill into Reisterstown. Grandson Nicholas will testify she was with me when this picture was taken. (That's my stomach sticking in from the right side).

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Uniontown was a pleasant surprise this morning. Many of the homes were pre-Civil War vintage. We stopped at a plaque describing Union army manuevers just prior to the Battle of Gettysburg. Uniontown was on the route of the Civil War Battlefields tour. A good reason to come back some other time for a visit.

Uniontown was a pleasant surprise this morning. Many of the homes were pre-Civil War vintage. We stopped at a plaque describing Union army manuevers just prior to the Battle of Gettysburg. Uniontown was on the route of the Civil War Battlefields tour. A good reason to come back some other time for a visit.

We continued east into Westminster and then Reisterstown. Some of roads were under construction and (just west of Reisterstown) had three highspeed lanes in each direction, but no shoulder allowed for pedestrians or cyclists. Of course we were grinding up a steep hill in our lowest gear with traffic blasting by. I have to say, most drivers did their best to give us room, but the sound of the high speed vehicles in close proximity to us was unnerving. After leaving Reisterstown we were on high volume traffic two lane roads, for the most part without a shoulder but the scenery was so spectacular that it almost didn't matter. We even saw three other cyclists. Apparently local cyclists brave the traffic because of the scenery.

In 1996 when we cycled across the US we noted that this part of Maryland was some of the most scenic in the entire country. Here is an example. We almost didn't care about the heavy traffic and lack of shoulder on the road.

This was Maryland Horse Country. The guy that owns "Under-Armor" clothing has an estate in this area (these might have been his horses). He is working with other civic minded citizens in Maryland to restore the Preakness to it's previous stature. Our daughter and son-in-law were invited to one of his parties a year ago and had a great time.

Our plan is to join the Adventure Cycling Atlantic Coast route in Timonium where our daughter lives. We arrived in time to meet our Grandson getting off the bus. Although he knew we were coming, he was still startled to see Grandpap waiting for him to get off the bus without the car parked in the driveway. I hope he will join us on one of these adventures someday.

Grandson Nicholas proudly displayed a portions of a multi-media book report he generated for one of his classes. He and his classmates casually used computer internet based software to generate impressive pretty fancy interesting presentations.

Today's ride: 56 miles (90 km)
Total: 204 miles (328 km)

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