Gettin' our groove back on

May 16, 2022

Madison, MD to Cambridge, MD

I consider the style of this home as the quintessential Cape Cod.

We visited the Old Trinity Church today. They have their own pier so people can take a boat to services.

The big news for today is that WE'RE ON A BIKE TOUR!!!!!!!!!

Yes, it's true. After 3 long years we finally actually touring, albeit a short 3-day mini credit card tour and not a several month long trip with our full compliment of gear. But it is self-contained.

We'd been talking for awhile now about how to get back into some type of touring along with our trailer travel and were able to put it together here in Maryland. Biking on the Delmarva penninsula was a highlight of the previous tour we did along the east coast and as I've stated previously, we always wanted to come back and explore more of the area.

For the last several weeks, we had researched how to make this happen and Don found a small town on the Cheasapeake Bay in Maryland that looked like it had several nice bike routes. Plus there were hotels available which we'd need because we don't have our tent and sleeping bags. We only had our 2 older Ortleib panniers to work with.

As we neared our potential tour date, we crossed our fingers that the weather would cooperate. Plus we also needed a safe spot to park the truck and trailer for a couple of days.

Surprisingly, both of the above fell into place. The weather looked like a little rain in the afternoon of the first day, followed by nice weather the other 2 days. Then we were able to find an Airstream host that let us park for free on his farm.

Yesterday we drove up to the farm which is outside of Cambridge, MD where we parked. It's nice in that it's got a locked gate, so it is quite secure.

After a quiet evening spent indoors because the mosquitos were so bad, we headed off to bed early. A thunderstorm did move through the area during the night, but we awoke to partly cloudy skies.

We were both up early and watched the pretty sunrise over the fields. Then we finished packing up the panniers - man were they heavy! And that was with only carrying the bare necessities (although we did bring our massage gun and my computer).

By 9 we were loaded, and ready to rock and roll. As we'd never ridden this tandem with a load, we didn't know how slow we would be. But except for a little extra push at the start, the bike moved well and Don said our average was about 10-11 mph which is pretty good, considering.

He had picked out a route that would take us out into the country and then into Cambridge. We had the option to cut it short if it looked like rain but the forecast gurus said we would be good until around 2 pm.

The roads were really nice - flat, of course, with light traffic. The main highway we were on for part of the time had bike lanes. The rest of the smaller roads had no shoulder, but also had hardly any traffic.

We enjoyed the ride, looking at all of the fields and country homes. Part of the time we were in thick woods.

The one stop we did make was at the Old Trinity Church. Although its exact date of construction is not known, the church was standing in 1692. In the 1850s, it underwent restorations and then again 100 years later. It still has an active congregation that worships in the Angelican style.

Unfortunately, the church wasn't open but we were able to walk around the old cemetery which is also still in use. Many of the stones were so weathered that you couldn't read them but a few that we did see were dated in the 1800's. It was an interesting break.

Back on the bike we continued further out into the country past a number of chicken farms and a small airport.

By 11 we had reached Cambridge and now needed to find a place to eat lunch. As we passed a Hyatt country club/golf resort that advertised a restaurant, Don said "let's try this place". I was a little unsure about it as I hadn't researched the menu and thought it might be pretty expensive.

Well, it didn't matter much as the place was closed today. Bummer.

We returned to the highway and started to look further. Neither of us felt like biking all the way into town, especially with an increasing threat of rain starting around noon. We could deal with wet, but maybe not on our first tour in a long time!

But the only places we saw that were close to our hotel - a Holiday Inn Express - were mostly fast food and a grocery store. We ended up settling for Denny's mainly because they had awnings over the windows that could shelter the bike while we ate and also had a wide variety of food. Maybe not the seafood I had hoped for, but it would do for now.

Lunch was ok and we made it to the hotel without getting wet. In fact, the rain didn't even start until evening. There is a large supported cycle tour group also staying here. They are from New York and doing a week long loop of the area.

We didn't do much the rest of the afternoon except try to research a place for dinner. It seemed that a lot of places were closed today for some reason and weren't within walking distance. We could do an Uber ride, but it's not cheap and we didn't want to bike to one as the forecast was now for rain starting by 5 pm.

There was an Italian bistro next to the hotel that the front desk said was pretty good. The menu I found on-line looked like it had things I could eat so we walked over there for our meal.

But I was VERY disappointed when we walked into the place and found a totally different menu. I had hoped to have a seared tuna salad, but that was no longer available. The pizzas and sandwiches just didn't sound appetizing to me, so we passed and walked a bit further to a Wendy's. Again, not our first choice but they do have decent salads along with chili and a baked potato. So fairly healthy for both of us.

We managed to get to the hotel a few minutes before the rain started along with wind and small hail. Whew! Good timing! The storm didn't last long and the sun was soon back out.

Tomorrow is supposed to be nice all day so we plan to do a longer ride. This time it will be unloaded as we'll leave the panniers in the hotel and return for one more night here.

Getting ready to roll - did we forget anything? Probably, but we'll deal with it.

Finally on the road again - Garfield's first real tour!

The owners of this house really like dalmation dogs.

We've seen lots of chicken houses in Maryland, along with a Tyson plant.

Pretty wildflowers along our route today.

The historic Old Trinity Church. The front side was pretty boring looking.

But the back was more interesting with its half-circle apse where the altar sits.

The church sits along Church Creek, and has a large cemetery with old and newer graves.

I liked this nautical themed headstone. But the Booze name really caught my eye!

This huge tulip poplar tree was in full bloom.

It was quite difficult to read most of the older stones as they were so weathered.

Stones and monuments everywhere you looked.

I'm not sure what this building was but it might be an older church. There wasn't a sign but it did have a cemetery behind it.

We could smell this seafood plant for a couple of miles.

Nice shoulders on Maryland roads that are designated as bike lanes.

Coming into Cambridge the main highway is signed as the Harriet Tubman scenic byway. She was born in this county.

And they had a nice bike path next to the busy highway!

More touring cyclists! This supported group from New York is also staying at our hotel. But they did 60 miles today, not the measly 22 that we did.

Today's ride: 22 miles (35 km)
Total: 781 miles (1,257 km)

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Kelly IniguezIt's fun to tour, even if a short distance.

One of my favorite tours was a solo overnight camping to Rifle Gap State Park. Suddenly, because I was on tour, all of the sights seemed new and fresh! I forgot my burrito on the counter, and ended up eating a half a cantaloupe for dinner. That was supposed to be dessert, but ended up being the main course!

I like cemeteries also. Jacinto thinks that is an odd pastime.
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1 year ago

Jeanna & Kerry SmithMarilyn,
This is truly a near miss! Kerry and I will be at the Holiday Inn Express in Cambridge on the 18th and 19th, then moving on to Easton, MD for three nights the 20th thru 22nd. Let me know if we can cross paths in there somehow.
Jeanna
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1 year ago

marilyn swettTo Kelly IniguezWe've always had an interest in poking around old cemeteries. You can actually learn a lot about the area by reading the headstones. I remember seeing some in Kansas and North Dakota that were all written in German because that's who settled around there. And we're also big on history.

I thought I had everything we would need on this little trip but found out that we'd forgotten to bring a comb or brush, Q tips, chapstick and razors! Sheesh! Oh well, the hotel had a couple of things and the rest we'll do without until we return to the trailer tomorrow.
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1 year ago

marilyn swettTo Jeanna & Kerry SmithWe're here one more night in Cambridge and tomorrow will be biking back to the trailer which is parked on a farm about 12 miles south of town. I guess it depends on your route. I think we'll be biking a loop down toward the Harriet Tubman visitor center and the Blackwater Refuge before circling back to the trailer. Then we load up and move to Harrington, Delware for the weekend. After that we go to Silver Spring, Maryland for 3 weeks.
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1 year ago