Today I struck out for a ride and got a bit lost. It ended up being 47.4 miles, which is well beyond what I’m comfortably capable of. Here is a map.
I started out on Rockport which is bike heaven and hell. There are some tremendously steep hills, but most are quite short. The flipside is the descents are terrifying. However, the views cannot be beaten. This may be the road that shows up in Breaking Away. It sure seems like it, and it goes by quite a few quarries.
Riding through the country is great. There are many things to see that I’m not used to. First, I saw a bunch of silly cows standing (and some appeared to be squatting) in a muddy little pond. They had curious looks on their faces. Then I saw a huge rooster run across the road. I stopped a bit later to take a breather and noticed a sign that read “God Bless America and Homemade Pies.” mmm….pie.
At one point in the ride I was running short on water, so I stoped at a fire station and they let me fill up my bottles (I figured a fire station has water). The fireman were nice, but gave me strange look when they found out how far I was from home. At my next break, a couple on bikes passed me, and I caught up with them a few miles up the road looking at a map. I stopped to chat and make sure I was going the right direction (I need a map). They had also made a wrong turn, but seemed to a bit more seasoned than I. We parted ways and I stopped one last time at a gas station for some gatorade (I was pretty miserable at this point). A few miles later I was home, writing this incoherent posting. I need a nap.
Update: 2800 feet of elevation change! A bit more, and I’d be ready for the hilly hundred.
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