Day Three - 95 Miles of [Mostly] Hills!

Day three turned out to be the toughest so far, but also the most rewarding. We knew we were in for a long, rough day - but we didn't know it would turn out to be quite as hard as it was; for the record, we rode 95 miles, through southern Pennsylvania and the northern part of Maryland, both of which turn out to be quite hilly! We started off with our departure from Lancaster, using some great directions that Forest had gotten for us from Google Maps. Then, we crossed the Susquehanna River between Columbia and Wrightsville, PA - and followed the river for a while on a beautiful flat road. But, what goes down must eventually go back up; we climbed out of the river valley, up a very steep hill, which topped out at a 16% gradient. Just in case you missed that (!), we did it again a few miles later - needless to say, we were pretty exhausted by lunch time. At one point, we considered walking the rest of the way [just kidding]. Fortunately, Forest met us in Pylesville, Maryland, [just after we had crossed the historic Mason-Dixon Line, which Darren had been asking Richard about earlier in the trip] and we had a great lunch and break - after our initial 50 miles. Then, it was back on the bikes, for another 20 miles of up and down; Forest met us again for food and Gatorade, and we pushed on for the final 25 miles. It was very beautiful, rolling through huge farms and great forests. We finally managed to get a picture of the signs that alert drivers to slow-moving Amish buggies; they need more for slow-moving cyclists, as well! Then, we got to Owings Mills, where our hotel was - and we had to ride the last three miles on a fairly large road. All's well that ends well, though - and we got to the hotel around 7pm, after our 7:30 am departure; definitely, our longest day, but very rewarding!





Darren made some good friends at the top of one of the 16% climbs!






That's Richard finishing one of the 16% climbs - you can see the hill in back of him!