Because I had cut my previous day short due to the rain, I was left with roughly a 70 mile day yesterday. I didn't really have anywhere to stay between where I was and my destination anyway. Plus, I have been taking a lot of fairly short days and saying to myself, and sometimes others, that I feel capable of long days, but don't feel like doing them. It sure was a long day, but I was determined to make it. I left around 9:30 and didn't arrive until 7:30. I took short breaks throughout the day to grab a drink and look at my map, but only one long break on the side of the road to get some lunch. My total milage for the day was 72. Not only was this the longest day, I had the most hills of the trip. Many times I had to get off and walk my bike. Getting out of Baltimore was a bit of a hassle, and nothing really that caught my eye. Once I got to the country side there were a few things worth taking pictures of. Here is a shot of the Loch Raven Reservoir.
Northern Maryland has a lot of pretty countryside. Here are some sheep that I passed.
About 50 miles into my ride I came upon the Conowingo Dam. By this time it was rush hour and the bridge was only 2 lanes with no shoulder at all. I knew that not only would it be dangerous to try to cross, I would be holding up a long line of traffic. I sat and stared for a few minutes while I had a snack and thought about what to do. I asked a construction worker who was there for ideas, and all he said was, "This isn't a good time to pass." I decided to walk up the road a bit to an intersection and try to find a truck who might give me a ride. I stood on the corner and began waving to trucks who were turning onto the road to cross the bridge. It wasn't a very busy road in the first place, but they kept just waving back and driving right past. I prayed for a nice person in an empty truck. A few trucks later a guy stopped and I asked him for help. He said, "Sure, I'll help you load your stuff up." We loaded it up and he drove me across and to a parking lot a little bit past the end. We talked briefly about my my ride and my remaining route. He explained to me that he knew how I felt standing there because he used to do a lot of hitch hiking himself. I thanked him for the ride and we both carried on our way.
Not long after crossing the bridge it began to get dark. I caught this shot of the sunset behind me. A funny story to go along with this picture is that I had to go to the bathroom really bad and couldn't find anywhere to go. I often ride for miles of countryside that is just homes with nowhere really to go. I took advantage of the dark and stood in the middle of a field and just went right there. That's when I noticed this sunset.
My map was directing me to take some crazy roads, but I thought I'd make up my own route based on the map I was looking at. Within the final few miles I came to a ROAD CLOSED sign. I thought, "You have got to be kidding me." I debated seeing how closed it really was, but decided to just make my own detour. Once finally arriving at my destination I met Tim, another couchsurfing friend. He had another friend from couchsurging over as well, Steffi. We all went out for dinner in Newark, DE. I slept very well that night.
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