Day 8, 67 miles, Sunday, August 24, 2008
Lancaster, PA to Hunt Valley, MD
(my odometer: 68.7 miles, 12.4 mph, 5 hr 30 min 10 sec)
Max speed . 41.6 mph
Up at 5:30; 6:30 full breakfast here at Heritage Hotel; it was really excellent! All kinds of fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, pancakes, home fries, bacon, sausage, cream of wheat, grits; oatmeal, yogurt, cold cereal, a variety of juices and much more; 7:00 load luggage; 7:25 on the road. There was 4,275 feet of climbing today.
The Heritage Hotel's full buffet breakfast was really special. The very best at any Hotel of any ride I can remember on the 10 years and 13,000 miles I've ridden with ABB.
Well, today again was a beautiful cycling day and it was a very difficult day due to the 3 BIG climbs. They were all 1/4 to 1/2 miles long and grades of 6% to 18%. Today was definitely the toughest day yet and 14 of the 15 riders agreed with me. At the top of the first ride I really was stressed and another cyclist took a photo of me just after I reached the top (see pic below). I really didn't fall off my bike. I was just being goofy. I am fine. All 3 big climbs were very difficult, but the training I did prepared me very well. There also were 10 - 15 shorter steep climbs and a gentle rolling terrain for most of the day.
We had dinner at Johnny Carrabba's Bar and Grill and I had a Fettucine Alfredo. It was excellent!
Tomorrow is the last cycling day for me. It is going to be tough for me to end this years ride, because of the friendships I have made but this is what I planned. The ride tomorrow is a long 81 miles to Washington, DC ., and it has over 4,000 feet of climbing.
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