Bike Blog 2013.5: Maryland

Editors' note: pictures will come when we get home and get them in the right format.  For now, you should be able enjoy the videos of the day posted here, and here, and here.

Day 4 (Guest blogger: Jess) It’s been like riding into springtime, each day a little warmer, a little greener.

We rolled away from our overnight stay at Christ Reformed United Church of Christ in warmth and bright sunshine to an excellent breakfast with some of our new friends in Hagerstown. Rev. Tim Leighton, pastor at another United Church of Christ in Hagerstown and an avid cyclist, rode along with us, pointing out many points of interest along the way. For me, one of the blessings of this trip has been seeing something of the rich uniqueness of places like Hagerstown that I’ve only known as name on a highway sign. There is so much beauty in our country that you’ll never see from the interstate.

After a relatively short ride through the Antietam Battlefield and the town of Sharpsburg, we made a steep descent to the C&O canal towpath for most of the day’s 57 miles of riding. The level terrain along the Potomac was a welcome change from yesterday’s hilly, wind-blasted challenge. We rode along relatively easily through the growing warmth and dappled sunshine, stopping to take in some of the stirring views of the river and some of the beautifully restored aqueducts along the canal.

There aren’t leaves on the trees yet, but wildflowers were in bloom along the trail. The most alarming moment of the day came after stopping in the small town of Brunswick for lunch at a charming local place called Sloppy Tacos. Andy had been having increasing trouble working the gears on his bike for the last two days, and he discovered that his rear gear cassette was actually coming loose – a problem we were not going to be able to solve with the few basic tools we are carrying along even if we could figure out how. We saw that there was a local bike shop – Three Points Cycle - just across the street from the taqueria, and Andy brought his bike over to see if there was anything that could be done. The owner fixed it up in 15 minutes for free.

That was the second time a great local bike shop bailed us out on this trip. In Huntingdon, Jon discovered that his chain had actually chewed through his front derailleur cage. The owner of Rothrock Outfitters in Huntingdon fixed that up in a half hour, charging only $12 for the part. These local bike shops are such a great resource - support them with your business! I’d also like to mention how thankful we are for our own great local shop in State College, Freeze-Thaw Cycles, for its generous support of PA IPL.

We ended the day’s ride by climbing up out of the Potomac valley to Poolesville, MD to the home of Joyce Breiner and Dave Yaney, some friends of PA-IPL that Jon made on last year’s ride (Hannah and I will be staying with Laurie and Brian Hundertmark; Laurie is the daughter of Barb and John Fisher – members of Grace Lutheran in State College). We had wonderful meal out on the back deck, enjoying the warm evening air, the wonderful food, the funny, passionate conversation ranging widely over our experiences and aspirations working for a greener world. Sitting there, it was easy to believe that spring had finally arrived, and that another, more just, more sustainable world is coming.

Of course it is. You can’t hold back the spring.

 Jess (and the gang)