Country Roads, Take Us Home

After a week of rest (for both our bikes and our legs!), we were itching to get back in the saddle and do some local riding. It was great to be back on familiar roads, and we soon realized how much we had taken for granted when we trained on St. Mary's County's bike-friendly roads. The wide shoulders, relatively low traffic and low elevation changes made for a fun, easy ride. We surprised ourselves with our speed and endurance, even after a week off the bikes.

Our first destination after the Atlantic coast was to pay a visit to Slack Winery. Our good friend was keeping busy with the newly harvested grapes, but took a break to share the new award-winning wine with us - Not a bad way to celebrate our homecoming!

We hurried home (once we realized how early the sun is setting these days) convinced that we should sign up for The Southern Maryland Century/The Indian Head 100. A fellow local cyclist shared positive reviews of the ride, and we're excited to have a fitness goal in the not-so-distant future. The century will also give us a chance to experience some local roads that we have never cycled, and maybe even meet other local riders.

With the hurricane and earthquake behind us, we're hoping we'll have plenty more opportunities to get out on our familiar country roads, including the new Three Notch Trail!

Coasting To A Stop (For Now)

Many folks want to know how it feels to have crossed the country by bicycle...

To have woken up with the sun and ridden an average of 75 miles for several days in a row;
To have spent the whole day outside, making sunscreen a habit and changes in weather a daily concern;
To have climbed mountains and coasted down them, going from 5 to 50 MPH in a matter of seconds;
To have watched the corn grow on small family farms and expansive corporate fields;
To have met new people - kind, considerate and generous folks - in cities, towns and country;
To have gotten lost and found our way, navigating new roads and improving our map-reading skills;
To have eaten more than we ever have... and found ourselves hungry 2 hours later;
To have learned how to fix a flat, change a tire, replace a spoke, and other roadside repairs;

To have reached our destination, the Atlantic coast, and when asked, "So how does it feel?!" we answered, "Like just another day on the bicycle."

Our summer was amazing - from the changes in landscape to the interesting people and turns of events. We live in a beautiful and awesome country, and we couldn't be more certain that cycling is the best speed at which to experience it.

Physically, we obviously feel like we're in great shape. We've lost a few inches in some places (like the waist line) and gained a few in others (like our quads!). We have to be very conscious of our diets now that we're not burning an average of 6,000 calories each day, which mostly means we need to focus on portion control.

So what's our next step? When we created and named this blog, we did not intend for it to only refer to this cross-country ride. We're setting our sites on new adventures and more travel so that we can continue to coast cross country. Stay tuned...

One Week Left

Hello from downtown Pittsburgh! We arrived yesterday after 90 miles of rolling hills (which we actually welcomed after over a week of relative flatness) and convoluted city streets. We're enjoying our last rest day before our last 6 days of riding. We will be heading east over the Appalachian Mountains, leaving city centers for a few more days of camping, and then it's... New Jersey or BUST! Stay tuned for more posts after the ride's end about places seen and lessons learned.

You can find more videos, photos and stories at www.lvsride.com/social.