Tuesday - Hilly Day

Our earliest start time - 7:15 a.m. I enjoy the cool morning rides (57 degrees at the start), but Heather is not so happy with the temperature. The birds are very chirpy this morning.

At one of the hiker/biker campsites we met up with a trail volunteer who had spent the night there. He was moving at a leisurely pace - he said it had taken him an hour the previous day to set up his tent, and then he had spent the time watching the boats on the Potomac.

We hit our first off trail detour earlier than expected. Evidently the trail was not in good shape, so they routed us onto the extended detour. It was not too bad - very little traffic and interesting country side. At the end of the detour, I went ahead to scout things out. There is a very steep hill with a sharp turn at the end which I had warned everyone about. As I walked my bike down the hill, I noticed Heather riding at a fast clip behind me and warned her to slow down. Fortunately, she did.

We passed a couple of caves without entering before exiting the trail again at Taylors Landing for the journey to Antietam. We conferenced briefly about whether it would be best to go to Sharpsburg directly for lunch or to the battelfield. Although we decided on the battefield, our decision was reversed when I missed a turn and we ended up in the small town. Backtracking to Antietam, we stopped at the Battleview Market for what ended up to be very good subs. A short tour of the visitor center was followed by a bike ride around the battlefield, stopping at an observation tower (everyone went up except for me) and other locations as we swung back around Sharpsburg.

I have underestimated both the total mileage and the amount of hills for today. Instead of overly stressing my knees, I walk my bike up the steepest ones, and the others generally follow suit.

Leaving the battefield, we cut across on some steep downhill county roads back down to the canal, which by this time is a welcome sight. Eleven miles later, we are all very tired when we arrive at the Harpers Ferry bridge. All three of the women are needed to carry one bike up the spiral stairs. Harpers Ferry itself is buzzing with school children being taught by park guides. We park our bikes and walk around town, stopping at an ice cream place. Finally it's up the last hill of the day to the Comfort Inn, where we shower before walking a half mile to the pizza place for dinner. There are a lot of old buildings here in various states of repair - some look like ancient ruins being overtaken by the forest.

The high temperature is forecast to be 5 degrees higher tomorrow, and 5 degrees above that for our last day (which will be hilly and out in the open).