day 3........the day I met some hills

I awoke still a little sore from the day before. AND very hungry! We loaded up the bikes in the trucks and moved to the outskirts of Philly were we picked up another police escorts who got us thru the suburbs of Philly. For our breakfast we had Dunkin Doughnuts. Not my way of proper fuel to begin a 108 mile bike ride - but the rest of the groups seemed happy....when the bananas and yogurt were brought out this was a nice addition.

Our first rest stop about 20 miles out provided by Newcastle EMS. We were greeted with cold water and fruit and power bars! After a rest and a snack we headed out.

The ride was much tougher than every ones expectations. We began the hills. I love the hills. Going up. Climbing and climbing and still climbing. The down hill is always fast and when you get to the bottom you want to do it all over again.

We left Pennsylvania, rode into Delaware were we had lunch on the banks of the Sassaquana (sp?) river. Another beautiful spot to have lunch. We took a long lunch and got back to ridden.

Right off the bat we hit some gnarly hills. Very steep and very long. We lost a few riders. This killed our legs going from cold to hitting the hills. Finally we hit a flat area that took us along the bank of the river. The road was lined on both sides by giant trees. The shade from the trees protected us from the afternoon sun. We rode single file at a nice steady pace. AND then once we crossed the river and into Maryland we hit the hills again. But this time they were even steeper and longer. We went up the biggest hill I have ever rode on a bike- and the downhill I hit 46 mph! That is fast on a bike! This was grueling! I loved every minute of it. At the top of one of the steep hills we had a rest stop at Cliffs Cut Rate Liquor Store.

When we got to the top we all got off our bikes and rested in the shade. I think some people took advantage of the rest stop and made a purchase for later in the night.

We spent too long at the rest stop. I felt great when I got to the rest stop but they kept us at the rest stop for about an hour. My legs were cold and stiff. When we left the rest stop the hills did not stop. One right after another. My legs were so stiff and sore I could not manage the pace and was forced to sag out by the event organizers. At first this killed me emotionally. But after I cooled off in the AC and drank some water and stretched my sore legs I was glad I did....because we still had another 3 days of riding.

Again dinner was provided to us......by the local EMS. Tonight's dinner was provided by Westminster. We dined on hamburgers and hotdogs, potato salad and coleslaw, chips and pickles. Nice change from the pasta. I was so very tired and hungry by the time we made it to the Westminster EMS/Fire station. The food was great. I know we all appreciated the hospitality.

We finally made it back to the hotel at about 9 in the evening. The guys unloaded the truck and Tree and I did the laundry - how 2 strong independent women let the guys do all the lifting and moving and we did the laundry I don't know but it seemed like a good deal to us. I was just about the most tired and sore I had ever been. The team had to hold me up. They let me get a shower first. And Cheryl's kids provided the cold beer thank you Sy and Kim! Tree sent me to bed and took care of the laundry - now that is a true friend - washing all of our dirty bike shorts, shirts and socks! Thank you Tree.

I crawled into bed and fell asleep watching Jon Stewart.