Last month I mentioned my crazy weekend plans where I would
essentially be doing a duathlon over two days this month. Well, things got even
more interesting when a kayak outing got rescheduled twice due to bad weather.
The final make-up date became the Friday of said crazy biking-running weekend, and
thus how a du became a tri.
After work on Friday I headed over to Truxton Park and met
up with Captain Kate and Pirate Pete of Kayak Annapolis. I’d bought a
LivingSocial deal several months earlier for a sunset tour, complete with wine
and cheese. Unfortunately, our first two attempts at scheduling this fell
through due to storms, so it kind of became a do or die to do it on Friday
evening due to the quickly approaching shorter fall days.
We went through a quick paddle lesson, and then launched our
boats. We were in Spa Creek, and headed toward the Annapolis Harbor. Our route
was about 3 miles total. About halfway, we pulled up in small park area with
benches that overlooked the harbor and enjoyed our refreshments. After we set
off again, we crossed through the harbor area and went up into Ego Alley. Was
my first time seeing it from the water. Very cool. During our tour Pete
provided some historical insights into the city. We couldn’t have asked for
nicer weather. Overall, I had a great time and it was a wonderful way to kick
off the weekend. If you’re ever in the area, be sure to check them out!
Once we were back on dry land, I picked up some pizza to get
some carbs in me, and came home and packed my bike gear in the car and got an
overnight bag together. Saturday morning, I caravanned to Dover with Kim and
Jon for the Amish Country Bike Tour. We arrived after the main wave start, so
got caught in some traffic, but once we got moving again easily found some
parking in the state employee lots near the Legislative Green. After unloading
our bikes and putting air in the tires, we met up with some friends from the
gym and were on our way.
There was a fair amount of automobile traffic until we
really got out of the heart of the area. Fortunately the routes (from 15 miles
all the way up to 100) are very well marked, so we didn’t need to rely on our
queue sheets as we navigated around. We eventually found ourselves on quiet
farm roads and practically in another world. As we were on one road, an older
Amish gentleman was working his field with a horsedrawn wooden plow. It was a
beautiful scene. The neighborhood children were out to greet everyone as they
road by, too, making an interesting dichotomy of bikers in colorful clothing
and high tech gear, and them in the handmade, sober outfits.
Around mile 20 we reached the rest stop, a one room
schoolhouse. It was a flurry of activity, as all of the routes eventually
funnel through there. Volunteers were in the yard serving snacks and
refreshments, as some musicians provided entertainment. The highlight of all of
this – pie! The winds had been steadily picking up during our ride. Forecasts
called for them to gust up to 20mph by later in the afternoon when strong
storms were supposed to move in. This made our last 5 miles much harder than
the earlier ones had been, but we all got back safe and sound. We set up a
picnic and enjoyed the bbq lunch provided to all participants.
Then it was time for the next adventure of the weekend to begin.
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