It is a rare day when I have the entire day off, without any of the rest of my family being off as well. But for some reason the county schools choose not to observe Columbus Day, while my employer does, so I was free! I even rationalized leaving the huge list of tasks waiting for me to do around the house. Sometimes you just have to ride!
The day was looking great as I left Middletown Park and headed north on Rt. 17. Things got hilly right away. I was through Myersville in no time at all, and the real climbing started right after, on Church Hill Rd. But the views to the east were pretty nice. A fast descent down Meeting House Rd. has my chain over shift off the cassette and stop the pedals, but the freewheel still freewheeled, so I nursed it to the bottom and got things back together. A quick pass through Wolfsville and over Hayes Road to Spruce Run. Climbing up Spruce Run got me thinking that the temps were a little warm, and conserving my water. Eventually I topped out on Stottlemyer and it was all downhill to my break at Cunningham Falls State Park, where I was able to fill up on water again and start back to the south.
Then, guess what? More climbing. Up Catoctin Hollow to Mink Farm, to Tower. Then I threw it all away again by dropping down Middle Point Rd. Highland School Rd had more climbing than I expected, and I was getting a bit worn and grumpy with the heat, but I made it up to Fishers Hollow, which took me back (down again) to more familiar hills leading towards Middletown. Along Rt. 40 the batteries in my GPS died, and I didn't hear the tone to switch them, so the last couple of miles were un-tracked. Getting back to the park gave me about six hours on the bike, which, when combined with the amount of climbing on this ride, made me pretty happy to have covered 50 miles.
| Heading north on Rt. 17 outside of Middletown. |
| Osage Orange. Glad it didn't hit me. |
| Looking out across the interstate towards Myersville. |
| Entering Wolfsville. |
| Hayes Rd. gravel. |
| Murdock Mountain Lane, marked as private. |
| Pretty farm. |
| Climbing Catoctin Hollow Rd. |
| Today's Map. |
| Today's Profile. |
Roads Completed 10/08/2007.
| Road Name | ADC Map Grid | Subdivision | |||
| ADDISON BRANCH | CIR | 6-H-6 | N/A | ||
| BEAR BRANCH | CIR | 6-G-7 | N/A | ||
| BIDLE HILL | CT | 19-E-7 | WILES ESTATES | ||
| CATOCTIN CREEK | CIR | C-F-6 | N/A | ||
| CHURCH HILL | RD | 19-B-1 | N/A | ||
| CUT OFF | RD | 19-C-7 | N/A | ||
| DAWN | CT | 19-D-7 | WILES ESTATES | ||
| DEER SPRING BRANCH | CIR | C-F-6 | N/A | ||
| ELDER BERRY | CIR | C-F-6 | N/A | ||
| FISHERS HOLLOW | RD | 19-H-3 | N/A | ||
| HAYES | RD | 11-F-1 | N/A | ||
| HIGHLAND SCHOOL | RD | 11-J-8 | N/A | ||
| E | MAIN | ST | 27-F-1 | N/A | |
| MEETING HOUSE | RD | 11-G-7 | N/A | ||
| MIDDLE POINT | RD | 11-J-5 | N/A | ||
| MURDOCK MOUNTAIN | LN | 11-J-1 | N/A | ||
| MYERSVILLE | RD | 19-F-13 | N/A | ||
| NORTH BEACH | CIR | 6-J-6 | N/A | ||
| OLD HARMONY | RD | 19-F-7 | N/A | ||
| N | PACIFIC | CT | 20-A-9 | GAMBRILL SOUTH | |
| S | PACIFIC | CT | 20-A-9 | GAMBRILL SOUTH | |
| PACIFIC | DR | 19-K-9 | GAMBRILL SOUTH | ||
| SOUTH BEACH | CIR | 6-H-6 | N/A | ||
| SPRUCE RUN | RD | 11-H-4 | N/A | ||
| VENTRIE | CT | 19-C-5 | VENTRIE |