A bit strange this morning. Out of sync, I was runnning about 10-15 minutes later than usual, and when I pulled out onto the main drag, the cars were a bit more numerous, and seemed a bit more malevolent than usual--probably just me, but what the heck--so I peeled off onto my alternate route which is more direct but slower.

This variant takes me through an intersection which actually crosses US 1 in College Park rather than under it as my usual way does. The route is slower because I almost always catch that light. This morning there was a car already there which had tripped the sensor so by punping it a little I was able to ride right through. It is a slight jog to the left (though it may look straight on a map), and then down a steep, short hill and over an old one-lane bridge (when I'm feeling sporty I can easily catch a little air there ). It then runs through a flat park area (ball fields and the old equestrian ring which hasn't seen any hooves in it in years). Normally this is a quiet stretch where if I see anything, it's a cop hangin' out, or (more often) deer, racoons or foxes looking surprised at me.

This morning, however, as I was rolling along I heard a loud commmand on my left. Looking over, I saw a squad of black guys, wearing black (and this is in pre-dawn dark, remember), and responding in unison, "Something-or-other, something-or-other , Sir!"

I have no idea what they were about--could've been anything from a militant terrorist cell to a U of MD ROTC group getting harangued after some early AM PT on the nearby MUP. Sure surprised me, though. In hundreds of trips that way I'd never seen that before.