Excellent write up Joe, it was a good ride and event. Very good actually, the wet tarmac and misty mountains notwithstanding. The two climbs were unique in that it appeared little planning went into the road construction. They just laid down the chip seal and asphalt as they went. This made for some lumpy and twisty terrain. It was great for climbing though.
I rode around Gettysburg for a couple hours early on Sunday. Historians have really done their homework there and the town of Gettysburg is unique and charming in its own way. People were walking around in uniforms and other attire consistent with the Civil War era. I felt like I had stepped back in time. Before returning to Raleigh, I stopped in Thurmont and rode the 28 mile training route - which is basically a loop that includes the two climbs of the main event. My legs were pretty darn wore out by the time I finished. They get a week's break now.
There is a lot to see around Gettysburg and Sharpsburg/Antietam. Next year I will make it a point to spend another day and take in more of the sites and history. I had planned to tour around a little on Friday afternoon but, the trip there took longer than expected due to massive congestion around DC. It took me an hour and a half just to get up 495. And 270 was crawling also. Almost 7 hours to get there (the trip home was 5 hours).
It was nice seeing Joe, his brother, BobbyC and JimF. Hope to see more 50+'s there next year. As has been the case over the past few weeks, most of my pictures came out very blurry which is very irritating. Even ones that were taken still came out blurry. I guess I've dropped it one too many times, and really need to get another now. Anyway, here are a few that came out decent.
Heading towards the hills one can see the cloud cover was low:
The first rest stop. All the rest stops were under cover, and offered much in the way of food - and all very well prepared. I was suitably impressed - as were the yellow jackets:
Passing by the Antietam cemetary:
On the way to Gettysburg:
Gettysburg covers a lot of territory and, is well memorialized from actual events that took there and the soldiers/regiments involved:
More battlefield area - which basically surrounds the town of Gettysburg. We only rode through one piece of it:
