Trails and Tribulations...: Hoopers Is. MD, Tuesday July 3, 2007

The morning was calm and relatively cool, perfect for a ride! Learning from yesterday’s pain, Theresa downed some caffeine and a bottle of water. A quick light b-fast and we decided to head south-west to Hoopers Island and target a local restaurant called “Old Saltys”. The estimate from a biking map we picked up at the Information Center yesterday in Cambridge had the round trip at 40 miles.

By the time we actually got our bikes out it, the wind had picked up from the south so heading out would be slightly against the wind. The day would not be without the Maryland “hills” aka wind. We exited from the gravel driveway in sandals carrying our bike shoes, then left the sandals by the mailbox, reset the odometer and away we went. The mission for the day was for Theresa to draft as close as she could to Kevin. Kevin had to not only maintain a steady line but had to endure his old saddle that had left a raging welt on his derriere so any movement or bump in the road was excruciating. But he gritted his teeth because after all he was biking next to water with Theresa what could be

better? (Stop laughing!)

Heading south on Hwy 16, Kevin set a steady 16 mph pace and Theresa pulled in to the vortex behind him as tight as she could. The roads wound a bit so she would shift to the left or right or directly behind sucking within inches of Kevin’s back tire. Kevin slowly increased the speed. He had no instruments on his vintage touring Boch so Theresa announced whenever the speed reached 17 mph. At the 6 mile mark we turned to the SW and even more into the wind. A short water break and back into formation. The next 7 miles we cruised at 19 mph with only short butt breaks to let a little circulation into the lower regions. Theresa begged for a stop at the 14 mile turn to Hoopers Is. So far the route duplicated the roads from yesterdays ride, now we turn to new scenery and Theresa took out the camera and snapped a few shots while peddling! The road no longer had the wide shoulder but the traffic was light as not too many vehicles have any reason to venture down to the end of Hoopers Island. We rode for another 4-5 miles and reached Fishing Creek, a quaint village with small cottages and lots of docks and remnants of a thriving fishing community. Here we made a hard right and then left to see our destination Old Saltys! Oddly there were no cars parked, what could it be closed? Oh well the scenery

was so enticing we decided to venture on a bit further in hopes of finding another landmark, the famous “Suicide Bridge”. We asked a local if she knew where the bridge was and she said that it was no where near. We also asked if there where any other eating establishments and she indicated that Old Salty’s was it. We recalled a Deli not far back. Going on just a bit further we turned around at the top of a bridged connecting 2 parts of Hoopers Island; this would mark the highest peak in Dorchester Co MD and 22.5 mi for us.

We stopped at the Deli , parked our bikes never to worry about securing them and tapped into the deli with our bike shoes and sat down. We consumed massive calories and soda then bid farewell, 20 miles to go with the wind now behind us, Kevin was hoping to compress the journey into a little over an hour. No pressure, Theresa! We warmed up slowly as any blood supply was still in the digestive tract! Back out of the village

and again into formation. Theresa had camera in hand ready to capture pics that were noted on the way in, stopping was out of the question! Snap at the top of the bridge a few more pics on the rode and then the last shot was the field of sunflowers, who can resist that photo opp! Much better than some old big boat on the side of the road that some one is working on!

Theresa put the camera back in her pouch and now it’s down to business, we have a goal to make…. Kevin began the pace, Theresa quickly announced 17, then, 19, then 20, yikes 21. Theresa shifted into the large chain up front just to keep up, varying her position behind Kevin’s back tire as the road curved. We made easy work out of the first 14 miles back, then a short stop and a turn to the right to home meant even more wind at our back and Kevin raised the challenge to get to 23 mph! Right, well off we went, the wind did not prove to offer much assistance to accelerate much more that 20mph and frankly Theresa’s legs just did not have much more, so we backed off a bit to the 17-19 mph pace and cruised the rest of the way back.

We were both pleased with the ride and were very ready to get our butts off the seat and take a dock walk! And do this write up which we hope you enjoy!