At first, I wasn't sure if I wanted to make the 125 mile drive from Oakton to Dover, Delaware, especially since Lee had to work and wouldn't be able to join me. But I decided if I left early enough in the morning I could avoid the traffic and get there in time for an early start. So at 4:15 am this morning I hit the road and started the drive.
I was nervous about getting lost on the unfamiliar roads. Once you cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and make your way across Maryland and Delaware it is nothing but country roads and towns too small to even have stop lights. The route that I was following did not stay on the same highway for very long. There were many intersections and route number changes to keep track of. But I surprised myself by arriving at the designated meeting area at 6:30 am. That was plenty of time to look around and see what the city center of Delaware's capital had to offer.
The center of activities for the bike tour was on the large lawn area called Legislative Mall, which is directly in front of the capital building.
Tents were set up for registration, giveaways, and the lunch that would be provided at the end of the ride. There was a DJ, bike vendors, port-a-potties, and fun and games just like a mini_RAGBRAI. I felt right at home.
Although there were elements familiar to RAGBRAI, this was not RAGBRAI, and it was the first time I had done an organized bike tour other than RAGBRAI. I was anxious to find out how it was all going to work so that riders would be able to figure out where to go, especially since there were so many different options. You could choose from 5 different routes depending on how far you wanted to ride--15, 25, 50, 62 or 100. All the routes started and ended at the same place. The difference was in where you branched off to circle back to the starting point. It wasn't too late to change your mind at any point if you decided to do more or less miles than your original plan. I was impressed with how it was all mapped out.
I especially liked the way that they had painted the white A (for Amish Country Bike Tour) arrows on the pavement along the route. There were times early in the morning when very few bicyclists were on the part of the route that I was on and it was reassuring to look down and see that I was still headed the right way.
The 50 mile route was my goal and, although, I probably could have easily done the 62, I didn't want to be too tired since it was a long drive back to Oakton. I got an early start and was rewarded shortly after getting out of the main part of town by seeing an Amish buggy on the road coming towards me. Later in the day I was able to get other pictures of the Amish farm families.
The picture doesn't show the level of detail I had hoped but the interesting part of this scene was that the farmer was mowing his lawn on a riding mower he had built himself and rigged up to be pulled by a horse. I stopped for a minute to talk with him and he explained how he had gotten the blade part of the mower from one of the big lawn mowers that are used to mow golf courses. He built the platform and seat and harness part himself. Quite a design.
The first of 2 rest stops on the 50-mile route was a welcome sight. I'm not used to pedaling 20 miles before taking a break. The stop was in the small town of Marydel, across the street from a church. After getting back on the road we passed the town's post office and I realized then that Marydel is in Maryland, not Delaware. I hadn't realized that we were going to do a few miles of the ride in Maryland.
Where the route went back into Delaware we circled a nice mill pond and then crossed over the pond outlet next to the dam.
My favorite rest stop was at the Amish School. The special treat here was the pie table where we made the difficult choice of which kind of homemade pie we wanted. The piece of apple pie I selected was absolutely delicious. Amish women do know how to bake pies.
No, we weren't in Iowa, but Delaware has much to offer and I thoroughly enjoyed the day biking through the beautiful countryside.
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