Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad 200k Eastern Shore

After considering it for over a year, I went ahead and contacted a fellow randonneur who has a Permanent route that covers a lot of the ground that Harriet Tubman crossed when she ran her piece of the Underground Railroad, moving slaves Northward toward freedom. The route has a number of stops where I would have to learn Tubman / URR information from historical markers in order to answer questions on my brevet card as proof of my having passed thru there. I expect to find the history and the exploits of this remarkable woman fascinating.

After having received permission to ride the route (solo, at this point) as an official Randonneurs USA 200k Permanent, I went ahead and made two-nite motel reservations at the place some of my fellow club members will be staying at the same time while they spend several days riding around the Chestertown MD area. So while we won't be riding together, we will be able to socialize the evening before and after my ride.

My ride is set for Veteran's Day 11/11/19; to pay tribute I will display a little US flag on the back of my bike.

Now I've got to keep up my recent training so I have the best chance of a sub-10 hour ride, because the daylight on that date in that area is shown as only 10 hours and 12 minutes. If I start early, have no "mechanicals" and experience no heavy weather, I should be OK in that time window, as the area is flat.

The route owner does warn of at least one free-range cyclist-biting dog, plus the possibility of wet roads if the tide is high (it is low country in some places). This could be exacerbated by the full moon. Fingers crossed.

Regular hill-climb ride; our own private Iowa

10.03.19
I've been organizing a regular invitational Tuesday hill-climb ride using a route which was originated by a friend from my club. We are about 7 weeks in. Response has been good, with usually 4 or more of us riding together each time, starting and ending at a diner where we have a socializing lunch at the end of the ride. These are hills in the South Jersey sense, with only about 1400' of climbing over 34 miles (there is a 39-mile option with 1600'). But the route is a good one for pushing the pace and working on becoming a stronger rider, eating together and catching up with each other afterward, while still leaving plenty of time in the day for getting other things done. And the route is mostly back roads thru some real nice farm country in Salem and Gloucester Counties, with plenty of corn and soybean fields, silos, livestock, woods and water making for a scenic ride. One might think they were in Iowa.