Monday July 14th Day 59 Brunswick to Hancock 80 miles on the odometer

Happy Birthday to Andy



This was an ambitious day, coming after a rainy end to yesterday so I was up pretty early and out of camp by 8:00. I went into town for a solid breakfast and in the cafe met another rider who was going in the opposite direction. We had a good talk about bikes and tour riding and he gave me some good information about this leg of the trail. (Note to Jim: If you get to Seattle look me up and we'll take care of you while you are there.). Started riding at about 9:00. The trail though wet and somewhat muddy was better than yesterday and improved throughout the day. It was still a long ride as I averaged less than 10 MPH. The ride included a detour where the trail is out due to flooding and that had some hills, though it was on very pleasant back roads. There was some very snazzy gentleman farm houses and property along the way in western Maryland. My main disappointment with the trail is that there is very little opportunity to get something to eat as the trails goes through no towns and near few towns. Given my long agenda I didn't want to go riding off the route looking for something to eat. I made due with what I had, which was fine and finally arrived at the town of Hancock which is adjacent to the trail. The last 10 miles I did on a state Rail to Trail trail that parallels the C&O and is paved. I got in at about 7:00, had a big restaurant dinner and cleaned up and slept at a motel.



Fauna on the trail: The east has more colorful birds than we do in Washington State. I saw cardinals and other unknown birds. I heard even more strange songs and calls. I saw deer, muskrats, turtles, rabbits, and a couple of more exotic things I can't remember right now.

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