Day 3 - Wilmington DE to Annapolis MD

Word of the Day: Hydrate

The day's ride was preceded by the weather report from one of the Motors: Temps in the mid-60s, overcast with a chance of rain, thus a chance of wet & dangerous road conditons. There was a bit of drizzle, but the rain never came. As we rolled south through Delaware and into Maryland, the clouds began to burn off and the temperature began to rise. There were complaints about the heat, but everyone who rode last year was glad to have the heat instead of the winds we rode through last year. The daily admonition to ride 2x2 and stay to the right was punctuated with the word of the day: Hydrate.

Our morning break was at the David Lokey Center outside Elkton, MD. The center provides services to developmentally disabled adults and they were one of the large groups that I remember coming out to cheer as we rode by last year. Lunch was at the Galena Fire Department again. Their lush lawn and numerous shade trees were just what the hot & tired riders needed.

After leaving Galena, one of the trumpet players, who was riding near the rear with me rode by and said she needed to get to the front for another service. I tried to make myself useful by getting in front of her to let her draft as we moved to the front. After getting up to the lead truck, plans changed and we took another break before the trumpet players needed to play. At the break though, they decided to send the trumpet players ahead early to the site of the ceremony, which did not involve a stop, just them playing as the riders rolled by. I was told it was in Centerville, which was only a couple miles down the road. I was sent along to let them draft behind and make sure any mechanicals were taken care of. We had two motors to escort us. Because it was only a couple of miles, we set off at a nice brisk pace. Three miles later, there was the sign....Centerville 9. I slowed the pace to make sure there was enough breath left for them to play Taps. They played 4 times so the entire procession of riders could hear it. The horns were quckly packed and whisked away for another rendition at the Queen Anne's County Fallen Heros Memorial on Rt. 18 just outside of Centerville, MD.

Plans changed, however, when the vehicle carrying the trumpets was recruited to carry one of our riders to the airport. When the rider's bike was rolled back to the truck, I recognized it as belonging to one of riders from New Hampshire. It's never a good sign when a rider has to leave suddenly. He had to return because Corporal Bruce McKay of the Franconia, New Hampshire Police Department had just been murdered in the line of duty. The tour leadership kept us blissfully ignorant of this so that we could finish what was an otherwise wonderful day on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

95 miles of riding. 7 hours 45 minutes of saddle time. Salad, Seafood & Pasta in Annapolis.