It takes more than 35 knot winds…

Tags

Bicycling, Ocean City, Sunset Grille

We are on a mini-vacation, which means that we have very limited time, to do way too many things.  On my list of “to dos” is to bicycle hundreds of miles, ride my elliptigo, and run until I drop.  But alas, I’m not 20 years old, and more importantly, Paddy has to buy in to this exercise theme.   I wanted to bicycle ride to Berlin, hang in the historic town among shops that were likely not open (nothing is open, cuz it’s not “in season” along the Maryland eastern shore) – and then ride into Ocean City proper and visit the strip.  But, would Paddy go for all of this?

It is extremely windy.  The kind of wind, that can really push you around – on a bicycle.  When it’s a headwind, you put all of your energy into pedaling, and you don’t go very far or very fast.  When it’s a tailwind, life is effortless, and you are literally pushed along your travels.  When it’s a crosswind, hang on and ride into the wind just enough to keep from being blown off the road, and not too much to end up in the traffic.  That’s the kind of day we are looking at for our bicycle travels.

After researching the best bike route – we found a country road that would take us to Berlin, MD.  What we hadn’t factored in – was the last mile that led to Berlin, was along a major route.  A route with no shoulder and a lot of traffic.  With Paddy on trike and me on a hybrid bike, safety trumped the need to visit Historic Berlin and visit shops that were not likely open.  So, we rode within 1 mile of Berlin, and then turned around, and rode back toward the campground.   But wait, Paddy is feeling strong (it’s the tailwind!), and we decide to keep going – onward to Ocean City!

To get to Ocean City, we have to travel 1/4 mile along highway Route 50, and then get onto this very skinny sidewalk to ride 3/4 mile over the waterway, with winds blowing a steady 25 knots, and gusts to 35.  Somewhere in the middle of this bridge, the fencing disappeared, and we found ourselves riding on a super slippery drawbridge – where the grated metal allowed you to see the water below and feel more wind move your bike.   Let’s just say that riding our bikes on this skinny bridge with the slippery grates in winds blowing up to 35 knots was beyond frightening!   The only thing that would make this kind of effort worthwhile – would be finding a good place to eat.

That was the plan. Finding a good place to eat.  Officially in “Ocean City”, we make our way to the boardwalk, and start looking for a restaurant.  Any restaurant.  Any food at all?   We asked the locals – a postman — “are there any restaurants open“?  And the answer — “not really, the only restaurant open is in Ocean City West“.  Ocean City West, is 5 miles from our campground, and where we have been going for lunches the last 2 days.  OK, so the food is on the other side of the bridge.  Where we were, before we crossed the bridge.

It’s time to think about returning.  With the wind blowing 35 knots, the only way back, is to cross this bridge again.  On a bicycle.  Here we go.  I raced ahead of Paddy, and decided that faster speeds would be better than slower speeds.   With a combination of headwinds and crosswinds, I had all I could do to stay on my bike.   I took the slippery grate section (drawbridge) as fast as I could, and there was no looking back until I had reached land.  Paddy had his share of challenges too.  He was riding the skinny sidewalk on a wide trike with about 3 inches on either side to spare.  He had just enough room to keep the wheels on the sidewalk without crashing into the fence, or barrier wall.

30 minutes after crossing the bridge, we landed at – the Sunset Grille.  Our third day of eating lunch at this one and only restaurant open in the vicinity of Ocean City.  It’s all good tho – as the food is fantastic, and we can see it is a local’s favorite.   After lunch, we hop back on our bicycles for the last 5 miles back to our campsite.  Slowly, with a massive headwind, we navigated back to the campground, and sat inside the RV trying to get warm, with the RV rocking back and forth with the wind.

And we were feeling a bit empowered.  Empowered, knowing that 35 knot winds had not diminished our bicycle adventures one bit.

 

 

CastAways

Tags

Assateague Island, Bicycle Riding, CastAway, CatTrike, Eastern Shore, Elliptigo, Maryland, Ocean City, RV Camping, Sunset Grille

A break between school semesters, a lull in the frantic pace of work life, a winter that wouldn’t quit, an RV fresh off the maintenance shop & full of gas, and a suggestion from my sister-in-law – ‘hey – why don’t you go somewhere?’ – that it finally occurred to us.  Why don’t we go somewhere?

And that was all it took.  We knew we wanted to be near the water.  We knew we wanted the drive time to be minimal.   That left for 2 choices.  Either somewhere along the Cheseapeake Bay – or along the the Maryland ocean shoreline.   Assageatue Island met the criteria.  Unfortunately you have to book a reservation at the state park at least a year in advance.  Aren’t people spontaneous anymore?

Paddy with the help of his buddy “Google” discovered a private RV campground located 5 miles south of Ocean City, and 5 miles north of the Assateague Island State Park.   We have no time to be picky.  In less than 24 hours, we booked a reservation, stocked the RV, packed the essentials -which include a CatTrike, a hybrid bike, the Elliptigo bike, and 2 pairs of running shoes.  Oh yeah – and Soxy, our cat.

By 1:30PM, we had arrived – at Castaways.  Not knowing what to expect, we checked in, and were assigned campsite 7B.   Campsite 7B, is located 15 feet from the waterway that divides the mainland (Eastern Shore Maryland) from the northern tip of Assateague Island.  There were no other campers between us and the water, and there were so few campers overall in the campground – it felt like we had the place to ourselves.  The location was too good to be true.

Looking across the waterway, was the most pristine, natural setting of dunes and tall grasses that make up the uninhabited national seashore – the norther tip of Assateague Island.  Uninhabited by humans that is.  As I scanned to our north, I could see a band of wild horses, roaming freely, feeding on the grasses.  With the winds blowing 15 knots from the north, the roar of the ocean waves were breaking on the other side of Assateague Island – sounds we could hear from our campsite.  I was instantly mesmerized by the sounds of the seas, and stopped checking my emails from that moment on.

I pulled up a chair, having front row seats to this movie called nature.  The Ocean City Inlet is 3 miles to our north, and it was easy to see the ebb and flow of the tides – ripping through the middle of the channel.  At the backside of our campsite a thick mass of grasses and trees, which appeared to be home to untold species of birds – singing songs to the backdrop of the ocean breakers.

After a few hours, the need for exercise, trumped my need for tranquility.  We decided to pump up all the bike tires, choose a method of transportation, and let an adventure unfold.  A trip to the Ocean City Inlet was the destination, with me on my Elliptigo and Paddy on the CatTrike.  We traveled along the wide shoulders of Route 611 to Sunset Boulevard.  Along Sunset Boulevard, the shoulders disappeared, and we danced with traffic until we reached the ‘strip’ of marinas and restaurants.   Here we discovered shrimp boats lined up along the dock-age of the harbor, and suddenly I was craving fresh shrimp for dinner.

At the Sunset Grill, a wrap of fresh shrimp, avocado and grilled vegetables was calling my name.  As we waited for our food-to-go order, we sipped on diet cokes, and wondered how we would carry our dinners home the 5 mile ride to our campsite.  Surely it will all work out, and it did.  With our dinners in containers, and in a bike-friendly bag (handles), we biked our way back to the campground.   We consumed the most sumptuous dinner, in front of our private -o natural – views of the water, Assateague Island, the ponies, and sounds of hundreds of bird species singing their songs.

For this brief nugget of time, we have Castaway.