Day 9 - Front Royal Virginia to Breezewood Pennsylvania

Today was back to cycling reality as we were back on regular roads for all of today's route. We rode in parts of four states, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. I had not been to Maryland before so it was neat to visit a new state for the first time by bike. The route was primarily through farm country and small towns. The terrain was rolling except for two very steep hills about 20 miles before Breezewood.

It was fun crossing the Potomac River at Hancock Maryland and seeing the old canal and towpath left over from the days before the railroads took over transportation. The towpath is open for many miles for walkers and bikers to explore. Hancock is a very old and very hilly town right on the river. The area where West Virginia and Maryland come together is really neat and would be worth further exploration.

I'll talk a little more about Pactour itself. After a week of observing them, I can only describe them as a well-oiled machine. Simply put, they have everything you need and they think of everything you might need. They have every bike tool and bike part known to man in their trailer. That is the mechanical end of things. They also anticipate the physical needs of the riders. Two examples come to mind. The first was the evening we arrived in Fancy Gap Virginia. There are really no restaurants to speak of there. So they got pizzas and salad and ice cream and set up dinner in the parking lot of the hotel. It was really good. Nobody had to figure out how to get to a restaurant and being cyclists themselves they know that we were all too tired to deal with trying to find food. They just know what to do without being asked. The second time was at the end of the 130 mile day at Waynesboro. Matt from Washington and I finished first and as we rolled up to the hotel and put our bikes up, two of the crew people, Bill and Tracey, said look what we have, chocolate milk. They know after you just did 130 miles with 12,000 feet of climbing that chocolate milk would taste great so they got some. Anyone who knows me knows chocolate milk is about my favorite thing to drink so it was all I could do not to drink a good half gallon of it. These special touches are what keep people coming back to Pactour.

Tomorrow is another trip through rolling hills up to Mill Hall Pennsylvania. It will be 108 miles so about another hour longer than today.