I headed east this morning on Md Route 40 toward Frederick. It was a perfect day for a ride, low 70s, low humidity and minimal wind, all due to the storm that rolled through town yesterday. My pace was a little over 13 miles an hour and I rode just shy of 18 miles. The best part of the ride was a little side rode Mt. Lena Road off Route 40. After turning on to the road on I saw a grave yard next to a smallish Methodist church. I thought about stopping to take a photo, but I decided against it. Neither the grave yard nor the church were all that picturesque. I continued along the road passing by homes that lined the rode on both sides, the way homes and roads used to coexist before roads became wider, divided and traffic increased in speed. About a mile into my ride on Mt. Lena Road, I faced a winding, rolling hill. I shifted into an appropriate hill climbing gear stood up from my seat and began to hammer my pedals, the hill climbing gear was a wise decision, but not so the hammering my pedals. The hill continued to rise in front of me and just when I thought I had reached the top of the hill it went up again. Turns out the hill is a half mile long. Needless to say, I was a happy cyclist when I finally reached the top. At the top of hill Mt. Lena Road rejoined Route 40.
I decided to head back to Hagerstown so I turned left, headed West and had the pure pleasure of descending the hill I had just climbed. My speed going up the hill was probably somewhere in the 4 to 6 mile an hour range, but going down I'm sure I hit 26 or 27 miles an hour. The 1.5 mile ride back to the intersection where Mt. Lena Road turned off from Route 40 took about 4 or 5 minutes. A bit quicker than the ride up Mt. Lena Road.
The rest of the way home was quicker than the ride out, although the wind did pick up a bit on one open section.
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