Tuesday September 29th
The Nickels are headed to the Mason Dixon Line to bike the North Central Rail Trail. It's a 42 mile trail connecting Baltimore (Hunt Valley) with York, PA. Emily, David, Gretchen and I left Lynchburg heading to Railroad, PA where we will meet Gary and Laurie at the Jackson House B&B. For lunch, we stopped in downtown Leesburg to eat at a good bakery Gretchen and I found on a recent trip, but alas, we couldn't find it! (Age has nothing to do with our plight!) Arriving back at the cars after lunch (At a restaurant with no patrons but surprisingly decent food), David discovered his driver side mirror had been torn off of his car, hit by a passing motorist who did leave a note.
After checking into the B&B, we discussed how to tackle riding the trail given a very rainy weather forecast....only about a ten hour fairly dry window tomorrow. We decided to ride the entire trail tomorrow and then headed to the Seven Sports Bar and Grill for dinner. Given the fact that New Freedom is a sleepy little town, we could not believe that the restaurant was packed on this rainy night. The food and the beer brewed on site were both very good!
Wednesday
Laurie decided not to ride today so Emily and Laurie dropped the rest of the Nickels off at Hunt Valley and we began the ride north to New Freedom where we would meet for lunch. Given the rain in the past few days, the trail was in excellent shape. However, David's day was made when we ran across this blow down in Gunpowder Falls State Park and had to portage our bikes...not to mention the mud stains on our jerseys!
The morning weather was misty (pretty strong mist for one 15 minute period) but we reached the Mason/Dixon Line within a couple of miles of New Freedom just in time for lunch.
After lunch at Paesano's, Emily joined the bikers while Laurie and I did the drive around. We checked in with the riders at Hanover Junction. It was here where Lincoln took the train west to speak at Gettysburg and where his funeral train traveled north to New York; quite a historic junction on the North Central Railroad.
The riders pedaled on toward York through the Howard Tunnel (the oldest functional railroad tunnel in U.S.)...
and arrived at the finish looking quite chipper! Gary, David and I rode back to New Freedom while the girls loaded their bikes on the car and drove back to the B&B. Following a quick shower, we headed to the Glen Rock Mill Inn for dinner. To our delight, a representative of the New Belgium Brewery was holding a tasting which, of course, we partook....and before he left he gave us souvenir beer glasses that have a bicycle logo!
Thursday
The ten hour window closed with rain returning overnight so it was good we had derived Plan B, to visit local factories. Our first tour was Snyder Pretzels followed by Utz Potato Chips, both in Hanover. What is mind boggling to me is the amount of raw materials used each day and the speed of the manufacturing process; literally tons of materials and thousands of bags a day!
Lunch at Miscreation Brewing Company on the square in Hanover was quite good. I tried an interesting beer, Frank'n Stoudt, it had jalapeño peppers added to give it a kick! I thought it was surprisingly good. The waiter said it was their biggest seller at fairs and tastings. I'm glad to have tasted it but would not buy it again!
We ended the day with a dinner accompanied by music at Wyndridge Farm, an excellent restaurant/winery/brewery/event venue in the middle of nowhere near Dallastown, PA. The owner is a medical doctor who graduated from UVA!
Friday
After breakfast, we headed our separate ways; Gretchen to visit her mother, David and Emily to Delaware, and Gary, Laurie and I back to the Burg. Given the weather, I was really happy we got to ride the entire trail. Laurie, we were so sorry your back was hurting and you could not ride. Thanks again Double Nickels for another great bike trip; always a fun time with great friends!
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