Jeff promised that today would be a little bit of everything. It had that and more. Bedford was still asleep when we rode through in the early morning. Our food team had a final breakfast duty, so we were the last ones out of camp after putting everything away. Two different people had morning flats that they had to fix before leaving camp.
The climbing started right away after town, and didn’t let up all day. The climbs were steep, requiring my lowest gear, and were typically followed by a sharp steep downhill before switching back to a climb. Up and down, over, and over, and over. On one particularly steep drop, a deer jumped out in front of my bike and ducked under the guardrail to my left. Behind me, her faun did the same thing to Scott, but missed him by only three feet or so. That got our hearts pumping at a good rate. Shortly after that, a flock of wild turkeys decided to try to fly across the road. The lead turkey flew about four feet off the ground right in front of Scott, while the rest managed to get some altitude before flying over me. We were beginning to wonder if we had a target painted on us.
By late morning, we were still near the back of the pack of riders, and had covered less than half of the 102 miles to Gettysburg. It was going to be a long day. We were managing less than ten miles every hour.
Finally, we neared the halfway point with a long gradual climb through the Cowan’s Gap State Park. We actually climbed quickly because the grade was not as steep, and the forest was quite beautiful. One of the lone houses on the road had a sign welcoming Lucija and Erwin. The two of them were standing there talking with the woman of the house, who was a friend of Lucija’s sister. We agreed that it was a small world indeed, but one with lots of hills.
The checkpoint for the day was at the lake at the top of the climb. We were halfway only six hours after leaving Bedford. After a long descent and a small town, we came across one of our riders who had been stung by a bee. She was experiencing an allergic reaction, and was all alone. We waited with here and helped as much as we could until help arrived. She’s fine now and will be back in the saddle tomorrow.
After that, the hills flattened a bit, and as we turned on to the main highway for the last 15 miles, Shelley, her mother Chickie, and our granddaughter Jackie, drove up the road to meet us. It was a special reunion and a great boost to my spirits. They found us just as we had completed a five-mile climb through yet another state park. The remaining ride into Gettysburg was into a headwind, but with few hills and went quickly.
Gettysburg is a town that lives on the memories of the battle that took place here during the civil war. Tour busses abound, along with the motels, horse drawn carriages, battle re-enactments, and quaint public houses, needed to sustain a large tourist center. I prefer other battle sites, such as Antietam in Maryland, for getting a sense of the momentous drama and tragedy carried out during that terrible war.
I do like to use visits to Gettysburg to bring back the memory the wonderful speech that Lincoln spoke here. I memorized it years ago, and am glad to be reminded of it. I find it ironic that he said, "the world will not long remember what was said here", when it became the most famous presidential speech of all time.
Perhaps few will remember what was written here as well. We passed our Big Ride final exam with flying colors, but not with great ease. Our day off looms in front of us followed by two more short days of riding. There are two hurricanes brewing off the coast waiting to welcome us to D.C. The finish promises to be an exciting one.

Today was our final Sponge Bob day, and we pulled out all the stops, including the new Sponge Bob bike shorts shown above.

Beth is our rider of the day today. Not only is she a great bike rider, but she is truly a wonderful person. Beth is trained as a nurse, and works at a high school in Seattle. Today, she came to the rescue of a rider in need of medical help. Many of us have turned to her for help of one kind or another over the past 45 days, and she's always been helpful and attentive. We are so lucky to have her along on the Big Ride.