SOUTH BETHANY, DELAWARE
Rather than one ride, this does not lend itself so well to one post. Instead, we get one post for a week of rides.
We arrived at South Bethany, Delaware, to stay in the home of Pete and Lisa Schmidt. They had donated a week of their beautiful home to CureFest and I had been high bidder last year.
It was a beautiful home on a canal. Still, I worried if I would find good riding here. Flat. Windy. And those are the two words that describe the riding here. And it was good.
Arriving on Saturday I went for an early evening ride up the coastal highway, across the bridge at Indian River inlet, then turned and rode out to Ocean View. In the 1960s, 70s, and as late as the early 80s, we had camped at Sandy Cove and Bayshore campgrounds. I rode back there from memory.
It was a nice ride. It was flat, except for the bridge. After I got back and uploaded my data I was distressed to see there was a timed segment on RideWithGPS for the bridge portion. I went slowly up the bridge. I stopped for some pictures, and was timed at 3:21 – only 18 seconds off the worst speed ever. I was 87th out of 90. Ouch.
It really wasn’t a bad ride, save for that segment. But I wasn’t going to let that rest.
On Sunday I had a little time to plan and put together a nice Bethany – Fenwick Island loop ride.
I was wheels down at 6:38 a.m. It was a 32 mile loop mostly on country roads until it came back to Fenwick Island at which time I rode on the Coastal Highway.
The Coastal Highway has a wide shoulder marked for both bike and running/walking lanes. Despite some moderate traffic, it is a safe route and I have no hesitation suggesting it to anyone.
Monday was to be my shot at redemption with that awful segment on the Indian River Inlet bridge. Wheels down at 6:52 a.m., I rode north, paying close attention to keep my speed up over the bridge.
I rode through Dewey Beach and into Rehoboth Beach, which surely scrubbed some speed off a good ride. Up and back it was just short of a 30 mile ride.
As for the segment, I did better. I went from 87th to 67th which is still in the bottom third. Maybe I need to come back and ride with a massive tailwind.
Then I also learned there was a Bethany to Dewey segment. I will go faster if I know I am being timed. Darn. On this one I was 29th out of 64 leaving me wonder if people come just to ride the bridge and not to Dewey Beach? I did check the top speed for that segment and that guy, Brad Rittase, definitely had a tailwind when he set the top speed, although his bridge climb speed was butt slow. He was hitting speeds in the highs 20s going to Dewey and 12-13 mph coming back. It happens.
But I was happy with my ride. I don’t know if I will do it again. Just flat and always windy and you never know where the winds will be coming from.
My Tuesday ride was my go-to ride — the Bethany-Fenwick loop with an addition to Bishopville, Maryland. Once on Lighthouse Road, two cyclists pulled out about 1/4 mile ahead. I thought at speed I would catch them. I didn’t “chase,” per se, but I was marking myself each time I could see a landmark. I was pulling them back very slowly. When I finally caught them I was glad to see they had shaved legs.
I would have worked with them to have a group of three but the one guy sat on the front rider’s wheel and they never changed positions so I thought it wasn’t up to me to upset their balance. I let them go on Coastal Highway but eventually pulled them back. I passed them for good getting back to South Bethany.
Wednesday would be my longest ride. I was wheels down at 6:24 a.m. I headed out to my Fenwick Loop but headed south instead of due east to Fenwick Island. I missed a planned turn but knew the boundaries of the roads and knew the sun so I headed south. I had to ride on U.S. 113 (that part was planned) which is busy (wide shoulders), but it was only for two miles. Most of the rest of the roads were country or had wide shoulders.
I got on U.S. 50 just before riding into Ocean City. I’m not sure if the narrow sidewalk on the bridge was the bike lane or if we were welcomed in a travel lane. I took the lane. Since there was no shoulder I took the middle of the lane since it was unsafe to encourage anyone to pass me (think sharrows). Besides, I was doing 20 mph in a 30 mph zone. It was all good.
In Ocean City, I hopped on the Boardwalk, thinking I might ride it for a while. I did, about three blocks worth. Too crowded, even at 9:00 a.m. Then it was back to the streets. Ocean City has a bike/bus lane so traveling north-south really is a breeze except for all the stoplights.
In all I rode 219 miles in seven days (and slightly more if I count running around Saturday morning with the girls in the Burley Trailer before we left). I averaged 16.6 mph which is probably one mph faster than I ride at home, all things being equal. That includes fighting the wind. Yes, it sometimes benefits you but during a loop it’s one part headwind, two parts crosswind, and one part tailwind. I’d rather have no wind.
But it was great and I would love to come back here to ride some more.
