The week started with a few busy days at work wrapping up proposals for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and National Cancer Institute. On Wednesday I picked up my Serotta from the All American Bicycle Center in Damasucs. It had been making some annoying clicking sounds and my mechanic had spent the last week playing Sherlock Homes to isolate it. No obvious problem, but lots of disassembly, cleaning, adjusting, and lubing of contact points. So ... I am about an hour into a nice ride on the quiet rollers of Damascus when a bee bounces off me during a quick descent. Must have stung me good. Pretty quickly I start getting nauseous and very light headed. I struggle to keep going and head back to my car at the local church. Then the itching starts ... all over! I finally stop about 20 minutes from the car to rest and itch. I make it back to the car and head right to the store for some Benadryl. That night I did a good impression of the stay puft marshmallow man (video) and swelled up like a balloon. Doctor put me on 7 day steriod treatment which quickly did the trick. Oh ... I managed 25 miles out it.
After a day of recovery, work and the weather do not cooperate, so I head to the trainer for 30 miles of sweating with Coach Troy. I have several of his Spinervals DVDs and this time I rode to the On the Road 2.0 - Lake Placid Training Ride. It uses a helmet cam as opposed to the typical indoor workout.
The weekend brought great weather and the chance to log some longer rides. I put in almost 100 miles including a nice flat and scenic loop on the Maryland's eastern shore starting in Queenstown. I meandored to Centerville, Church Hill, and then on to Chestertown. Here is the route on mapmyride:
My start was delayed due to nasty traffic crossing the Bay Bridge, but I was able to finish well before sunset. The eastern shore and it's flat country roads are only an hour away and are a great change of pace from the rolling hills of central Maryland. Queenstown is home to a large outlet mall and the very popular Queentown Harbor golf cousre. The towns on my ride have seen a lot of new house construction the last few years, but still have a quiet charm. Church Hill has a great old 1930's movie house that is now the home to the Church Hill Theatre. They put on performances of classic theater, Shakespearean plays, musicals, and children’s plays. My turn around point was Chestertown. Chestertown is home to Washington College and sits on the banks of the Chester River. The nicely restored and well mainatined downtown area has some neat old hotels and houses, as well as a variety of shops and restaraunts. Great boat watching overlooking the river including the Schooner Sultana project.
Sunday's ride was a little shorter and I stayed local heading through downtown Ellicott City. A nice 150 mile week and memorable thanks to the bee.