Fifth Group Ride

This past Saturday afternoon we went out for our fifth team ride (only nine more to go), affectionately called the Cornwall Cannon Ball loop. According to coach Tom, the name has something to do with the fact that George Washington's cannon balls for the Revolutionary War were made along the route. I was a little curious if he was just making it up, so I checked it out on Wikipedia (also an extremely valid source). It turns out that Wikipedia backs him up, apparently Cornwall Furnace was operated during the revolution and was a major arms providers to George Washington.

It truly was a beautiful day in the Palmyra and Lebanon area. With temperatures around 70, and the sun shining, it was great to get out there and enjoy the summer weather in mid-March. We were missing our good friends Kui and Shelly but they were in D.C. with TNT running a Saint Patty's day half marathon. Luckily for them and for us, the chance of thunderstorms didn't materialize and I actually got a slight sun burn during the ride. You typically don't think about needing sunscreen in March, but we do this year.

We rode through acres and acres of Pennsylvania farm land. The smell of the freshly plowed soil was in the air, which brought back memories of living on the old farm growing up. Some of my first memories are from living in the Fisher-Crouse house in Hanover. It was right in the middle of a large farm at the end of Wilson Ave. Anyway... back to the ride. Farmers were plowing their fields using equipment from another era. As we rode past the fields, every so often you could hear a large stone hit one of the tilling discs.

Thankfully there were no major mishaps with our ride this week.  Jenelle's bike is running smoothly again. No matter how hard I tried to lose her every time I turned around to check on her she was right behind me, except in a few instances where she ended up in front of me. I have no idea how that happened. :-)

I can really say my only issue was a mild sunburn. Don't forget the sunscreen next time!

Click here to see the route!

Ride Stats

Total distance: 52.77 km (32.8 mi)

Moving time: 2:19:34

Average moving speed: 22.68 km/h (14.1 mi/h)

Max speed: 52.00 km/h (32.3 mi/h)

Elevation gain: 608 m (1996 ft)