Ride Diary

Maryland Eastern Shore

My wife and I went out to the Eastern Shore of Maryland to stay with some friends this weekend. She had some business in Baltimore on Friday, so she went on ahead and I joined her in the evening on the Nighthawk. Our host exclaimed, "you rode _that_ from Washington!" It's always a bit amusing when I arrive somewhere and the hosts have not been warned that I'm coming on the m/c. They were a little puzzled by this strange guy on a m/c in their driveway.

We stayed neared St. Michael's, which is about a 90-mile trip from DC. Most of it is super slab on Rt. 50, but the Bay Bridge makes things interesting. At certain points you can follow Md. route 662, which in the old alignment of Rt. 50 if you want a more relaxed pace, but I was in a hurry. Beyond Easton it's two lanes, although very wide and all the curves have been tamed. It was hot all weekend and I still managed to stay relatively comfortable on the bike, while maintaining a good level of protection. My Fieldsheer cordura jacket, Joe Rocket ballistic pants, Shoei full face and full finger gloves are tolerable up into the 90s as long as you're moving. Fortunately there were no tie ups on the trip. Sometimes the Bay Bridge toll booths can cause a big backup. It was stop and go on the Bay Bridge going west, even though they only collect the tool eastbound. Driver psychology is a funny thing. There are three lanes east of the bridge, three lanes on the bridge and three lanes west of the bridge, so it's not a real bottleneck. Still it was stop and go across the whole span.

There were lots of full dress Harley touring bikes and Gold Wings out this weekend. I only saw two sportbikes on the trip, a Ducati in St. Michael's and a GSXRCBRZXYZF on the highway (sorry they all look the same to me at 70 mph.) It seems that once you get out of the metro areas, sportbikes all but disappear. I did see another Nighthawk, a 250, in St. Michael's. Lots of waves were given and returned.
Aside from the trip out and back, on Saturday I took a short loop on some twisty country roads and crossed the Tred Avon River on the Bellevue-Oxford Ferry. On my tour I gassed up in the town of Tilghman which lies at the end of peninsula. In full regalia and white/grey riding boots I guess I was something of a curiosity, for I elicited some stares from the locals at the roadside market/gas station. Excitement in Tilghman seems to be a rare commodity.

Overall its pretty nice motorcycling country, if you like flat wide mostly straight roads with towns and water views interspersed. Most of the main state roads have been widened and straightened, but the back roads still offer some excitement. Unfortunately those close to the water tend to be of the dead end variety.

I ate lots of crab, almost to the point that I'll be sprouting claws soon. Crab eggs benedict, crab omelets, crab imperial, steamed soft-shell crabs, etc.