To really kick off the biking season, Laurie and I set out for Delaware this weekend for a flat ride through the environs of Bethany Beach.
The weekend started at the condo of Laurie's friend, Suzanne, who kindly let us stay in her place. It had a beautiful view of the surrounding marshlands and was full of birds and deer. Too dark when we arrived for a decent picture.
Laurie and I headed to dinner under the worst circumstances: we were starving, it was late enough that restaurants were closing, and we didn't know where we were going. Luckily, we happened upon a lovely and cozy Italian restaurant - white table cloths and all. They let us squeeze in at a lunch counter because we didn't have reservations. The waitress was snippy, but the clam linguine was delish. I ate a whole bowl of butter (with bread) by myself. egad.
The next morning, we grabbed an egg sandwich from a Starbucks that was inside a Giant (nice job checking out the local businesses girls!) and headed to the start. First order of business after arriving: check out the beach (which was really nice).
The ride started in the town center next to the below sculpture of Chief Little Owl of the Nanticoke. It is part of the "Trail of Whispering Giants" project, an endeavor started by humanitarian Peter Wolf Toth who has created these sculptures and donated at least one to every state.
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| Photo credit: Town of Bethany website |
It's probably good to read a little about an area before you visit, but I almost never get around to the reading until after the fact. Here's what happens when you do that: I took a picture of the sculpture when I noticed it, but I was standing in the back of it. So I took a photo of the back of Chief Little Owl's head without even realizing it. Sigh.
Since Laurie and I were riding different routes, we split up at the start. I also planned to deviate from my route when I got near Fenwick Island so I could ride through Fenwick then north on route 1 to Bethany. This is part of the route on Bicycle Magazine's
Best Bicycle Rides in Every State article.
Laurie took these amazing flower pics in town while waiting for her start.
My impression of this area is that it is one in transition (should have read about it!). There was a mix of old (and even dilapidated) houses, and new plastic looking suburbs. Somehow, I didn't get any pictures of the latter with their shiny white fences and unnaturally green grass. One of the rest stops was in the parking lot of the clubhouse of one of these new neighborhoods, another was on a point overlooking the bay next to a single home and market stand that looked like it had been there for years. The fields were all tilled but still empty of crops. The chicken houses looked abandoned. Couldn't tell if they were a bye-gone business or if the new chickens for this year just hadn't been purchased yet. Everything was in a state of flux it seemed.
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| Old quaint falling-down house being swallowed by the woods. Too bad I couldn't have rearranged the sun. |
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| Farmland tilled, maybe planted? But not growing yet. |
The day was absolutely beautiful. One degree colder and I would have needed long sleeves. You can see the chill on fields with no crops!
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| These houses and the below houses looked like the old Bethany - sleepy and modest. |
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| Chicken house looking in good shape, but empty. |
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| Boys with their toys. Some kind of fiberglass shell around a recumbent that made it look like a...space ship? |
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| The point we rode out to where there was one house instead of a condo complex. |
Soon after this rest stop, I took a right turn off the planned route and headed East for Fenwick Island. The day had been windy and this turn put me straight into a headwind. Earlier, I'd been lucky to tag onto the back of a line for about 20 minutes while we pushed into the wind toward a rest stop. I was glad I didn't have to take my turn leading the line! But now, I was on my own. It made it easier knowing that the wind wasn't truly westerly - it was coming from the south too. So I knew once I turned north, it would carry me back to Bethany.
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| Wisteria blooming on the side of a barn |
On the overpass below, I could see the new development cropping up on the right side, while the quieter looking landscape faced off on the left.
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| Pastel new condos on one side of the road |
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| Small white house on the other |
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| Quaint canal area as I approached Fenwick Island |
I had this romantic idea of Fenwick Island as a sleepy Cony Island. Does such a thing exist? I didn't find much more than this colorful slide that lent itself to the carnival. And it definitely wasn't sleepy.
On my way back to Bethany, I caught a tailwind that carried me at 18mph. I snapped a few pics along the way.
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| Beach road heading north out of Fenwick Island |
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| An ice cream truck in Fenwick Island waiting for its season - or has it already passed? |
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| Dune along Rt. 1 heading North to Bethany |
I have to say I was disappointed with the ride from Fenwick Island to Bethany. The above pic is the most I saw of any beach or sand. The park area I saw on the map was called "The Narrows" I'm sure because the strip of land I was driving on was little more than a big burm. But there was no view from the road - much like driving north in the outer banks - the scrub brush on the dunes blocks your view and isn't much to look at all by itself. I had hoped for some kind of an overlook, however. Also, I thought it was a much longer stretch of park, but I blinked and I'd arrived in Southern Bethany.
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| These little beach roads reminded me a bit of the Outer Banks |
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| Beach neighborhoods between Fenwick and Bethany |
I arrived in Bethany earlier than I expected, so I rode 3 miles past it toward Rehobeth. I could see some sort of large structure in the distance as I approached. I thought it might be a bridge into Rehobeth and I was almost right. Looking at the map now, I think it was the Indian River Inlet Bridge which leads into Dewey. I wanted to see it, but I didn't want to go the final two miles because that would actually be four since I had to double back and Laurie was waiting. Also, I knew I'd be turning back into a strong headwind.
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| There is an Air Force training site in the area |
When I reached the center of Bethany, I'd clicked off 56 miles. Laurie rode 37 miles and waited for me at the finish. Somehow, I found her in the crowd.
We milled around the after party - the music was good! - but the food options were all meat - hot dogs, hamburgers, tacos.
So we headed for a local restaurant and got fried oyster Po'Boys. We sat on the boardwalk and ate them in the sunshine. Laurie had taken some nice pics of the area (below) while she chilled out on the beach waiting for me earlier. It's where we ended our day.
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| The boardwalk |
Actually, it's not where we ended the day. We were so cold after sitting in the wind we went back to our Starbucks in the Giant and got a hot coffee for the ride home!
56 miles
14.8 mph
