Jarrettsville to Reisterstown, Maryland – July 20, 2017

Perfect Yellow - Veloccino Cafe

Camping behind the library was uneventful, other than the hard rain at approximately two o’clock in the morning (I had to zip the vestibule closed). To be safe, I started moving at 5:30 AM and was pedaling before 6:00. I purchased a few foods at the local gas station and moved on down the road.

In Butler, I stopped at Veloccino, a cafe / bicycle shop (interesting combination). I spoke with the young woman running the cafe portion of the business while enjoying caffeine and an apple danish. I didn’t linger, as the temperature was steadily climbing.

Reminder - Veloccino Cafe

Considering Santa - Veloccino Cafe

About five miles from Reisterstown, an older cyclist (67), named Mark, pulled up to talk while I was taking a break on the side of the road. The next two hours would be spent, under a shade tree, listening to him tell one traveling story after another.

Mark has been all over the world. Unlike my solo trips, he plans out every detail in advance. There are positives to each approach. He spends a lot of time pouring over Lonely Planet books. Within the last week, Mark applied for a Chinese visa. His intention is to enter Tibet for fifty days. To pull this off, he needed a Tibetan touring company to pull some strings. I hope that everything goes well for him.

Mark lives with an African Grey Parrot, believing them the very best pet to have (highly intelligent, speaks). Due to the length of our conversation, and the fact that I was listening ninety-eight percent of the time, I was left with the impression that Mark needs a bit more human interaction.

Hippo - Reisterstown Public

In Reisterstown, I quickly found the local library, pulled out my tent to dry and escaped into the air-conditioned interior of the building. I connected to Wifi and purchased a Delta Airlines ticket home, giving me several days to explore D. C. Researching the area, I found that the grassy park across the road was a sufficient place to camp. I checked it out personally before heading to Wawa for a hoagie.

Pedaling back, I practiced yoga before setting up camp and taking a bottle shower.

I’m pretty exposed here on this wide-open field, but I really don’t think that anybody minds.