Day 7: Linthicum Heights to Silver Spring

This morning, I woke at 7 AM again. After preparing my bike, I went upstairs to the kitchen. Susan made me a cup of cappuccino and fried two eggs for me. When Dave came down, we chatted more over breakfast. Both Dave and Susan has worked in Africa on humanitarian trips. I told Dave that last night when he prayed for me during dinner it reminded me of Lynn and Lynne on my 2018 trip. That was when I was tired of riding my bicycle on the second day and stopped at a coffee gazebo. Lynn prayed for me after I rested. It seems like this time I also received prayers from strangers. There are a lot of parallels between this trip and my 2018 trip.

Dave and I talked about religion a bit. I told him that I’m a Unitarian Universalist if I had to choose a religion. But what I really believe is that we are all gods, with a lowercased g. We can create and destroy, like God, so we better make our choices wisely.

After breakfast, Dave rode his carbon fiber road bike with me for about a mile out to a lookout. We took a selfie together and bid our farewells. Dave and Susan will bikepack the Pacific coast in August and September. I hope they have a great trip!

Me and Dave

I rode on the bike path for quite a while before entering more residential neighborhoods. I enjoyed the sun since it’s not raining today and the weather was 52 degrees when I left Dave’s house. This is the perfect riding condition.

However, at around 6.5 miles out my eyes started to get really tired that I had trouble keeping them open. It must be the strong sunlight and the wind. I just wanted to stop somewhere and rest my eyes, maybe take a nap. But I knew I had to keep going if I want to make it to my friend Brandi’s place by 1:30 PM.

Riding in some residential neighborhoods

At one point, I saw a dog running directly toward me. I thought I was going to get bitten since I’m not carrying a dog spay, but then I saw it had a collar so my fear subsided. The dog was friendly and was off leash by his owner for some reason.

I followed Komoot’s directions for the past few days without issue until today. It indicated that I needed to make a right turn on a road, but there was no road. I was confused so I rode straight and made the next right into a cemetery. Komoot then directed me without problem. That was the only issue I had, which is not bad at all.

Around noon time, I reached the town of Laurel. I went to Pho Viet 75 on Main Street to grab lunch. I ended up having a coconut boba tea and a noodle with pork dish. The restaurant was so busy with takeouts and sit down customers that I didn’t get my food until half an hour later. I ended up having an hour long break for lunch and didn't leave the restaurant until 1 PM.

Riding through a park

After more cycling, I arrived at Brandi’s house in Silver Spring around 2:15 PM. I was glad to have reached my destination for the day. I think with my current physical condition, a 30 mile ride for the day is ideal. Today I rode a little over 27 miles.

Brandi and her wife, Judy, bought their house three years ago. It was my first time visiting them here. Brandi and I chatted for about an hour, catching up about our lives. Then I took a much needed shower before Judy and their son, Izan, came back from Judy’s parent’s house. We ordered Thai takeout from Siriwan Thai and I had the drunk noodles.

Me and Brandi

It’s almost 8:45 PM and I’m ready to call it a night. Tomorrow, I’m meeting Brandi’s brother, Nick, in DC for lunch before riding to Nick’s apartment in Pentagon City.