It’s 12:15PM, it’s getting hot and we are climbing a steep mountain at 4MPH. We started this ride 3 hours ago, yet somehow we have gone only 16 miles. Is it that hilly near Gettysburg? No! There are two wineries on this ride and a farmers market, and we have just visited all three in a span of about 3 miles. Well, we didn’t get to that second winery, which was at the top of a big climb. That’s because the road was loose gravel, and we couldn’t ride on it without the fear of falling. So we pretended that we stopped, and took the picture to prove it. We spent way too long at each stop, visiting with other travelers.

We were able to visit the Adams County winery, where we tasted 4 different wines. We could have tasted 6 wines, but I was driving the bike and didn’t want to push it. We also met Rusty the winery dog, who actually has a wine named after him.

Anyway, we got a ton of pictures on this ride because the scenery was fantastic. We were in apple and peach orchards for almost the whole day. It looks like an excellent crop of both this year, so hopefully we will be able to enjoy some via Whole Foods when it’s harvest time. After our big 3-mile climb, the terrain flattened and we were able to pick up the pace and finish the 36 miles by 1:45.

We are staying in a historic bed and breakfast from the 80’s, which in these parts means the 1880’s. Unlike the car-free ride we had today, downtown Gettysburg is a traffic nightmare. The traffic circle in the center of town was gridlocked when we returned from the ride and we had to walk the bike around the stoppage, which was faster than riding it. It is tourist season, so we are walking everywhere in town, with constant reminders that we are on the same roads that Lincoln traversed in 1863. Last night we hit a brew pub, tonight is a tavern. But before we head out, we must sit under these 100+ year old trees and finish this bottle of wine from the Adams County winery…