Distance: 115 km
Time: 4:15
I am generally not a fan of surprises. I know my mother will be proud to see me write that I like to have things planned out, my life organized, so that I can accomplish everything I need to as efficiently as possible. An unplanned, freeform day is a rarity for me—save for family vacations, during which not having a plan is de rigueur—and whimsical is an adjective I don’t wager anybody would associate with my personality. That’s why it was probably fate that I decided to roll out this morning—Day Two of the Rapha Festive 500 Challenge—with only a vague sense of what I planned to accomplish, where I planned to ride, and was reminded that the unexpected can often have the effect of turning the ordinary into something magical.
Actually, I’d be lying if I maintained I had absolutely no form of a plan for today because there was one thing I did hope to accomplish, which was to gather some footage via a GoPro HD camera my friends at Twenty20 Cycling Company let me demo for the week. As I was filming one of my favorite descents heading north on Cuba Road, I heard what sounded like a horn call in the distance. I didn’t think much of it until, appearing before me and taking up the entire road were about 50 people mounted on horses, fully decked out, their leader loudly cracking a humongous whip on the road, engaged in a good old fashioned fox hunt.
I’ve seen paintings of these things, but here I was in the midst of one! Knowing the kind of reception I’m usually afforded by the motorists of Baltimore county, I wasn’t expecting to be greeted kindly at all—though if any one of them took a pot shot at my get up, I was ready to ask them to look at themselves and their friends and carefully consider if they really wanted to make fun of my outfit. But that didn’t happen. All of the fox hunters were extremely nice and generally excited to have a cyclist in their ranks. They all wanted to talk to me! One of them mentioned that cyclists follow fox hunts in England all the time. But the absolute best and most thrilling part was when they let me ride alongside them as they galloped down the road. It was just one part of an absolute picture perfect day and another solid ride.
Just the facts:
