52-Mile Frederick County, Maryland Three Covered Bridges Bike Tour

Disclaimer: This post recapping our 52-Mile Frederick County, Maryland Three Covered Bridges Bike Tour contains affiliate links…

Independence Day Ride

Earlier in the week, Bill planned a 52-mile Independence Day ride with his Worldgate cycling buddies for 7 AM in Frederick County, MD. He intentionally kept the course as flat as he could in hopes of luring me into riding with them. With the pandemic and an injury canceling any hopes of running in my annual race, I had no reason not to join in on the fun. Goodbye Firecracker 5k, hello Maryland Three Covered Bridges Bike Tour!

We started our ride at Walkersville Community Park in Walkersville, MD in bright sunshine and a delightfully crisp 72°, not bad for July 4th. Shortly after our start, we rode for a couple of miles through an almost chilly pocket of 68°; however, it warmed gradually over the course of our ride and it was 93° as we pulled back into the parking lot at the Walkersville Community Park.

Half way through the ride, we stopped at a gas station to buy water and Gatorade to top off our bottles, and then stopped a few more times to fuel and hydrate. It was my longest ride to date, surpassing a 50-miler 2 years ago.

Ride Overview

• • Ride Name: 52-Mile Frederick County, Maryland Three Covered Bridges Bike Tour
• • Location: Frederick County, Maryland
• • Start/Finish: Walkersville Community Park
• • Course Type: loop
• • Course Surface: gravel
• • Bike: Salsa Journeyman
• • Distance: 52 miles
• • Time: 3:44:46
• • Average Speed: 13.9 MPH
• • Elevation Gain: 2,408 feet
• • Elevation Range: 272 to 566 feet
• • Temperature Range: 72° to 93°
• • Ride with GPS: Link to turn-by-turn navigation cue sheet
• • Course Map:

Fun Pictures From Along the Way

The 52-mile Frederick County, Maryland Three Covered Bridges bike tour took us past beautiful farms just an hour’s drive west of the nation’s capital. The farm girl in me loved the beautiful rolling hills, crops, farm animals, and machinery we saw as we rode through the countryside.

A special thank you goes to my husband Bill for capturing most of the following images with his GoPro (affiliate link).

Approaching the Utica Road Covered Bridge – 5.02 miles into our ride…

We stopped for a group picture after riding through the Utica Road covered bridge.

Approaching the Loy’s Covered Bridge – 11.85 miles into our ride…

Approaching the Roddy Road Covered Bridge – 17.22 mile into our ride…

We stopped after riding through the Roddy Road covered bridge to use the restrooms and refuel at a park just on the other side…

There were lots of water crossings over a variety of bridge types…

Riding toward Mount St. Mary’s University, Emmitsburg, MD…

Riding through Emmitsburg…

And past the Vigilant Hose Company…

The farms along Sixes Bridge Road were beautiful…

Sixes Bridge Road truss bridge…

Sixes Bridge Road fun curve…

Riding along for 21 seconds with Bill’s GoPro (affiliate link)…

Garmin Stats

Post-ride Garmin picture in the park…

Garmin map and graphs…

Final Thoughts on the Ride

I was a little intimidated going into my first longer group ride and very nervous about riding on the roads. The other cyclists were extremely nice and it certainly helped that I felt like I held my own by not lagging behind the pack. Because it was a holiday morning and we had an early starting time, we saw very few vehicles during our ride (less than ten).

Two points worth noting from a personal standpoint – and both things for me to work on in the future – are that I got a significant headache from dehydration and immediately after the ride I experienced extreme weakness (and then numbness) in the fingers on my right hand from some sort of nerve impingement. Until I learn to drink while riding, I need to learn to ask my friends to stop for water and fuel. As for the nerve impingement, I need to move around a little more on the handlebars and not stay in one position.

Edited to add: It’s a month later and the numbness is almost gone from my fingers. Also, when riding I’m now very cognizant of the need to move my hands around, especially on longer rides.

Questions:

• • How did you celebrate Independence Day?
• • Cyclists, what riding related injuries have you experienced?
• • Cyclists, are you able to pull your water bottle out and drink while riding?

Disclaimer:  This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on the blue product link and then make a purchase, I will receive a small commission for referring you. You will pay no more or less for the product; however, Amazon will show their gratitude for my referral by paying me.