It was the easiest ride ever today. Flat, 60 degrees out, strong tailwind, and only 36 miles. Why can't the tailwind be on the 60 mile day and the headwind on the 36 mile day?
We slept in, had a leisurely breakfast, stopped for snacks at a gas station, and got in at 3, when Quality Inn check in starts.
This is a really nice and really cheap Quality Inn. It's next to a huge shopping strip with a Walmart and a beer store. There is a Fins Oyster Bar for dinner too. Not scenic, and not glamorous, but way, way cheaper than Berlin.
Berlin was so fun though.
We are in Delaware now, and most of the day was spent riding in Delaware.
Delaware is the same as Maryland when you are away from beach towns. There are lots of stinky chicken houses, and farm fields where they grow food for chickens. And forests in swamps. Today was mostly about the chickens.
One weird thing here is the fields are all planted with radishes.
I've ridden by many fields so planted, and I was puzzled by what was planted, because it sure looked like radishes and I was mystified about why anyone needs so many radishes. Do chickens eat radishes? Today, I pulled one up, and it sure enough was a radish. The picture this app says it's a radish.
So I asked perplexity.ai "Why do farmers in the Delmarva peninsula plant radishes in the fall?" The answer is that it's a cover crop to improve the soil and to take up and stabilize excess nutrients so they don't end up in the bay. The radishes are left in the fields to decay.
Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/16565698319
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