After Dennis did most of the work yesterday, I took the lead today, simultaneously to do my share of breaking the wind, but also to keep us at a relaxed pace for another easy 60 miles.  10 miles in we got breakfast at a cool little counter+porch, sharing a table with a couple cute girls from Toronto. 

Half the ride (to Ocean City) was along the coast on Hwy 1, and I think we may have been in a side-scrolling video game or cartoon.  We would pass mini-golf, a beachwear shop, and a restaurant. Then mini-golf, a beachwear shop, and a restaurant. Ad infinitum.  There was a sweet bike/bus lane the entire way though, and since I’m pretty sure they run only one bus a day, it made for nice riding for a commercial area, and there were tons of cyclists out.

The second half took us inland, through more rural areas.  Along the way, we were getting text message updates from our manager at work. Eventually we made it to Goff’s GreatVALU in Snow Hill, Maryland, where, after stocking up on lunch and groceries, we sat down on the sandy concrete outside with my phone plugged into an outlet, one headphone in each of our ears, and dialed into a conference call.

And that’s when we got a kick in the gut, from 1000 miles away.

Our entire Chicago office was being eliminated.

No fucking way.

When we hung up, we were both pretty dazed, and weren’t really sure what to do next.  At the moment, we’re continuing on as planned, but reserve the right to change our minds as we cycle through the series of emotions and moods that will surely wash over us in the next couple days.  At the moment I think we’re doing pretty good, and in some ways it’s nice that we’re together in this boat, as we obviously know what the other is going through.  And hey, a bike tour with a friend is probably more fun than one with a co-worker anyhow, right?

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