Day 9: Cumberland to Frostburg, MD: adding texture to the landscape

Keeping this one short because we're eating breakfast at The Princess  Restaurant in Frostburg.
Yesterday was uphill the entire day. There are plenty of opinions on the internet about which direction to do the trail. The best argument for uphill is that it's more scenic. When you're going down, you enjoy the speed and don't stop as much to really look around. The kids had a lot of stopping yesterday- in the first two hours, we rode an hour and stopped for a total an hour, looking at tiny frogs, eating blackberries, taking pictures of new flowers. One reason I thought it was important to take the kids is to see the ride through new eyes.
Second argument for this way, is with Bryan, up is safer than down. He isn't reckless, but he does get his attention diverted easily.
Within Frostburg, the town has some steep climbs. There's a beautiful switchback built into the hillside with a few sculptures to help get into town, but that's the only assistance. At the end of this long day, the children found new energy to challenge each other to ride as much as they could to the top and safely descended to the next hill.
Bryan had so much fun he wanted to ride his bike to the dinner restaurant, so we let him. It's amazing to see how he can work his little 16" Specialized Hotrock, a single gear, back-pedal brake, weighs a ton in proportion to him. This is a bike that is typically sold with training wheels, and he's taken it 200 miles in less than 2 weeks.
Eryn packed her derailleur with mud, so she's stuck in one gear on her Scott Slice Jr.,and crushing the hills. She has the ability to slow for Bryan and pick up speed again, or hop off on the steepest part, find a small driveway to jump back on.
Mike and I felt like we were back in old territory, and some of that muscle memory (and gear selection) kicked in.
Mom was challenged more than she let on, and I was reminded of so many hills I walked my first trip. There's a steep one in Bonita that I had to walk, 4 miles into a 3,000 mile journey that I thought I had trained for, and I couldn't ride it. I didn't even have my bags on the bike. Later that day in Alpine, I needed to walk quite a few more. But the skill came over time. It's not something I can really explain steps to hillclimb better, it's an experience lesson. Eryn gave me tips of zigzagging makes a hill easier, and I'm thrilled she is aware of these little techniques, and we turn that into some physics lessons.