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Cyclists take to area roads in Bike MS: Bike to the Bay

New routes take riders on Lewes-to-Georgetown and Junction-Breakwater trails
Mount Vernon Trailblazers team members ride along Mulberry Street in Milton as they near the 51-mile mark on the first day of riding. RON MACARTHUR PHOTOS
Ron MacArthur
October 21, 2019

It didn’t seem the same during this year’s Bike MS: Bike to the Bay without a rest stop at Uncle Ted’s and Aunt Polly’s Place along Cave Neck Road near Milton. This year’s event occurred Oct. 12 and 13 with a goal of $1 million to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Greater Delaware Valley Chapter.

The MS Society offered the following on its website: “On behalf of the National MS Society and the Bike to the Bay community, we want to thank Aunt Polly Stuchlik for her dedicated support of the Bike to the Bay ride. Since the late 1980s Aunt Polly has hosted the Uncle Ted’s rest stop. A foundational piece of Bike to the Bay, Aunt Polly has been a friendly face and community leader for over 30 years.”

However, members of the local Odd Fellows and Rebekahs did not disappoint, and moved their food stop – complete with scrapple sandwiches and baked goods – to a rest stop at Milton’s H.O. Brittingham Elementary School on Mulberry Street.

This year, routes were altered slightly to take advantage of the Lewes-to-Georgetown and Junction and Breakwater trails through Lewes and Rehoboth Beach. The 50-, 75- and 100-mile rides started at Delaware Technical Community College, Dover campus, and ended at Delaware Seashore State Park between Rehoboth Beach and Bethany Beach. Although most riders did one day of cycling, some chose to return to Dover on a 75-mile route Oct. 13.

Mount Vernon Trailblazers team members ride along Mulberry Street in Milton as they near the 51-mile mark on the first day of riding. RON MACARTHUR PHOTOS
Rebekah volunteer Ruth Scott hands a hot scrapple sandwich to rider Tom Law of Raleigh, N.C., at a rest stop at Milton’s H.O. Brittingham School. Members of the Odd Fellows and Rebekahs have been manning a food station for years.
Kathryn and Bennett Marriott of Elkton, Md., wait for their husband and father, Bo, to reach a rest stop on the route. He was riding for his uncle, William Clark, as part of the Northrup Grumman team.
Elaine Dernoga of Milton and Jay Adelsberg of Lewes stop at the Milton rest stop. They were among several cyclists riding in memory of Jay Kirby, who passed away recently following a Sept. 11 bicycle crash along Route 1.
Riders sign a large poster for Aunt Polly Stuchlik, a longtime supporter of the event.
Elaine Dernoga, riding the 100-mile route on the first day, leaves a rest stop at Milton’s H.O. Brittingham School.
Riders stop at the Milton H.O. Brittingham School rest stop, the halfway mark on the 100-mile route on the first day.
A line of cyclists stay close to one another as they head east on Cave Neck Road near Milton.
For the first time, MS ride cyclists turn onto the Lewes-Georgetown Trail at the Sweetbriar Road intersection.
Cyclists riding the 100-mile route pedal along Sweetbriar Road near Lewes as they prepare to cross Route 9.
Cyclists start the first day of the ride Oct. 12 as they leave the Delaware Technical Community College Dover campus.

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