SECRETARY—Senator Addie Eckardt, a Dorchester County resident, wrapped up her 2016 Tour de Mid Shore with a bicycle ride through Dorchester County on Sunday, August 28. The ride covered approximately 53 miles and took in parts of through Secretary, East New Market, Rhodesdale, Brookview, Eldorado, Galestown, Handsell, before returning to Suicide Bridge. Senator Eckardt’s Tour de Mid Shore started as a pre-election fundraising effort, and has since turned into a tour in four different mid-shore counties tor the appreciation of cyclists and a chance to enjoy and familiarize ones self with the beauty of the rural counties of the Eastern Shore. The tour started in Wicomico County, followed by Caroline, Talbot and Dorchester, which corresponds with the geography of her home legislative district, D37. Senator Eckardt invites friends and constituents, and anyone interested in a fun bicycle tour, to join her on the ride each year. Rest stops along the way are scheduled at various points of interest. The senator’s Dorchester County ride started at Suicide Bridge Restaurant in Hurlock, and finished there with her and her crew enjoying lunch at the popular seafood destination. The group also visited the Handsell House on Indiantown Road outside of Vienna, and stopped to view the Indian longhouse and property. This year the senator added a twist to her ride, focusing on the eastern side of Route 50. “We have ridden similar routes each year,” the senator said in a press release on the event, “and this year I wanted to explore “the other side of MD Route 50”. The one daily similarity of the four-day ride was hot, hot weather, with the ride group starting out early and trying to finish early to miss the hottest part of the day. The senator’s group wound up back at Suicide Bridge for lunch by 11:30, tired and happy after enjoying their tour of the east side of Route 50.