Day 97, Oct 28. Ashland to Richmond, VA.

John and I have enjoyed a fair amount of cycle-touring before this trip began, but still we were a bit unsure if we would complete the whole year. We might get sick of constantly moving from city to city, miss the company of others, or decide that cycling every day was too taxing. We were pretty sure that would not happen, but left open the possibility of calling it quits.

After three months on the road, we have settled into a routine. Life on the road has normalized; home is wherever we lay our heads that evening. Like the rest of life there are good days and bad.  Yesterday's ride into Richmond fell into the I am so glad we decided to do this! category. After two long mileage, lots of climbing, cold days, we were rewarded with warm temperatures, sunny skies and only 17 miles to "home".

There are active train tracks the run through the downtown

on the aptly named, Railroad street.

We have fond memories of Ashland from the many visits we've made in past years to visit my sister, Jennifer. The town is small and quaint with excellent restaurants and shops to visit. John and I are particularly fond of Ashland Coffee so that was our first stop of the day. It has changed hands since we were last there so there were no chats with the owner about our ride, but the coffee was still good, the staff friendly, and the atmosphere homey.

Both of us had been looking forward to visiting with family, so it was exciting to ride into Richmond. My sister Jennifer and brother Jerry live in "The Fan" the downtown historical section of the city. By lunch time we were all sitting together talking too loudly and eating an excellent lunch. With dinner we played Anomia. A very fun, but challenging game that involves a lot of shouting and laughter. Later we went a local jazz club with my brother-in-law, Rick, which was a real treat.

Emilio's is a MUST stop should you ever find yourself in Richmond.

Now we have to figure out how to balance our wish to linger with family and our need to get moving before the snow falls.

Day 96, Oct 27. Fredericksburg to Ashland, VA.

Ah, the ups and downs of bicycle touring.

Civil War buffs will tell you about the Battle of Fredericksburg, about how in December of 1862, Maj. Gen. Sumner's men were butchered trying to storm and take Marye's Heights just west of the city. The massed artillery of the Confederates was the key imho.  General Longstreet had been assured by his artillery commander, Lt. Col. Edward Porter Alexander, "General, we cover that ground now so well that we will comb it as with a fine-tooth comb. A chicken could not live on that field when we open on it."



Notice that Plank Rd. is in the middle of Sumner's attack. It is also the road that we had to climb, at 6.5%, in very heavy traffic, after riding 60+ miles to get to our motel for the evening.

I could not figure out how to paste a Google maps image of our climb up Marye's Heights, so here is the url. https://www.google.com/maps/@38.2960473,-77.4877631,3a,75y,269.62h,95.01t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sMCpsDINkN4chYD0W_BMxNQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DMCpsDINkN4chYD0W_BMxNQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D349.67026%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

This morning our route had us backtracking down from Marye's Heights into Fredericksburg. Be assured that we exceeded the speed limit.

After negotiating Plank Rd. and the Blue and Gray Parkway to get out of Fredericksburg, our day began to improve. We turned onto VA route 2 and stayed on it for 37 miles.


Decisions, decisions.

Yes there was a headwind that increased as the day went on to over 15 mph. Yes we had a little over 1,000 feet of climbing, but nothing like the 3,000 feet of yesterday. Yes our legs were sore from the ride yesterday after 19 days of not riding, but it was a beautiful, partially sunny day for the most part. One of the things we have learned is that you just have to enjoy the road, enjoy the experience. Doesn't matter that you are working to go 8 mph, doesn't matter that it is 41 F, you are dressed for it after all. The important thing is to enjoy.

Most of the day, this is what we experienced.

We had one final concern today. Thunderstorms were predicted to arrive in Ashland around 4 PM. They arrived early, and we lost this race with the weather about two miles out of town.



No matter. We arrived at our hotel and our gear was dry. Dinner was at El Azteco (no relation to the East Lansing establishment), enchiladas supreme for Margaret, and carnitas for me. Tomorrow we ride 17 miles to Richmond, and some rest days to visit with Margaret's siblings. A treat for both of us.

Day 95, Oct 26. Last day in Washington DC

Leaving Washington DC, was bitter-sweet. We had a lovely visit with Becky and Scot and spent some quality time with Braelynn and Savannah. We will miss them. On the other hand, we were anxious to get back on the road, both because we had been off of the bike for over 2 weeks and because it's getting cold. We need to get south before winter catches us.

 While in GR, visiting and working on the house, I decided to bring back arm warmers and a pair of long pants. Boy, was I happy to have both today! It was 40 degrees as we headed out with a high of 58 for the day. Cold!


Overall, Google bike maps have been great. We've used them to great success. They are however, just a tool, not the Bible. Yesterday, as we looked over the proposed route for today we noticed that Google was telling us to turn into MCB2. Hmmm. That stands for Marine Corp Base road 2. In this case, the Marine base is Quantico. Yes that Quantico. We were skeptical that the Marines would let us ride through their base, and we were correct. Luckily, we noticed the problem yesterday instead of today while in-route. With the luxury of time, we planned a route that went around the base, not through it. In fact, every MCB# road we passed was fenced off and one had the notice pictures above. Live fire impact does not sound like anyplace we want to be! Google are you listening??

Tomorrow we head to Asland, VA. Fun times!

We lucked out and found a bike trail next to VA 620, a very busy, fast moving divided road.

Day 92, Oct 23. Last day in Grand Rapids

We fly back to Alexandria, VA tomorrow. Our plan is to work on the bike 10/24 and 25, and start towards Richmond, VA on 10/26. We have been so busy during our stay here that the prospect of just riding 50 miles a day feels like a vacation.


 Our grandchild, Landon. He has decided to eschew playing a musical instrument so that he can concentrate on his pro football career.

In the last ten days I have spent three days in my office, and had three dental appointments. We have attended three grandchildren athletic functions, several dinners with friends, spent another day with friends, worked on (finally) getting our home ready to rent, and Margaret had three medical appointments of her own.


Our grandchild, Brooklyn. She has a great sense of fashion.

One question we have been discussing is how to number our days. Specifically, should we count the prolonged rest days, the times that we put our ride into hiatus every three months? We have eventually decided that this ride, in all its facets, is a single, ongoing experience. We should therefore count days of "rest" in Grand Rapids just as we count any other day that we don't ride, no matter where. That makes today day 92.


 Our grand children, Braelynne and Savannah. We went to a farm that made picking out a pumpkin an all day experience.

 More once we are back on the road.

Day 76+, Oct 7+. Annapolis, MD to Alexandria, VA

We were a little concerned about today's ride. We would be going 61 miles, climbing some (1200 ft), and riding through downtown DC. We both finished the day feeling strong, feeling that we still had plenty of miles left in our legs.

Most of the day was urban riding of one kind or another, from MD-450 through Annapolis,


The Naval Academy viewed from across the Severn River.

 to downtown DC neighborhoods.

 

 

We rode quite a bit today on the shoulders of two and three lane divided highways, but we were also on bike trails that were relaxing and beautiful.


Mt Vernon bike trail.


Anacostia river walk trail.



Yes indeed. This is almost the exact spot where we finished our first cross country ride five years ago. Actually got chills being there.




Crossing the bridge over the Potomac.


Ronald Regan International Airport.

We are going to suspend our ride for about two weeks. This is a planned hiatus to allow us to fly home to take care of this and that, and also to visit with our grandchildren in the Grand Rapids area. Since leaving Grand Rapids on July 25th, we have traveled 1,958 miles. We have ridden in twelve states, one Canadian province, and the District of Columbia. Not bad for the first 76 days.

Day 75, Oct 6. Denton, MD to Annapolis, MD

The Cross Island Trail  was lined 

with some of the tallest pines

I have ever seen.

Today's challenge was twofold. First, Google Cycling Maps was determined to put us on Route 50. While Route 50 allows bikes, we wanted to arrive in Annapolis alive, so we did not want to go on a highway. Our second challenge was the Chesapeake Bay Bridge which is part of Route 50. Putting our heads together we determine a path that, though longer, kept us off of 50 while still getting us to Stevensville, where the bridge begins.

Every time we mention that we'll be crossing the Bay Bridge, people kept telling us how "horrible" it was to cross. There was even an episode of Inside Edition called "The Scariest Bridge in America?" ( Inside Edition Bay Bridge ) that shows how afraid people are to cross it, and tells about the shuttle service available to drive people's cars across the bridge for them.

All of this talk made John and I curious to see it for ourselves. Since the Bay Bridge does not allow bicycle traffic, we had to hire a shuttle service. For $40 a driver came, loaded our bike and trailer and off we went across the bridge. While chatting, we learned that:

While neither of us think we would need a shuttle to drive across the bridge, I can see why some might. To begin, it's 4.3 miles long, 250 feet high at it's peek, and very heavily traveled. I was surprised to see that there is no shoulder, so in case of an accident, there is no where to go. In fact, there have been accidents that caused cars to go over the side, falling into the bay, in part because the guardrail is quite low. Apparently, on the east bound side the rails are even shorter and can be seen through. Our driver said he drives between 30 and 40 cars per day over the bridge.


 

Tomorrow we head to Alexandra, DC, a bedroom community of Washington, DC. We'll need to go through the city and travel through some highly populated areas. We can handle it, especially since our reward will be a visit with Scot, Becky and our two adorable granddaughters.

Day 73 and 74, Oct 4 and 5. Rest day Cape May, then ride to Denton, MD

Cape May is an absolutely beautiful Atlantic coastal city in New Jersey with a history pre-dating the Civil War. Lots of Victorian homes here, as well as many large wooden frame hotels.



The beach is awesome.


As usual on our rest day, we did laundry. We also rode south to the very tip of New Jersey and took in the Cape May lighthouse.


Today we started by riding 5.8 miles to get on the Cape May Lewes ferry


Waiting area at the ferry terminal.


When we entered New Jersey, we were crossing the George Washington bridge. There were no welcome signs that we saw, but honestly, we were more concerned with survival than photography. We saw this sign after we boarded the ferry.


Bow of the ferry with our bike bungied to the rail.


Third deck lounge area. Would love to have a drink here. If it was later than 9:30 AM. If it was warm.


Once we arrived in Lewes, we began an epic ride. You may have heard of the ODRAM, the One Day Ride Across Michigan. That is an 152 mile ride that Margaret and I rode together in 2008. We have also talked about doing RAIN, the Ride Across INdiana, a 160 mile one day ride. There is also RAID, the Ride Across Iowa in a Day, a 300 mile ride in one day. Finally, there is the Cross Florida Ride (no acronym) of 170 miles. There may be others I don't know about.

Today we inaugurated the ODRAD, The One Day Ride Across Delaware. This is a grueling, flat, 38.5 mile ride across the state of Delaware. We also had a strong tail wind. I think we established a new record.

Today we averaged over 13 mph for the entire day's 50 mile ride. (Windstrong.) Very good for us. We are staying tonight in Dentin, MD. Tomorrow we ride to Annapolis, MD. We will be transported by truck over the US 50 bridge.

Day 71/72, Oct 2 and 3. Mount Laurel, NJ to Vineland and Cape May, NJ

The creed of The Ugly Mug, Cape May, NJ. Not a bad idea to live by. 

The road to Vineland and then the following day to Cape May, NJ had little of interest and that's what made them a pleasure to ride. No hills to speak of, good roads, and cloudy but decent weather. After weeks and weeks of 10 miles an hour due to hills or the constant start and stop of urban environments, we cruised along at 14/15 miles an hour stopping for an occasional traffic sign. It was freeing to just ride.

Colton, Alex and their furry friend, Gram 

Riding a bike trail in Cape May we met, Colton, Alex and Gram. They began their journey in California and are wandering the country "until it is no longer fun". It was great to chat with fellow travelers. We wish them well. You can follow their journey at 9mph.net .

Day 70, Oct 1. Princeton, to Mount Laurel, NJ

First let me share some pictures from yesterday's ride that the computer refused to load until today. It rained lightly all day, and it was cold, but Margaret did take a few pictures on the Delaware & Raritan Canal Trail.

The remains of a lock, near where we entered the trail.


The canal was always immediately to our left, but often the Raritan River, and later the Millstone River, was immediately on our right. Sometimes felt like we were threading a needle.


 Occasionally there were low spots, sluice ways, which were designed to keep the canal from getting too full. They were not fun to ride across.


Towards the end, the canal path got rather soft and muddy. Our trailer tells the tail.



Oct 1. Fall is definitely catching up to us. The skies were heavily overcast all day, and while it did not rain, the temperature did not climb over 62F either.

Our first task was to retrace our route into Rocky Hill, and then head into Princeton.

Getting ready to leave the hotel.


Some beautiful homes in Princeton.

Nice church. Can't remember what town it is in.


After we got through Princeton, and in various ways, we both kind of screwed up today, and caused us to accrue "bonus miles." That is to say we became misdirected and almost lost on several occasions. The result was that we added 12 miles to our planned 48 mile ride. The good news is that we still got to our motel before 3 PM, and we both felt that we could have ridden further.

Tomorrow is a short day, 38 miles to Vineland, NJ.