Day 2: Monday, April 11, 2011

64 miles to Kiptopeke State Park, Cape Charles, VA

We had a little drama in the morning. As we were getting ready to leave, we decided to check the weather.  When Vincent turned on the radio, it started going on and off, then all the electrical components went haywire.  We called Don, our personal guide to anything and everything about the travel trailer, and although he had lots of theories about what might be going on, he couldn’t say for sure because we didn't give him all the information.  We finally decided to check with the help at the campground and he discovered that one of the circuits had been tripped and the battery didn’t charge so we were running out of power.  Once he got everything reconnected, Bob had to wait an hour so he could pull the slide in. John stayed with Bob to provide moral support.

Vincent, Judy, Carla and I set out for the start of the second day.  Luisa went ahead in her car to scope out a place for lunch.  Turns out Google does a pretty good job of mapping out the bicycle route with lots of back roads that are very picturesque.  We had a few problems with unmarked roads.  Thank goodness for Vincent’s Smart Phone since he is able to pull up the maps and see where we are.  That will certainly come in handy and I hope we can get data in most places.  We hit really heavy head winds this morning and the first 20 miles felt like 50. 

We stopped for lunch and Bob was able to join us this day since he had the trailer all set up.  After lunch, Vincent and I took off on our own for the next 44 miles.  I have to say it was some of the hardest riding I have done in some time.  The winds just never let up and it took us about 6 hours to get to camp.  The crew waiting for us was a bit worried, but we knew we were ok and we just had to DIG DEEP! (This is what I kept telling Vincent when he wanted to give up!)  We rode nearly the entire route to the camp down a beautiful, scenic, little traveled Seaside Road.  We only saw one bicyclist who happened to be flying by in the opposite direction since he had the wind at his back. 

We got a standing ovation when we finally straggled into camp, tired, hungry and glad to be done for the day.  Judy and John wished us farewell and good luck for the rest of trip. Bob made a gourmet meal of feta, spinach turkey burgers and we enjoyed a sunset dinner with Carla and Luisa. 

The park was truly beautiful with lots of wilderness trails and boardwalks through the woods to the shore.  

Day 1: Sunday, April 10, 2011

60 miles from Ocean City, MD to Tall Pines Harbor Campground in Sanford ,VA

Dipped wheels, a bit sandy but still tasty.

John, Judy, Louisa, Cathie, Carla, Donna and Bob.  Friends since Pharmacy School.

We dipped our back wheels into the Atlantic Ocean and started our journey to the West Coast.  Judy and Carla joined us, as we biked down the Eastern Shore through farm lands, passing lots of chicken houses. 

We stopped in Snow Hill, Maryland for lunch.  What a delightful little town.  Since we were there on Sunday, many of the shops were closed but we had a fabulous meal at The Palette, great gourmet food in a beautiful setting.  We visited the Julia A. Purnell Museum which commemorates the life and times of Julia Purnell, a seamstress who created a large body of embroidered works, many after she became wheel-chair bound at the age of 85.  The docent in the museum was delightful.  A great stop on our ride.

Margi, one of our Pharmacy School classmates couldn't join us so we wore the Alaska biking shirts that she sent us.

Luisa joined us on the bicycle ride in Snow Hill and Carla drove down to the campsite.  She and John then biked up from the campsite and met us about 10 miles out, so the whole group of us was able to bike into the campgrounds just before sunset.

Bob made it to the campground and got everything set, his first solo outing with the trailer.   We were able to watch the sunset, then enjoy a great meal of leftovers from the party.  Bob was happy he didn’t have to cook!

Day 0: Saturday, April 9, 2011

We had a great celebration with several friends and family members in Ocean City, MD:  Fantastic food, great conversation and lots of love and wishes for a great trip from everyone.    Special thanks to my very good friend, Mary, who organized the event.

April 9th celebration and April 10th kickoff

Photo by JoLinda Thompson

We are celebrating on April 9th with a pot-luck dinner in Ocean City, MD on Saturday around 5:00pm.  The next morning we will kick off with a delightful ride through the Eastern Shore to Tall  Pines Harbor Campground in Sanford, VA.  Starting time will not be too early since the ride is only about 50 miles.  The campground has travel trailers for rent if you decide you want to continue with us to Kiptopeke State Park which has lodges and a yurt to rent.  We are driving over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel then biking to Chippokes Plantation State Park for a one-night stay.  We will take the Scotland Ferry to Jamestown and head West toward the mountains.  Please email privately if you are interested in attending the celebration on Saturday or joining us for the first few days of the ride.

Breakin' in the New Bikes

Ever since I made the decision to embark on this adventure, my biking friends told me I should use a touring bike instead of a hybrid.  I finally decided to look into it and spent many hours thinking about the pros and cons.  Once I determined I would make the switch, I decided to go to a shop that is well known for customizing bicycles and working closely with clients to ensure that the bike best fits the rider's needs.  I spent many anxious filled hours discussing my concerns with the fine folks at College Park Bicycles. My sincere thanks go to Charles, Chris, Igor and Darnell for patiently listening to my obsessive concerns and  convincing me that switching to the touring bike would provide significant benefits on the ride.  They switched out parts, added shims and explained the mechanics of the touring bike so I could adjust my approach to riding.  Vincent, on the other hand, loved the first touring bike he sat on and says he will never go back to riding a hybrid!! 

We picked the bikes up last weekend and have managed to get about 6 hours riding in already.  As I expected, the body position is quite different and I will have to build up some stronger muscles in  my back and neck.  I do think the  lightness of  the bike and the aerodynamics will be well worth the trade off in the long run.  So far I have only been able to increase my speed to about 12 miles per hour instead of 10 miles per hour, but that still equals significantly less time in the saddle for long distances.

Backin' Up's Not Easy to Do

We picked the trailer up today.  The crew at Leo's Vacation Center was fabulous.  They walked us through all the procedures and took us for a test drive. Bob did very well driving the trailer home.  The biggest challenge was backing into our driveway.  He was able to park in the driveway initially, but we decided we needed to move it so we could park a couple of our cars there also.  After struggling a bit, our neighbor Bryant, who has significant experience towing vehicles, backed it in with no problem at all.  Bob will have to take a few lessons from him!!  If you are ever in the market for an RV, motor home or trailer, I highly recommend Leo's.  They are the nicest, warmest group and truly made us feel like one of their family members.

Waiting for the Trailer and Mapping out the Route

We were supposed to pick up the travel trailer today. Given that we had 9 inches of heavy snow on  Wednesday, we decided there was no way we could shovel out an area for it and the other vehicles!   So we decided to postpone until next week.   Hopefully, it will get warm enough this week to melt some of the snow.

Since we weren't tied up for 5 hours learning about the trailer, we decided to map the route out in the  Atlas.   What great fun that is - to actually see in more detail exactly where we will be going. 

Of course, Vincent has taken a completely different approach that clearly demonstrates the new technology approach and prowess of the younger generation.  He downloaded the map to his phone and is able to zoom into street level for the precise route we will be using.  He's working on turning these into cue sheets for the ride since there is no way I will be able to use the cue sheets we got from Adventure Cycling while we are biking. Just another reason why it would have been easier to do this 20 years ago.  Of course, I wouldn't have had the pleasure of having my son join me, nor as much time and resource at my disposal.