Day 4 - June 7, 2013 - Rest Day, Mineral, VA

Since the forecast called for rain, all day, with the potential of thunderstorms, we decided to take a 0 day in Mineral.  The two guys that were also at the volunteer fire department actually packed up and left in the pouring rain!  Best of luck to Daniel from Berlin and Steven (I think I remember that correctly!) from Seattle!

We didn't do much - still up early because of various things - trains rolling by 40 feet from us, the uncomfortable nature of sleeping on concrete, and movemrnt outside.  We stopped by the gas station to grab coffee, and had leftover pizza for breakfast.  Exciting huh?  Oh and they sell this at the gas station :

We napped, read, and lazed around as much as possible.  I went and did some laundry at the nearby laundromat - it was nice to get out soaking wet clothes from the day before dry!

Did more of the same in the afternoon and evening, cooked some of our backpacking food for lunch, then ate at this greasy spoon (literally, everything had about a gallon of grease cooked in), which have me heartburn all night, thanks!

Turned in early, and that was about it.  Such an exciting day off!

Here's another funny for you:  

 Can you train urban essence?  I was tempted to sign up to find out!

Day 3 - June 6, 2013 - Mechanicsville, VA to Mineral, VA

Today's mileage - 59.1

Total mileage - 151

Time in saddle - 6h 54m

Total trip time - 8 hours

Wildlife spotted - Rabbit, fox

This one might be a bit short, we are exhausted and getting ready to be lulled to sleep by the sound of the rain in our tent!

We ended yesterday a bit short of our goal, so we went back and started there this morning.  My parents left to head back to our house after providing support for us for the first few days of the ride - thank you both again, we love you!  So we had to load up the bikes with all of our gear for the first time today.  We haven't weighed the officially, but they are probably somewhere north of 70lbs fully loaded!

The day started fairly uneventfully - traffic wasn't too bad after we got out of the city, and the first 10- 20 miles flew by.  Then we met the first hill we had to walk up!  There isn't much more defeating than flying down a fantastic downhill only to be faced with a wall of climb!  

I guarantee you, the photo doesn't do it justice.  We tackled a ton of hills today, and probably had to walk about 5 of them.  The long, gradual inclines are no problem at all - we shift into the easiest gears, and just spun away.  The short, steep ones are the killers...there isn't a gear that could possibly get those heavy bikes up those hills!  We cursed VA for its hills today, and the next few days will be even worse.  Can't wait!  Oh, and I had that miserable Train song "Meet Virginia" in my head all day...I really don't like Train ;)

We pedaled past Bumpass, VA, skipping the obligatory photo at the post office involving something ass-related - we were coming to a downhill, and there were too many people there, small town hangout i guess!  We pedaled by a lake, which was pretty.

 And then, to add insult to leg pain, it started raining about 8 miles from our destination.  Ugh.  It was chilly rain, and just yucky after we were exhausted anyway!  I won't lie - we walked most of the last mile into Mineral.

The volunteer fire department here lets cyclists camp on their property and provides a 24 hour bathroom - awesome!  We set up camp under their picnic shelter, grabbed a real NY style pizza (the guy has the dough even shipped in from NY!), then headed back to camp to catch some zzz's.  we are about 20 feet from the railroad tracks - hoping no train traffic in the middle of the night!

Thanks for checking in guys!  Talk to ya tomorrow!

 Oh and here's some comedy, read the last line in the picture below if you can, describing ice cream toppings ;)

Day 2 - June 5, 2013 - Charles City, VA to Mechanicsville, VA

Total miles today: 48

Total trip miles: 92.5

Time in saddle: 4h 30m

Wildlife spotted: Deer, snakes, turtles, vulture, wild turkey, dogs

Today's weather was just as good as yesterday, which made for great cycling. We started off today where we ended, at Sherwood Forest, the home of President John Tyler, who happens to be Erica's 6th great-grandfather. The traffic this morning was much lighter than what we experienced at the end of our day yesterday. Not long after entering Charles City, we found a great bike path that ran along the road. We decided to take advantage of it and really enjoyed getting to take in more of the Virginia countryside this way. Before we knew it, our first 10 miles was already behind us. 

When we hit 20 miles today, we were far from any places to eat, so we found a gravel path just off the road and had one of our favorite snacks, called a Stinger. It is just a thin waffle with honey in the middle, flavored in chocolate or strawberry. It was so delicious! We both love these little treats and they  really hit the spot when you need some quick energy in a pinch. 

Of course, since we are in such an amazing historical area, we stopped in at a couple of battlefield sites that are a part of the Richmond Battlefield Park. This is a massive span of land and learning about some of the battles that raged on for several days was quite moving. It is so amazing that our country works to preserve these places that are such important reminders of the major sacrifices so many have  made in the name of freedom. 

As we ended the day right around rush-hour, the traffic along our path became pretty overwhelming. We are both used to riding in traffic along heavily traveled roads, but today we encountered riding on a road with no shoulder, and drivers who were taking risks that could have been disastrous. Luckily, Erica and I are both pretty aware of our surroundings and we ride with quite a bit of safety gear, so we were fine. However, we wondered if maybe Adventure Cycling should consider re-routing this section of the TransAm. 

Finally, we just had enough of the traffic and ended our day a few miles earlier than we had planned. We had a delicious dinner with Erica's parents at Moe's (Erica's favorite). Now we are relaxing and having some beers...hoping tomorrow we can get an earlier start so we can avoid crazy traffic. Here's to blue skies and awesome roads!

Day 1 - June 4, 2013 - Yorktown, VA to Charles City, VA

Total miles : 44.5

Time in saddle : 4h 13m

Wildlife spotted : Bald eagle, otters, herons, turtles, snakes, muskrat, vultures

The weather was MUCH more cooperative today!  70's, sunny, very little wind - pretty perfect for cycling.

We headed back to the Yorktown Victory Monument for our obligatory photo op, re-dipped our wheels in the "Atlantic" (aka York River), and took off.  We met another two riders there kicking off their trip too!

We loved cycling on the Colonial Parkway towards Colonial Williamsburg - wide road, fairly flat, and very scenic!  We stopped at Williamsburg for lunch with my parents, then headed out to Jamestown.  Jamestown was pretty neat - they are performing an archeological dig there too, which was interesting.  We are huge history geeks, if you couldn't tell!

There was an amazing bike trail between Jamestown and the Chicohominy (sp?) bridge, so we got to skip out on some traffic.  Highway 5 in VA is a 55 mph speed limit road with no shoulder - not bike friendly, so it's great that they are building this alternative for cyclists :)

  

It was super sunny today, as you can see by my lovely glove tan :)

"I'm like the rain in a downpour" - the story of Day 0

We got up and ready to go start this thing this morning - met the local cyclists who wanted to send us off (hi Sharon, Scott, Bill, and Jeff!) at the Yorktown Victory Monument...and then the storms and rain came!  (Somehow I only have the photo of us with Jeff on here, more to come of the rest of the group!)

It looked like it would clear up in a couple of hours, so we took the opportunity to check out the national historic site in Yorktown, and grab some lunch.  Thought we had a break in the weather around 1, even went out and dipped our wheels, and then...it poured again.  Rain and drizzle is one thing, a downpour is quite another!

So around 2, we decided we didn't want to be riding in rush hour traffic, that rain sucked, called it a day, and visited the grounds of Sherwood Forest, President John Tyler's residence.  He's my 6th Great- Grandfather, so it was neat to check out his place!  His grandson still lives in the house.

And, we got this fantastic deal on a place to stay tonight that even has a paranormal investigation you can go on.  Real ghost hunting equipment and everything!  To say I am thrilled is an understatement!!!

So tomorrow is a new day, no hard feelings Yorktown, VA!  Sunshine and tailwinds tomorrow please!

“Everything I do surrounds these pieces of my life that often change”

Some of you teachers and students out there (those who still get a summer break, anyway!) will know exactly what I’m talking about right now when I mention that feeling you have as you get down to just a couple of days standing between you and a few blissful months of freedom.  It gets WAY more difficult to pull yourself out of bed and get ready for real life in the mornings, harder to focus on what you should actually be doing versus thinking about your summer plans, and is just generally an exciting time.

Highways - something we won't see much of this summer!

That’s pretty much how we’ve been feeling lately…we’re deep into that transition period where your thoughts and energy are both directed toward the future, while you have to continually struggle to stay in the moment at work and other life responsibilities.  We’ve both been actively handing off our responsibilities at work, and training colleagues to take over projects that we are working on.  I (Erica) am also transitioning my responsibilities as Treasurer of a professional organization to our incoming Treasurer, so that he can at least stay afloat while I’m gone over the summer!

In the meantime at home, we’ve been packing gear and making lists of last minute items we need to pick up.  We’ve been cleaning house to prepare for my brother to come and watch the pups, cats, and house for the summer (thanks Ryan!).  We’ve been working on the ever-growing list of things to do/note about how exactly to care for the dogs, cats, and house.  It is amazing to think of all the small things that you do out of habit on a regular basis, that clearly won’t be second-nature to anyone else walking in and taking over your responsibilities (both at home, and at work!).  For a control freak like me, it’s going to be hard to let go and not worry that things aren’t going smoothly at home, but I’m sure I’ll find plenty of things to control while we’re out on the road!

 Any remaining training rides around home will no longer be on unloaded and relatively lightweight bikes – we’re going to load them up whenever we go out now to get used to how they handle with the extra weight on them.  And, um, get our legs used to doing extra work.  Before we hit the mountains...  Which happens to be a mere 4 days into our ride…

So we had our Indianapolis kick-off party this past weekend (which was a really awesome time, thanks to all of you who came out to the party!), and are currently struggling through a short week at work.  We’ll pick my parents up from the airport on May 31^st after work, and begin the trek to the East Coast!  In my true no-spare-moment traveling style, I’ve lined us up for attending a music festival on June 1^st in New Jersey (who else will be at the Appel Farm Festival?), driving to D.C. the next day for our East Coast kick-off party on the evening of June 2^nd, then hopping on down to Williamsburg, VA for a bright and early start to our trip on June 3^rd.  We may or may not begin this trip in the absolute best imaginable way – hungover and exhausted…

We’ll have at least a few people accompany us on our ride out of Yorktown, VA that morning, so we better be ready to transition from weekend partiers to dedicated cyclists!  Not gonna lie…since my parents will be accompanying us by car for the first couple days of our trip, we’ll probably let all of our gear ride in my Jeep with them.  No need to do more work than is necessary as we ease into this daily high-mileage routine J

Another transition that has already begun…cyclist tans!  We rode about 35 miles a couple of weeks ago, and came back with awesome tan lines – our knees, arms (but only from short sleeve to our gloves!), and funky lines on our feet from sandal straps.  And this was while wearing 50 SPF sunscreen…just wait til you see what these lines look like by the time we reach the Pacific!

And now the “this is the last time we’ll do X until September” things are starting to happen…last time we’ll mow our lawn tonight, last time eating at our favorite Chinese place down the road (where they embarrassingly know our orders by heart), last trip to the dog park with the boys, last local bike ride, last time we’ll see our friends…the list goes on.  Change is hard – but we know this will be worth it!

Auctions!

In case you somehow missed this info elsewhere - we have a couple of great auctions up and running on Ebay right now!  All proceeds from these auctions go directly to the Looking Out Foundation via Looking Out Across America (and will contribute to our total funds donated to the foundation on our silly, oversized check presented to the foundation at Raise the Roof in September!).  Bid often and generously!

First up is an autographed print of Brandi Carlile and the band (autographed by BC only).  Print is 16 x 24, nicely mounted and ready for you to put it in your frame of choice!  Photo was taken by our pal Ruthi Ellis David (you can meet her in person if you come to our D.C. kickoff party!), and is a beautiful action shot, perfectly capturing the energy of Brandi and the band on stage.  Here's a photo of the print - it doesn't do it justice, but you get the idea :)  Get out there and bid!  Ebay Auction - Brandi Print

Next up (I'm starting to sound like Bob Barker..."next item up for bids...") are 2 tickets to a Brandi Carlile Hard Way Home Summer Convoy tour date of your choice (some shows excluded, check auction for available dates) INCLUDING MEET & GREET PASSES!  Talk about a memorable night, right?  Get out there and bid on it!  The activity has already been pretty intense on this one guys - best of luck!  Ebay Auction - 2 Tix + Meet & Greet

If these get a little too rich for your blood, don't forget, you can always donate any amount you'd like to the foundation using that PayPal button over there on the right!  As of our last update we're up to about $1,750 in donations to the Looking Out Foundation through that LOAA link!  Way to go guys!  We have about 3.5 months to keep growing that number :)