The final days until our rest in sunny Richmond

Day 6

We awoke about 5 to pack ourselves up, eat the enormous breakfast quiche we had bought the night before from Eddie's (a short walk from C&B's), and be on our way. However, we found our hosts had arisen also to meet us at the wee hours of the morning, which was a delightful surprise to get to talk to them about the symphony they had seen the night before, Claudia's own musical abilities, their travels and life journeys and sip good tea. (We hope to make a pot for you in Brooklyn soon!) They waved us goodbye and prepared to embark on their own stoop sale project.

So we were off through Baltimore and since it was about 6am on Sunday morning, we were in good shape to cruise through it freely, as if everyone had been told to lock themselves away during our joyride through town. Straight down Charles St., the city was quite pretty. We flew by numerous churches and Johns Hopkins enjoying the already-wet early morning breeze. (I think the rock of quiche in my stomach helped propel us forward at a faster rate.) We wound our way down to the M&T stadium, where we met a biker who was on his way to a city-wide bike ride, who gave us the most efficient directions thus far on our trip. From Hollins Ferry Rd to Hammond's Ferry Rd. to River Rd., we went through some of the more depressed areas of time. Most were still asleep here too, but the character of the city changed completely in a few short blocks. The extremes we had just past through saddened us quite a bit. Many still separate and certainly not equal.

River Rd. introduced us to a few more friendly bikers and to our second flat tire, also acquired by yours truly (on the other bike) right at the crossing of mosquito-infested Patapsco S.P. We couldn't figure out what had caused the flat this time exactly, which haunted us later.

River Rd. took us to Race Rd. which then dead-ended into highway 100, and began again a few streets over. A man there told us the highway had clean divided in neighborhood in half and had separated family who had lived next door to each other all their lives. The road the reconnected the two sides a few long blocks over didn't even sport a sidewalk or shoulder for these folks to pass over. So we were a little upset by this and how car-centric things can sometimes be. But the man was very helpful and got us back to the proper road. A pretty hilly journey at this point, we were passed for the second time by another helpful biker who described the country as NSA saturated, saying that we were lucky to be here on a Sunday when secrets had a day off.

O.k. so this is getting pretty specific, we passed several high security prisons, helped anther biker with a flat tire (thank goodness we could contribute somehow!), got a little lost, got really hot, and then saw the sign: M.

So we headed for this M, the Greenbelt Metro. Now about 1pm, we loaded our smelly selves onto the last car and headed into D.C. So we 'cheated' a little bit, but hopefully most of you won't hold that against us. Refueled at Starbucks (to the detriment of our reputation) and then had a lovely lounging on the Mall, toured the newish WWII monument, talked to some fearless ducks who were very interested in our food, watched a soccer game, and refueled our Solio solar charger (this charges my phone, ishuffle, and other things with compatible attachments...got it from Paragon sports, $99, recommended!)

After a few hours we were re-energized and set off across the Lincoln bridge onto the Mount Vernon trail (which takes you right down the Potomac for a while and then into nice wooded areas, and past hot hot Reagan airport) which let us off right close to Christie's house.

First we met Norman however, a trail patrol gentleman who kindly escorted us all the way to our destination, and gave us some good advice which was to change the course of our trip. That was this introduction: http://www.adventurecycling.org/, which we found to have a plethora of information that we, and those we love, crave to know! Hurrah! Maps you can order listing routes with bike shops, campgrounds and other lodgings, post offices, rest stops, elevation, and other tidbits every curious and occaisionally lost biker dreams of.

Christie took us for a dip in the pool which felt amazing and then we set off for Rustico which turned out to have a delicious gluten-free pizza crust made from chick-pea flour, yummy!

Day 7

After Christie dispatched us with Luna bars (thank goodness!) the night before, around 6 we got back on the Mount Vernon Trail in Alexandria and took it about another 15 miles.

It was great to see lots of people biking to work on what was shaping up (we later found out) to be a 100+ day, even in the shade. The trail was lovely and gave us some beautiful views of the river. Then we got onto 235? which took us briefly onto Rt. 1. We were trying to find the Rt. 1 bicycle route which would help take us to Fredericksburg, but eventually this "well-marked" route was not so much the case, and during our 70+ miles ride of about 15 turns we probably saw about 4 signs. There were however some paved bicycle/pedestrian walks on the Rt. 1 which were a blessing as the shoulder was quite narrow.

Our journey (mostly around Quantico) took us down these routes:

Lorton

Old Bridge Rd.

Prince William Parkway (3000)

642

234

619

646, where there was a great little convenience market and just about every person in there gave us some fabulous directions and set us strait. We loaded up on some beef jerky, powerade, fresh wings, and trail mix.

611

612

610

612

646

616

17

Rt 1

3

The countryside was very beautiful, although I think our total on roadkill hit the 50 mark, which saddened us (everything from turtles and snakes to deer and raccoons). When we came upon the sign "You Cap 'Em, We'll Bag 'Em!" we were wondering if we could somehow make better use of these flattened lives. But like most thoughts on this trip that don't pertain directly to your legs, it was fleeting. But the country really was beautiful. Apparently we are not the only ones who think so, because there are lots of Estate Homes for sale.

But around 2, we were really read to hit 17, see strip malls, and V-line for Fredericksburg.

We actually had made really good time and were pretty proud of ourselves, so when we pulled up to the main drag in downtown historic Freddiesburg and we heard 'whoosh' we knew there was a bit more work to be done before feasting.

Again MY tire was flat, and this time we figured out that the tire needed replacing. A very nice local gave us directions to the bike shop a few blocks down by the Rappahanock and where we discovered that the brake pad had been gouging my tire a bit. The fellow at the shop also told us the tires were probably over ten years old and kindly sold us some that weren't dry-rotting, and he nicely let us change out the tires in the comfort of the AC of his shop.

We searched a bit for Spanky MacAdoos (it's gone though!) and settled instead on JBrian's PubHouse, where we tried to arrange lodging at a KOA campsite, but it was going to be $30! So Andy, without too much prodding, made the call to Liberty Town Arts Center, a great place we used to deal with when we worked for Campbells (where we met back in the day), and asked if we could sleep in their paved outdoor area. So Ellie and Dan Finnegan (the owner) made it happen and we spent another night in the comfort of our tent, with bathrooms, and without having to ride another mile for the day. We were left to simply crash and get a scoop of ice cream. Crash we did. I fell asleep in a plastic chair about 7:30, and Andy was in the tent by 8. When I woke up I couldn't go back to sleep. It was soooo hot and sweaty. I was worried that we would lose too much water just sleeping. I felt like my sleeping bag that I was trying to just lay on top of was soaking up my sweat like a sponge and becoming totally saturated. I contented myself with reading Atonement until the sun finally dropped and the night cooled off a bit. Andy's and my bodies were really cooking though. The tent seemed a good 5 degrees hotter inside than the air was outside. The only way I got to sleep eventually was with a cold waterbottle resting on my forehead.

Day 8 and a break

We had agreed to get up even a bit earlier to try to beat more of the heat, so at 4 we got up, packed, ate breakfast, and set out for Rt 2 (Fredericksburg Pkwy) for Richmond! Yay! This took us straight the whole way, so we make really excellent time. We had 2nd breakfast in Bowling Green where the local cafe goers kept us entertained with their jovial and sometimes biting banter. We kept on this route till it merged with 301. The route was very pleasant esp. where there were only 2 lanes of traffic because we got nice tree cover. We stopped again several times for snacks, in Dawn, near a juvenile detention center, where the fellow at the counter showed us the gov't issued book on how not to sell to people under the age of 21 (seems obvious, but who knows). We made it through sprawling Hanover into Richmond where our memories of streets collided a bit, but fortunately the truth eventually revealed itself.

Mama was waiting for us, and we were happy to see her and clean ourselves up.

So now we'll have been here from last Wed. until today, Sun. June 15th (Happy Pa's Day Pa!) We've relaxed, and rushed around, tuned up our bikes with the help of Agees, and Richmond Re-cycle (who let us fix our bikes right in front of their shop with us running back inside every 5 minutes or so with a question), seen our good friend Britt and her lovely beau Brendan tie the knot, celebrated a bit with Dad, and now, a little fatter, we are preparing for the next (much longer leg of our journey).

Tomorrow we hope to make it to Twin Lakes S.P., then to Lynchburg, Roanoke and then Christiansburg. That's when we get to start following our awesome TransAm maps from Adventure Cycling. We are trying not to get a knot in our knickers about the Appalachians (which are said to be a harder bike climb than the Rockies!), but I think it may be forming anyway.

On y V.A.!