DAY 01
Yorktown, VA to Chickahominy River Park, VA
Late start... But unlike usual this isn't due to our lack of willpower or laziness. Torrential rain with thunder, lightning and potential flash flooding was forecast for the morning hours. Our plan was to sleep in, therefore avoiding certain death by tempting mother nature. Around noon we peeped our heads out of our hotel door and ventured into the gray drizzling day.
I'm not sure, we didn't have the opportunity to weigh our bikes, but my guess would be they weighed around 1,000 pounds each. All the confidence we had gained with our test ride the day before began to dissipate with the crushing weight and wet roads. Goal for the day: don't fall over.
Our ambitious plan is to ride 64 miles today. I kind of knew from the start we were grossly over estimating our abilities. As we lumbered down the road a small brown sign whizzes by. - Entering the City of Newport News - I think to myself, that's odd, Newport News is south of Yorktown right? Well, Newport News is the larger town surrounding the colonial Village of Yorktown, so I guess it makes sense that the city limits might extend north... Denial. Two miles farther down the road we pass under interstate 64. Again I think to myself, that's weird, I didn't expect to hit I 64 for another 4 miles... Acceptance took me another five minutes as the rusty gears in my brain battled with the want for this to be the right road and the reality that it wasn't. Activating the GPS on our phone verified the cold disheartening fact that we had somehow lost our way on the very first day.
"It's okay, you see if we head Northwest on this highway, then West on this one, we'll skirt the Southern end of Williamsburg and rejoin the Colonial Parkway. No harm done." I say to Becky
"Becky, you need to stay right on my ass so the cars can pass us together instead of separately." I yell over the roar of the traffic. A large semi honks and flies by as we hug the narrow white line on the outside of the crumbling pavement. Do you know how it seems to take forever when you're driving in an unfamiliar area, looking for a street or business? Multiply that by infinity when you're lost on a busy narrow highway in the south... on a bicycle.
Yorktown, VA to Chickahominy River Park, VA
Late start... But unlike usual this isn't due to our lack of willpower or laziness. Torrential rain with thunder, lightning and potential flash flooding was forecast for the morning hours. Our plan was to sleep in, therefore avoiding certain death by tempting mother nature. Around noon we peeped our heads out of our hotel door and ventured into the gray drizzling day.
I'm not sure, we didn't have the opportunity to weigh our bikes, but my guess would be they weighed around 1,000 pounds each. All the confidence we had gained with our test ride the day before began to dissipate with the crushing weight and wet roads. Goal for the day: don't fall over.
Our ambitious plan is to ride 64 miles today. I kind of knew from the start we were grossly over estimating our abilities. As we lumbered down the road a small brown sign whizzes by. - Entering the City of Newport News - I think to myself, that's odd, Newport News is south of Yorktown right? Well, Newport News is the larger town surrounding the colonial Village of Yorktown, so I guess it makes sense that the city limits might extend north... Denial. Two miles farther down the road we pass under interstate 64. Again I think to myself, that's weird, I didn't expect to hit I 64 for another 4 miles... Acceptance took me another five minutes as the rusty gears in my brain battled with the want for this to be the right road and the reality that it wasn't. Activating the GPS on our phone verified the cold disheartening fact that we had somehow lost our way on the very first day.
"It's okay, you see if we head Northwest on this highway, then West on this one, we'll skirt the Southern end of Williamsburg and rejoin the Colonial Parkway. No harm done." I say to Becky
"Becky, you need to stay right on my ass so the cars can pass us together instead of separately." I yell over the roar of the traffic. A large semi honks and flies by as we hug the narrow white line on the outside of the crumbling pavement. Do you know how it seems to take forever when you're driving in an unfamiliar area, looking for a street or business? Multiply that by infinity when you're lost on a busy narrow highway in the south... on a bicycle.
We eventually make our way back to the Colonial Park Way. That is only after an additional five off route miles. Within the first 30 minutes of being on the wide beautiful streets of the parkway, the clouds part and reveal a sunny inspiring day. During a rest break on a bridge overlooking the James River we have a discussion of what we want this trip to be. Although we're on time restraints, what's the point if we can't slow moments like this down and take everything in? It's not about the miles and it's really not about doing or saying that we've bicycled from ocean to ocean.
We give up on our 64 mile plan and opt for a manageable 38 mile campsite along the Chickahominy River.
We give up on our 64 mile plan and opt for a manageable 38 mile campsite along the Chickahominy River.
Sunset over the Chickahominy river
Stats:
Miles: 37.65
Average speed: 10.4 mph
Max speed: 21.2 mph
Miles: 37.65
Average speed: 10.4 mph
Max speed: 21.2 mph
RSS Feed