The Hills are Here
Today's post: we rode. And we rode. And we rode some more.
In slightly more detail...
We said goodbye to Alex and Olivia in Richmond, retrieved our bikes from their storage room and pedaled away this morning. Today was a longer ride than usual at 76 miles. We managed about 30 miles before lunch at 1 pm. The ride took us past more wheat fields, farm houses, and people mowing their lawns. All over America, people like to mow their lawns.
We climbed the biggest hills of the trip so far today. Granted, that's not saying much since we've mostly been in flat coastal areas but they still gave us a workout. Only one of us ended up in their lowest gear... it may have been me. Couldn't say for sure, would have to check the log books. We ate almost all of our food by the end of our day, we will need to do some good restocking tomorrow. Another day, another grocery store.
As we approached our final destination of Fredericksburg ominous clouds gathered overhead. A road on the route was closed and we mulled over our options for possible detours. One detour would put us back on the official route within a few miles, another would take us on a busier highway and lop off a couple miles of riding. They both began on the same road so we decided to see how unpleasant the highway was. As we set off lightning flashed ahead. "Wait, are we riding towards that?" asked Mike. Yes, yes we were. And lo, the decision was made to stay on the shorter route along the highway in the hopes of getting inside before the rain hit.
We made it with minutes to spare. Drops were just starting to fall as we arrived at the house of Terry and Beth, who are hosting us tonight. They made us a wonderful meal of various salads and burgers and we both ate slightly too much. Incredible. Tomorrow: Washington DC!
No photos today because riding took away all of our energy.
In slightly more detail...
We said goodbye to Alex and Olivia in Richmond, retrieved our bikes from their storage room and pedaled away this morning. Today was a longer ride than usual at 76 miles. We managed about 30 miles before lunch at 1 pm. The ride took us past more wheat fields, farm houses, and people mowing their lawns. All over America, people like to mow their lawns.
We climbed the biggest hills of the trip so far today. Granted, that's not saying much since we've mostly been in flat coastal areas but they still gave us a workout. Only one of us ended up in their lowest gear... it may have been me. Couldn't say for sure, would have to check the log books. We ate almost all of our food by the end of our day, we will need to do some good restocking tomorrow. Another day, another grocery store.
As we approached our final destination of Fredericksburg ominous clouds gathered overhead. A road on the route was closed and we mulled over our options for possible detours. One detour would put us back on the official route within a few miles, another would take us on a busier highway and lop off a couple miles of riding. They both began on the same road so we decided to see how unpleasant the highway was. As we set off lightning flashed ahead. "Wait, are we riding towards that?" asked Mike. Yes, yes we were. And lo, the decision was made to stay on the shorter route along the highway in the hopes of getting inside before the rain hit.
We made it with minutes to spare. Drops were just starting to fall as we arrived at the house of Terry and Beth, who are hosting us tonight. They made us a wonderful meal of various salads and burgers and we both ate slightly too much. Incredible. Tomorrow: Washington DC!
No photos today because riding took away all of our energy.
So glad you made it in before rain - and especially before a lightening storm. Your Dad and I read your post together and his response was, "lightening is frightening." Stay safe.
ReplyDeleteCheri
I don't mind the hills. What goes up, will come down with little or no effort at a much greater speed.
ReplyDeleteI hate mowing the lawn, just in case you were wondering. Just did it. Still don't like it.
If you see trump, give him my regards, and the middle finger.
If Pete reads this, remember, Old Guys Rule!