76 miles
May 28, 2006
I woke this morning to a beautiful sunrise at the campground. A guy that was curious about my bike strolled up to chat while I was having a breakfast of bagels and peanut butter, and I told him about my trip… a little premature on the second day!
Riding in the morning was pretty uneventful, save for a stop at a Food Lion (I would end up passing 3 more of these stores today). I got a can of tuna and a pound of spaghetti for tonight’s dinner – $1.41 – the only money I spent today.
My favorite section of the day was along a quiet, shady country road immediately after entering Virginia. Soon the sun got high and I took a long break outside of what else but a Walmart, before advancing north into the thickly populated Chesapeake Bay area.
The afternoon was hot and stressful as I picked my way through traffic and commercial roads south of Norfolk. I was constantly checking my road map and sitting at stoplights among the dull roar of engines and exhaust fumes. Hopefully dealing with that sort of riding will be rare after I pick up the TransAmerica route tomorrow. There were some sketchy neighborhoods. I had to do more miles than planned today in order to ride out of urbanity, and save my sanity.
Finally I was back out toward the countryside and looking for ideal camping spots. I came upon a church that had a wedding letting out. They had a big lawn tucked away out back, so I stopped and inquired about tenting. Nobody “official” was in the building, but after a quick phone call I got “sure, no problem” for an answer.
Now I’m in my tent and pretty spent. Even my thumbs are tired from typing on this email device. It’s 8:30pm and I’m going to sleep. Life is good.
These first days were simply a matter of putting in the miles all day long and working out the beginning-of-the-trip jitters. Since I wasn’t yet connected to the Adventure Cycling route I had to do things the old fashioned way – simply following the state road maps. In doing so I found myself in the middle of a lot of traffic and deep in the ghettos of Norfolk Virginia. I just kept my head down and didn’t stop until I was out of there.
I read about a group of guys, perhaps four, maybe three, that rode cross country, and, after the second or third night of paying to camp, stayed in people’s backyards, for free, for the rest of the trip.
They would spot a good place, and just go up and ring the doorbell, explain what they were doing, and ask to set up their tents.
Most people riding cross country go from west to east. It has to do with the prevailing winds.