Day two started much as day one ended, the Asian woman was sitting across from me and still looking beat and tired and I still didn’t want to admit to myself that I really didn’t know what I was doing on this trip. I guess starting anything is the hardest part. I didn’t know what I was doing when I started college and I didn’t know what I was doing when I went on SST. I certainly didn’t know what I was doing when I started this bike trip, but as always, I figure things out as I go. Speaking on that topic for a moment, I remember a quote that says, “Experience is what everyone calls their mistakes.” I really hope I don’t end up calling this trip a good experience.
I arrived in Richmond VA at 5:30 AM and was more than slightly deranged. I really had no idea what I was doing so I began putting my bike together and hoping that everything made the tip undamaged. It did, and I assembled my bike with minimal problems. I did have a few security guards standing around gawking at me while I did it though.
At about 7:00 I was on my way. I asked one of the gawking security guards for directions and he gave me enough to get started until I met another man and asked him for further directions. This man was money. He gave me perfect directions to get me though down town Richmond with no problems and then I was off like a streak (a slow, tiered, deranged streak that is). I headed out highway 5 east to Yorktown. Now this was fine, but the first 82 miles of my trip were spent headed east instead of west, not quite what I had planed. The day was sunny and warm, everything went really well until about 20 miles out from Yorktown when I came to the camp ground I was planning on staying in that night after I went the rest of the way to the Atlantic. The problem was that it was closed…indefinitely. As always bad things happen in clusters and this bike trip has been no different. After the camp ground was closed I got onto a road that would take me the rest of the way to Yorktown. The problem was that the road was exposed aggregate, which means very bumpy. On top of that clouds began to role in and the wind picked up. I really thought I was going to get wet.
Things went on like that until I got to Yorktown which is a very pleasant little town, at least the part I was in. Its where General Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington during the Revolutionary war. I spent some time looking around and eating before I headed out to start my trip—heading west.
Now when one is alone and not quite sure what they are going to do to eat or sleep they take every little bit of kindness they can get and savor it. At least that has been my experience. When I went into the restaurant to eat I was seated by a young woman about 16 or 17 years old who was very kind. Now granted it was her job, but at the moment I was elated to be able to talk to any one, especially some one who pretended to care. There is not much worth mentioning here accept that when I asked for some water to fill my bottles she instead took my bottles and filled them for me and brought them back to me. This may seam rather small and insignificant, but when you are alone and dare I say scared…a little, small gestures of kindness go a long ways.
I finished lunch at about 4:00 pm and started biking with all the energy I had left as to find a place before it began raining. I found a visitors center and they located a camp ground for me about 20 miles a way but conveniently on my rout. So I headed off a little more reassured as I now had a place I could sleep that night. It ended up being a very nice camp ground with warm showers and green grass along a river. Quickly, I set up my tent and got ready for bead as it had been a long day. After all preparations were completed I sat down to eat my dinner of power bars and do some journaling when I man walked up to me and introduced himself. His name was Buddy (so you know he was nice). He asked me what I was doing and I simply replied that I was riding my bike home, which just happened to be Oregon. He was quite amazed and began asking me about my trip and looking over all of my gear. I think he was amazed that I could fit so much into two small bags on the back of my bike. Then he did something I didn’t expect, he invited me over for dinner. His wife was in the camper next to me cooking and he just wanted to know if I needed a good hot meal. I did.
The food was great, Edna, Buddy’s wife, cooked me a bowl of chili and gave me more deserts than I could imagine before lending me their phone for me to call my parents and tell them I was ok. She insisted that they were worried about me, which was correct. We talked a bit more about religion and the military. Those things always seem to go hand in hand, even in a peace church. And then I told them I must go to bead. Before I left they insisted that I come over in the morning and eat breakfast with them, which was fine with me.
Over all in day 1 I rode my bike 110 miles at an average speed of 13.3 mph for 8:14 with a max speed of 28 mph. it was a long first day.
I arrived in Richmond VA at 5:30 AM and was more than slightly deranged. I really had no idea what I was doing so I began putting my bike together and hoping that everything made the tip undamaged. It did, and I assembled my bike with minimal problems. I did have a few security guards standing around gawking at me while I did it though.
At about 7:00 I was on my way. I asked one of the gawking security guards for directions and he gave me enough to get started until I met another man and asked him for further directions. This man was money. He gave me perfect directions to get me though down town Richmond with no problems and then I was off like a streak (a slow, tiered, deranged streak that is). I headed out highway 5 east to Yorktown. Now this was fine, but the first 82 miles of my trip were spent headed east instead of west, not quite what I had planed. The day was sunny and warm, everything went really well until about 20 miles out from Yorktown when I came to the camp ground I was planning on staying in that night after I went the rest of the way to the Atlantic. The problem was that it was closed…indefinitely. As always bad things happen in clusters and this bike trip has been no different. After the camp ground was closed I got onto a road that would take me the rest of the way to Yorktown. The problem was that the road was exposed aggregate, which means very bumpy. On top of that clouds began to role in and the wind picked up. I really thought I was going to get wet.
Things went on like that until I got to Yorktown which is a very pleasant little town, at least the part I was in. Its where General Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington during the Revolutionary war. I spent some time looking around and eating before I headed out to start my trip—heading west.
Now when one is alone and not quite sure what they are going to do to eat or sleep they take every little bit of kindness they can get and savor it. At least that has been my experience. When I went into the restaurant to eat I was seated by a young woman about 16 or 17 years old who was very kind. Now granted it was her job, but at the moment I was elated to be able to talk to any one, especially some one who pretended to care. There is not much worth mentioning here accept that when I asked for some water to fill my bottles she instead took my bottles and filled them for me and brought them back to me. This may seam rather small and insignificant, but when you are alone and dare I say scared…a little, small gestures of kindness go a long ways.
I finished lunch at about 4:00 pm and started biking with all the energy I had left as to find a place before it began raining. I found a visitors center and they located a camp ground for me about 20 miles a way but conveniently on my rout. So I headed off a little more reassured as I now had a place I could sleep that night. It ended up being a very nice camp ground with warm showers and green grass along a river. Quickly, I set up my tent and got ready for bead as it had been a long day. After all preparations were completed I sat down to eat my dinner of power bars and do some journaling when I man walked up to me and introduced himself. His name was Buddy (so you know he was nice). He asked me what I was doing and I simply replied that I was riding my bike home, which just happened to be Oregon. He was quite amazed and began asking me about my trip and looking over all of my gear. I think he was amazed that I could fit so much into two small bags on the back of my bike. Then he did something I didn’t expect, he invited me over for dinner. His wife was in the camper next to me cooking and he just wanted to know if I needed a good hot meal. I did.
The food was great, Edna, Buddy’s wife, cooked me a bowl of chili and gave me more deserts than I could imagine before lending me their phone for me to call my parents and tell them I was ok. She insisted that they were worried about me, which was correct. We talked a bit more about religion and the military. Those things always seem to go hand in hand, even in a peace church. And then I told them I must go to bead. Before I left they insisted that I come over in the morning and eat breakfast with them, which was fine with me.
Over all in day 1 I rode my bike 110 miles at an average speed of 13.3 mph for 8:14 with a max speed of 28 mph. it was a long first day.
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