Day 58 -- Part 2: Hangover - What I Did On My Summer Vacation - CycleBlaze

August 2, 2010

Day 58 -- Part 2: Hangover

It's the day after and I have started to adjust to my "new" life. But before I get to that, let me fill in the details of yesterday...

The previous night I got an e-mail from Doug that they (Doug, Alex, Jordon, Howard) were heading to Yorktown from Ashland and, "do you want to meet?" It sounded like fun, to ride in as a group, so I got up early to meet them. They showed about 2-3 hours after expected though so I spent some time wandering around a civil war battle field. It was an interesting place, kind of sad when you think of all that took place there, but I did enjoy the history of it.

Anyway, as I was waiting two other local riders showed up on a day ride. We chatted for a while about the usual things riders chat about.

Then we got on the subject of the battlefield,one of them said, "...you know the civil war was all about the Federal Government imposing its will on people in the south, and...".

Hmmm? It made me wonder how many confederate flags he has flying outside of his house? In the end I just said, "really?" and more or less left it at that. Strange...

But, back to the ride. Eventually the guys showed up, none of them were carrying bags.

"We have been sagged since Berea (Kentucky)," they said. That made me feel pretty good actually. They were always one day ahead of me and I was carrying all of my stuff. Though I now had to ride extra hard to keep up, even though I just sat waiting for hours... GRRR.

But we rode hard anyway because now it was getting late, and THEN, about 20 miles out it started to rain. Made me kind of wish I had just rode in on my own, I would have missed the rain, but then again, at that point I didn't care THAT much, I was getting close to Yorktown AND getting excited!

I had almost made it. All the way. East coast or bust. We also had a support crew of sorts, the families of Howard and Doug (who are local) and some of the people from the "Ride For Jim" charity. They rode along in cars and made sure we didn't get lost, which we almost did because they guys wanted to take a "short cut", which I thought was a bad idea but bit my tongue (more or less), that is until I could see us on my Garmin, going around in circles in Williamsburg.

"Guys. We just made a big circle! We need to go right up at this street...". But don't tell a guy to take directions from a woman! They flew through the intersection until, a mile later, decided they might have been wrong, and turned around and backtracked to the road I said to turn right on in the first place.

Anyway, finally, a while, and extra miles, later we got on the right road, after they asked directions from a stranger, even though it was right there on my Garmin.

You know, I don't know how I made it so far cross country on my own without getting lost?

ANYway! Finally, we were getting closer and, even with the rain and extra miles I was happy and excited to finish. And then, there it was, the water, the end.

We all rode to the beach together and were greeted by our "groupies" for a celebration. We dipped our wheels at the beach and took pictures in the rain and then had dinner at the pub across the street.

After that everyone started making their way home, either locally or to catch morning planes. It was then I got my next surprise...

I had made arrangements with the local church, listed in the map, that allows cross-country cyclists to stay overnight. I arrived expecting to sleep on the floor in my sleeping bag (which would have been just fine) only to find I would be sleeping in the house on church property that overlooks the beach from a bluff! Whao! If I had known about THIS I would have ridden faster! It is right in the old village and the church dates back to the 1600's (though it was rebuilt after a fire in the 1800's). I had asked if I could stay a couple days to sight see and the minister's wife said I could, but I was NOT expecting anything so nice. Once again the generosity of people on the ride is beyond what I ever could have expected!

Today I spent the day sightseeing in Yorktown. I feel pretty trashed and I'm not sure I could turn the pedals if my life depended on it. I wanted to see things that I could walk to. Tomorrow I will be more adventurous and ride to Jamestown. I will take lots of pics and post them, even though the "ride" is officially over. I also plan to write up some final thoughts on the ride but I'm feeling pretty trashed right now and just don't have it in my at the moment.

Thanks to everyone who posted well wishes and congratulations! I really, REALLY appreciate it!

I like the historical markers in the area. It makes the landscape more meaningful.
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Getting closer!
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I just though this looked cool?
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That's fine with me but he will have to get his own Trucker!
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This was the battlefield I explored while waiting.
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We're getting closer! The Trucker on a bridge before Williamsburg.
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The celebration
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The wheel dip
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More celebration
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