2015 Intro
- May 15, 2015Blue skies, neutral winds, reasonable pavement, basically a great day, except for my tender bottom! We started the day by backtracking 9 miles from yesterday’s route. It was farming time, lots of plowing going on, as well as fields already in the ground. We were able to identify the wheat and then, through research, the rape ...Continue reading →
- May 17, 2015O what a beautiful morning, a what a beautiful day, I’ve got a beautiful feeling, everything’s going my way (and a rest day)…. I had that tune on my mind for the better part of the morning’s ride. The roads were quiet, the hardwood trees provided shade, the countryside was pastoral – and we didn’t ...Continue reading →
- May 18, 2015It is nice to be in a comfortable hotel for rest day: 4 washers and dryers, breakfast buffet starting at 7 am. The hotel was quite full on Saturday night as William & Mary College had had graduation earlier in the day. Many people were checking out on Sunday. I slept in until 7 am, which ...Continue reading →
- May 18, 2015The worst part of the day was having to ride back 9 miles on the Colonial Parkway. I took a photo of the road surface. But then we transitioned to the best part of the day, almost 30 miles on a bike path, the Capital Trail, our first on this tour. We mostly paralleled Route 5, ...Continue reading →
- May 19, 2015Hot (90 degrees this afternoon), humid, and hilly – words to describe the day, not one of my favorite. My Garmin reads 3802 ft of ascent today – hopefully I will find my climbing legs soon. I did hit 29 mph on one of the descents! As we left Richmond, we passed The Diamond, home of ...Continue reading →
- May 22, 2015This will be a quick post to reassure everyone that I am still alive and pedaling. Hopefully, tomorrow I can fully update the blog. Today was a long, hard, but fun day. We left Alexandria and followed the Mount Vernon Trail past Reagan National Airport into the city and around the Lincoln Monument. About 12 of ...Continue reading →
- May 23, 2015Today’s ride was quite a contrast to yesterday’s: nothing more than 3% grade, hard-pack dirt and rock surfaces, limited sight lines. We started from the hotel and wandered from Owings Mills to Hunt Valley, both outer suburbs of Baltimore, past what appeared to be large horse farms. At mile 15, after a pleasant sag stop, ...Continue reading →
- May 25, 2015I will start with today’s blog and work backwards – I have been frustrated by poor internet connections, plus busy schedules, so I have not been consistent in my postings. The weatherman forecast a warm today, warm enough at the start to shed my jacket even before leaving the hotel parking lot. Our route was taking ...Continue reading →
- May 25, 2015This ride ranks as one of my all-time favorite rides of this tour: the weather was picture-perfect, the roads were smooth, the hills were manageable, the countryside just beautiful. And I can say all that despite a flat tire (the first since Miami, FL) in the first 7 miles. Thanks to riding partner Susan R. ...Continue reading →
- May 26, 2015For those of you keeping track, you may have noticed some missing entries for May 20 and 21… I knew that the ride into Alexandria was the longest remaining mileage day (80.3), and that I was eager to arrive to see family. Of course, I had a restless night in anticipation, and awoke earlier than planned. ...Continue reading →