Epilogue

Epilogue

Yesterday Jen called to congratulate us and as the conversation went on, she warned us that we could not end the blog cold turkey. She said that the kindest thing we could do was to wean off the readers slowly, or else something bad might happen. So it was this conversation that inspired this final blog entry that I have called the Epilogue.

Let me first start by saying thank you to all for your honest comments, your enthusiam, and genuine interest in our journey. We just loved that you followed along each day and encouraged us to continue to write and upload pictures of the places that we visited and the things that we saw. This blog became more than just a way to document our journey.  It became our life line to family and friends. It motivated us in ways that cannot even be described. It focused and helped us keep track of the little things, and to take an abundance of pictures along the way, so we would have them for the blog at night. To say that we looked forward to each and every comment is an understatement.  We received not only comments as part of the blog, but separate text messages, emails and phone calls from those who could not successfully leave a blog comment.  

To all our family and friends – especially Steve (Hanson) for seeing us off in San Diego, Jen and Ben for visiting us in Colorado, Michelle and Brian visiting us in St. Louis, and Andy and Paige in Nashville, and Toni-Ann and Bruce in Virginia and for taking vacation time to spend with us; it made us appreciate just how lucky we are having all of you in our lives!

The Blog

Something you may or may not have known, but perhaps you figured out.  Steve and I had to set a few rules that provided us with some structure for this blog early on – like on day 1. We thought setting some simple rules would ensure integrity of the blog, provide two different perspectives and to keep this little competition between us fair and exciting.

First:     We both would contribute to the blog equally and independently

Second: We would alternate nights to post our entries

Third:    We could use any literary device we wanted

Four:     Neither one of us could change or modify one another’s post

Five:      To keep it fun, interesting and honest

Things We Will Never Forget

In California - for the scariest, most exciting moment when flying down the descent through Devil’s Canyon.  How we stayed on our bikes with 50 mile an hour crosswinds - I still don’t know.

In Arizona - for the gorgeous sand dunes and the vast beauty of the grand canyon.

In Utah - for the spectacular canyons and Bryce hoodoos, and the chance to breathe in fresh clean air, experience quite and peacefulness everyday.

In Colorado - for the rocky mountains and roaring rivers that remind you of just how alive we are.

In Kansas - for meeting the kindest and most genuine people you will ever want to meet.

In Missouri - for the amazing St. Louis Arch and the chance to ride up to the top in the tight, four-seat tuna can.

In Illinois - for the many, many rolling hills that were both frustrating and exhilarating at the same time.

In Kentucky - for walking and stepping ¾ of a mile down into the Mammouth Caves surrounded by structures both exciting to navigate and creepy to look at.

In Tennessee - for giving us Johnny Cash and the spectatcular restaurants and delicious food selections right when we needed it most.

In Virginia - for giving us the ocean, and chance to swim and enjoy the crashing waves for hours in Virginia Beach.

  

Top Eleven Things I Loved

11.  I love that we discovered Arby's turkey sandwiches and the Waffle House

10.  I love that I can admit that I really don't like sleeping in a tent all that much

09.  I love that we saw different types of wildlife, small and large, every day or 95 days

08.  I love that we were outside in the sun, and sometimes the rain, breathing in the fresh air and living in the present every day

07.  I love that Steve loved the yellow jersey that Andy and Jen gave him for father’s day and because it came from the kids, he had to wear it everyday thereafter

06.  I love that Steve told me the story of the Princess Bride, a favorite movie of his, Andy and Jen's, scene by scene one day when we were riding

05.  I love that Steve would sing lyrics to different songs everyday as we rode our bikes

04.  I love that Steve would recite different dialogue and have me try to quess the film

03.  I love that as Steve's beard grew, it got softer and softer

02.  I love that Steve and I could spend every second, of every day together, without anything more than a frustration and usually only if we got lost 

01.  I love that I felt safe everyday riding with Steve by my side

Beard and Hair

Over the past three months, we have gotten a few comments about Steve’s beard and no comments about my hair.  Yes, I mean the white streak. I guess I can understand why.  Steve is adamant that he will shave his beard as soon as we get home.  As for me, I’m not sure yet. It has been quiet liberating not to have to care about the color of my hair, but at the same time, I am not sure yet if its time to go Au Natural. Surely, I am entitled to take a few more days to think about this, right?

Our Journey

Total miles                               3781

Total states                              10

Total days                                 95

Total riding days                       74

Total rest days                           21

Total rain days                            8

Total steepest climbs                 14%-16% grade (Escalante UT, Vesuvius VA)

Longest climb                            50 miles (Utah – Hanksville to Hite)

Total feet climbed in one day     6300      (VA, Vesuvius and Blue Ridge Pkwy)

Longest day in miles                   82          (VA, Ashland to Williamsburg)

Shortest day in miles                  18          (VA, Williamsburg to Yorktown)

Number of flat tires                    0

Our cross-country journey

So when and where are we headed next? As of right now, we are fairly confident that there will be a next summer bicycle tour adventure; perhaps not as long, but we would like to explore different terrain and a different culture; perhaps somewhere that takes us back to our roots!  What I can say for certain is that our blog will have a sequel, but the story is still in development!

A photo passed along to me by my Aunt Lois

Day 95: Yorktown, VA

Day 95

August 19, 2015

Miles: 18

Williamsburg to Yorktown


We made it!  We are now in Yorktown and the end of our bike adventure. Wahoo!  Its hard to describe how I feel right now, so I'll fall back upon my usual blog format to continue.

Di and I arose at the astonishingly late time of 8:30am.  We knew we had only 13 miles to ride, so there was no reason to rush.  We lounged around our room for a bit and then went to the hotel restaurant for some breakfast.  We both had the pancakes and afterwards proceeded to lounge in the restaurant drinking cup of coffee after cup of coffee.

I forgot to take a breakfast picture so am posting this picture of Di at dinner last night

We finally had our fill of coffee and went back to the room to lounge around some more.  The cleaning folks knocked on our door a little past 11am to ask if we were ready to check-out yet.  "We haven't finished lounging around yet", we replied.  Actually, we didn't say that.  We said we would be out shortly.  They saw our bikes and asked us about our trip and were shocked when they learned we had ridden from San Diego.  As we left our room and were walking our bikes down the hall, we went by a group of people who also asked us about our bike trip.  We told them our story and they expressed their amazement at our journey.  We continued walking through the lobby and a woman came up to us and she, too, asked us about our bike trip.  We told her our story and she, too, expressed her amazement.  Di and I finally made it out of the hotel and I looked at Di and said, "Sometimes its a pain when so many people want to talk to us about our bike trip."  "Well", said Di, "it won't happen anymore after today."  "Yeah", I said, "I'm going to miss it."  

We rode the short distance to Colonial Williamsburg and weaved our bikes in and out of the streets and pathways.  We could have bought tour passes to go into the buildings, but I found myself getting excited to ride on to Yorktown.  After riding around for less than 30 minutes, I told Di I was ready to get going.  So we checked our map to find the bike route and started on our way.  Our way was the wrong way.  After riding a little over a mile, we checked our map again and realized we had to ride back to where we started.  We rode back and checked our map again to find the bike route and once again started on our way.  Our way proved once again to not be the right way.  It wasn't completely the wrong way, but what we thought was an intersection with the bike route was actually a bridge over the bike route.  We ended up on the bridge looking forlornly down on the bike route, not knowing how to get on.  Once again we checked our maps and once again started on our way.  Our way, this time, proved to be the right way.  We had spent four miles being lost and adding to that the one mile we spent riding around Colonial Williamsburg, today was now an 18 mile day instead of a 13 mile day.  I remembered when we left San Diego on the first day of our trip we got lost and add around four miles to our trip, so our bike journey began and ended with days of being lost and adding extra miles.

Colonial Williamsburg scenes:

Hot rod cruising down Main Street

Di's bike is the modern horse

Buggy with its top down

The hopping streets of Colonial Williamsburg

The Colonial Parkway is the bike route to Yorktown

The route looks like path through the woods (except for the occasional car)

Soon the James River was on our left as we rode

Posing next to one of the many signs that say "On this sight something happened"

Returning from checking out the water 

Stopping to read the historical markers and visit the shoreline were more reasons to prolong the end than anything else.  I found myself both excited to finally complete the adventure and reluctant to have it happen too quickly.  I needed the end to unfold in a manner that felt right and fitting, though I didn't know what that was.  So we resumed riding.

On the Colonial Parkway

Closing in 

Taking our time

A relaxing ride

 When we were about a mile away from Yorktown, Di checked the map and discovered we had gone the wrong way.  We had missed a turn about a half a mile earlier, but we could still get to Yorktown by going ahead on the road we were on.  So that's how we discovered the right way for us to let the end of our trip unfold: by getting lost one last time.  We rode into Yorktown, but because we were coming from a different direction, we didn't know how to get to the Victory Monument, which is the official end of the TransAmerical Bike Trail.  We rode around Yorktown going down many dead-ends and having to turn around when finally, in the distance, we saw the top of the monument.  Di and I both laughed at how absurd it was to be riding around Yorktown not knowing how to end our trip.  It felt the perfect way for our trip to end.  We rode the short distance to the monument, got off our bikes, and gave each other a big hug and a big kiss.  Our ride was over.

A few minutes later, Toni-Ann and Bruce pulled up in their car.  It was great to see family again and we all would have hugged if Di and I weren't in such the unhuggable condition that bike riding on a Summer's day creates.

We made it!

Victory Monument and Di and me

Toni-Ann, Di, and Bruce

Toni-Ann, Di, and Bruce behind the monument overlooking the water

The four of us talked for a while at the monument, but then it was time to ride to the shore for the dipping of the front wheel in the ocean.

At the East Coast (literally)

Enjoying our moment

My Lawrence of Arabia moment

Di needs more than just her front tire in the water

Di has to touch the water to make sure it is real and she is not just dreaming

She believes

Toni-Ann recording our finish

Man in Yellow Jersey and Two Bikes Looking at Distant Shores (For Some Reason)

We loaded the bikes onto the rental car and Bruce drove us back to the campground and the RV.  It is so comfortable in the RV, I immediately started feeling sleepy.  Apparently, my transformation back to a lazy person has already begun.  We relaxed for a little while before heading to Margie and Ray's Restaurant for dinner.

Di, Toni-Ann, and Bruce

The bike adventure is finished.  I thought I would have mixed feelings about completing the ride.  Di and I have lived a bicyclist's lifestyle for over three months and at times it felt that was the normal life for us.  Its extremely satisfying to carry everything you need on your bike and to escape from the typical worries that nag everybody.  But, I did not find the ride's end to be bittersweet.  It was only sweet.  I loved every part of it.  I loved being with Di every minute of every day.  I loved our conversations and the games we played to amuse ourselves.  I loved riding the flat lands and the ascents and the descents.  I loved figuring out where we would ride to each day and where we would stay.  I loved stopping at service stations and convenience stores to stock up on drinks and snacks.  I loved that we laughed as much as we did.  I loved that friends and family came to visit us on our journey.  The thing I love most, though, is that Di and I loved this trip together.

 Di has promised to write one more entry tomorrow, the Epilogue Blog.

Day 94: Williamsburg, VA

Day 93

August 18, 2015

Miles: 82

Ashland to Williamsburg

We rode the most number of miles today - 82 miles.  We discussed over breakfast whether or not we thought we would make it to Williamsburg even though this was the plan.  As we do with most long rides and on days with steep climbs, we set out with a plan B. Plan B today was to stop short of Williamsburg by 14 miles to stay over at a camping ground.  As practical as this was, sleeping in a campground on a wet and rainy day was not very appealing.

Today's ride was long, but relatively flat.  It rained on and off all day and we rode by many, many historical Civil War battlefields. 

Our last Hampton Inn breakfast

Although it was tempting to stop at all the battlefields we passed, this one is the only one we actually did stop at.  It was the battlefield where the most number of union solders in the shortest amount of time lost their lives in battle.

There was 56 miles to go at this point ...

A national park

I was flagged down by a lady who was looking for the bypass 275.  She was frantic because she was running out of gas.  I quickly looked on my iPhone map to give her directions.  She was rushing me because she was nervous; I hope I got it right and that she made it!

At this point, we had about 42 miles to go ...

First lunch was in Charles City at the Courthouse Grille, which was a great choice because the food was wonderful.  Steve ordered a crab cake sandwich and me the roast beef sandwich.  Shortly after finishing my sandwich I order a second lunch - grilled chicken over a salad.  We had ridden 54 miles at this point, so I was hungry!

Crab cakes good

We had been racing the rain all day.  It was behind us most of the day until now. Finally when we got to the Courthouse Grille, it roared in with a vengeance.

Bikes staying dry

As we were eating our lunch, Heather the women we ran into yesterday, strolled in.  We asked her to join us, which she did. Heather, a sweet college student interested in becoming a professor.  

We waited for the roads to drain before we left the restaurant.  It was about 4:20p with about 28 miles to go.

Di's behind

Steve's behind

Steve up front

Di up front

Steve hydrating

View from the bridge adjacent to the campground ... about 14 miles to go.

We were surprised to pass by this bike safety alert sign.  A Cross Alert sign, made in RI and owner of the company that manufactures these signs, Steve's old boss and our very own - Ken Block.

Cross Alert Sign

We made it to the Williamsburg Lodge at about 7:30pm.  It is located adjacent to the historic colonial village.  It was another long day and late arrival, however we were met with lovely accommodations.  We just loved our colonial room.  It came with a private entrance where we conveniently parked our bikes and an enormous bathroom.

The Colonial Room

Steve getting comfy.

This one's for you Michelle

Tomorrow we have a short 13 miles to ride to the coast.  It is the final leg of our journey.  A short day planned intentionally.  We thought it would be nice to relax in Williamsburg in the morning, and explore the area and the historic colonial village before heading to Yorktown.

Toni-Ann and Bruce plan to be waiting for us in Yorktown as we arrive.  Can't wait to see them - Woohoo!!!

We are getting lots of questions as to when will we be home ... we plan to stay in Virginia Beach for some R&R until Friday, then travel home late on that same day. We do not have an estimated time of arrival as of yet, but the current plan is that we will be waking up at home sometime Saturday morning.

Bonus pictures for tonight ...

Oink, Oink

Sadly he lives behind this fence

Day 93: Ashland, VA

Day 93

August 17, 2015

Miles: 68

Palmyra to Ashland


Before I write about today, let me first post a few pictures from yesterday.  Di wrote in her blog entry yesterday that she would update her entry today with some pictures from our visit to Monticello.  Instead, I will include the pictures now so she can just relax tonight.

You can visit Monticello by driving up to the visitor center or by walking (or biking) the three mile Monticello Trail.  I remember reading that Jefferson decried the use of travel by horse because one misses too much of what the land offers when going too fast.   In the spirit of that philosophy, we felt it best to take the longer and slower path to Monticello.  We weren't disappointed.  The trail brought us through heavily wooded areas and over wooden bridges.

Di riding over a bridge on the Monticello Trail

It costs $25 to tour Jefferson's home, but we bought the tickets even though we thought the price a little steep.  I was disappointed to learn no pictures were allowed to be taken inside the house, but I guess they have their reasons.  Monticello, even when Jefferson lived there, is part museum, part laboratory, and part home.  Jefferson liked to collect things from around the world and display them in the hall, so they are the first things seen by a visitor.  He also had rooms set aside to be used to meet with his guests.  Of particular interest to me were his office and entertainment room.  His office still contains the duplication machine he created so he would have a copy of every letter he wrote.  The office also held astronomy and science equipment.  Interestingly, his bed was used to separate his office space from his bedroom space.  He felt that he would use up less space if he put his bed between the walls.  

What a picture of Jefferson's office taken from his bedroom would look like if one were permitted to take photos

What a close-up of Jefferson's office would look like if one were permitted to take photos

What a picture of Jefferson's chess set in his game room would look like if one were permitted to take pictures

View of the back lawn of Monticello

The stables under the house

Di by the ice cellar while she waits out the rain storm

Di in the north walkway under the house

Di in front of Monticello

We left for Cindy and Gerry's around 4pm.  It was a relaxing ride of only 21 miles and soon Cindy was meeting us in town to show us the way to her home.  Once at her home, we met Gerry, her husband, and their two dogs: Boomer and Reeses.  Di and I had stayed in someone's home only one other time on our bike trip and that place was technically a Bed and Breakfast, so I have to admit to feeling a little trepidation about staying in somebody's home.  But Cindy and Gerry quickly put any anxiety we may have felt to rest with their warmth and generosity.  Also, Gerry was a computer programmer who started his career in the 60's, so it was fascinating to listen to him describe what his job was like back then.  We were treated to a wonderful meal (hamburgers cooked to perfection!) and afterwards Cindy made two batches of cookies for desert (Cindy gave us that second batch in the morning to have on our ride).  Afterwards, Cindy and Gerry drove us around their lakeside community and it is a beautiful spot.

Picture from the road as we were driving to the beach area

Di and I got up at 6:45am to find Cindy and Gerry already up.  Coffee was brewed and breakfast was fixing, so I grabbed a cup of coffee and joined Gerry on the outside deck.  From the deck, we could watch deer walk by and hear the rapid rapping of some of the many pileated woodpeckers that call this area home.  Gerry gave me a quick education of the pileated woodpecker and gave me a number of bird watching guides to read.

Deer outside Cindy and Gerry's house

Cindy called to us that it was time for breakfast, so we went back inside to a meal of vegetable omelet,  sausage, fruit, and toast with homemade jam.  Yummy!

Gerry, Cindy, and Di getting ready to eat breakfast

Another breakfast shot, this time with me in it

After breakfast, Cindy and Gerry offered to drive us back to town and also to visit their church.  They are very involved in their church; in addition to helping the community in any way they can, Gerry has used his carpentry skills to help repair and remodel the church and Cindy sings in the choir.  The church was built in 1830 and the interior is lit with pleasing soft lighting from the many large windows.

Gerry describing some of his handiwork to Di

A shot of the back of the church

Cindy and Gerry

 It was tempting to stay with Cindy and Gerry for yet another night because they had spoiled us so well, but we eventually had to say our goodbyes and were on the road again by 10am.

On the road again

Typical look Di gives me when she is about to blow past me

After riding 25 miles, we stopped to pick up some Gatorade and were happily surprised when another biker pulled into the service station.  Her name was Heather and she had left San Francisco on June 13.  That's almost a month later than us and now she had caught up, so she is moving pretty fast.  We chatted for a while at the service station and then agreed to meet in the town of Mineral for lunch.

Di with Heather from Utah

The three of us ate lunch at Jo-Jo's and had a great time talking about each's bike trip and then about what else we were going to do once our bike trips were done (Heather is a college student in Utah).  After lunch we split up because of two reasons: 1)Heather rides a lot faster than us, and 2)I wanted an ice coffee made with dutch mocha ice cream from the ice cream joint right around the corner.

You can tell I made the right decision to get ice coffee made with ice cream

It was getting close to 4pm and we had only ridden 29 miles of what would be a 68 mile day.  Di and I have maintained a consistently relaxed attitude about our daily rides and when we would start and when we would end.  Who can keep to a schedule when there is iced coffee or ice cream or both to be had?  Today we were probably too relaxed, because we had a lot of miles to go with a limited amount of daylight remaining.

Late afternoon scene

Di is tiny compared to the enormity of the soy field

We were both getting tired from the afternoon's long ride

Scene from one of our rest breaks

We arrived at the Hampton Inn (where else?) around 7:30pm.  We ordered delivery from a nearby restaurant (Di the grilled chicken sandwich and I the lamb gyro; we both got Greek salads).  Tomorrow we plan on riding over 80 miles to Williamsburg.  We will also come up with a Plan B in the likely event Plan A doesn't work out.