Friday 20 April - trains and teddies

Mechanicsville - Louisa
65 miles
5 hours and 45 minutes in the saddle
28.8 mph max speed
11.1 mph average speed

Today the sun appeared and we have for the first time since arriving in the US needed to apply sun cream. The ride has taken us through farming country with gently rolling hills. We have seen flowering dogwood and imposing mansions - all very idyllic.

Today we stopped for lunch in Ashland, a nice little town which also had a public library so we were able to check e-mails and sort out a few other things. It is hard to imagine doing this trip without Internet access. What did we do before Internet and mobile phones???

Stephen at Ashland Station and AmTrack train on its way

We have experienced our first dog chase. Two pesky pups intent on having a couple of weary cyclists for dinner came from nowhere and chased us for a mile (!) down the road. The lactic acid was pumping as we hit 20mph on a slight incline with headwinds. At least it up'ed our average speed for the day. I am reluctant to use the pepper spray in case the owner decides to take revenge on us. Gun ownership is high in Virginia...

Our stop for tonight is at the Whistlestop B&B in Louisa. Its name is very appropriate since the train line is just across the road. 5 minutes before a train arrives it starts whistling and then its carriages rattle past. American trains are long, very long. The owner of the B&B has added her own very personal touches to the house. Our room, the teddy bear room, is packed with teddy bears from floor to ceiling. There are bears in all shapes and sizes, pictures of teddy bears and endless merchandise with a teddy bear theme.

Teddies at Whistlestop B&B

Thursday 19 April - The ride starts in earnest

The first section of our route

Williamsburg - Mechanicsville

76 miles
11.9 mph average speed
6 hours and 20 minutes in the saddle
26 mph max speed

This is where we cycled from (bottom map) and this is where we cycled to (top map)

Today we started the real ride. Although it was a long ride in mileage the landscape is flat and made for very easy cycling. The views across the James River from the Colonial Parkway was beautiful, and there is also very little traffic. Just before we arrived in Jamestown we met our first fellow TransAm'ers, two dutch men who are camping and cycling on what looked like mountain bikes that had racks on. Their bikes were heavily loaded with camping equipment, each of them had 5 panniers! We think we have made the right decision to travel light and stay in hotels along the way.

Today we have been cycling through the history of the civil war. We have seen numerous fields with signs commemorating battles. One field was lined with canons. It is strange to think about the hundreds of men who gave their lives in the civil war and whose lives were lost in the fields that we cycled past.

We arrived late in Mechanicsville and had the joy of dodging the rush traffic on the US360. A bit hairy, but we arrived safely at the Hampton Inn.

The weather has been cool and overcast.

All photo credits for this and the previous post go to Kristy. We have yet to upload any of our photos, but we will as soon as we can find an Internet cafe where we are allowed to upload.

Wednesday 18 April - TriBike Transport

Kristy met us this morning at our hotel in Richmond. We used TriBike Transport, Kristy's new venture, to take us and our 3 bikes from Richmond to Williamsburg.

The two happy cyclists with all our stuff

We spent the morning walking around historic Williamsburg and swotting up on early American history. We had lunch in Williamsburg - colonial style. In the afternoon we got on the bikes and cycled out to Jamestown. It was a perfect ride for easing us into the big ride. We did 20 miles there and back. It was a great ride for wildlife. We saw bluejays, cardinals, herons, osprey, and deer.

TriBike Transport

Team TriBike Transport

While in Jamestown we got an insight into the political leanings of the south. Mette learnt the hard way that George Clooney is not a popular man in these areas. We also know now that bumper stickers tell the truth.

Dogwood and Mette and Stephen

Entering Jamestown on bike

17 April Richmond, VA

We arrived in Virginia safe and sound after a rather bumpy landing at Richmond Int'l airport. Our bikes also arrived safely with us. The whole trip went remarkably smoothly. We only had 2 hours between flights in Chicago and were expecting it to be a rush. Thankfully, everything ran like clockwork in Chicago. The only slight hiccup was when Stephen decided to put his little finger on the scanner when the immigration officer asked for the index finger.

Today we have cycled to the end of the road that the hotel is on and back again. A total of 7 miles. We had one dog chase us. It seems ominous that we have dogs chasing us this soon.

The weather has been cool and overcast and a little windy. There has been a big storm that hit the Eastern US over the weekend and the remnants are still here.

American cars are huge, but thankfully people drive slowly, making it possible to cycle safely even on busy roads.

Champagne fuelled race across America - place your bets now!

Stephen and I have known for "years" that we would go travelling at some point. When Stephen recently passed his accountancy exams a proper holiday seemed an appropriate and just reward for the hard slog to attain chartership. He can now add "ACMA" after his name, although I think the letters "FAT" are probably also appropriate. Post TransAm he is expecting to replace the "A" with "I" :) For most of the time since we made the decision to go travelling it was something that was firmly anchored in the future. We have yet to fully comprehend what we are doing, which is a good thing. I am sure it will become real once we step onto the plane. If we always knew the exact outcome of every decision we make there are probably lots of things we would never do. Today it is one week till we go and there is no turning back.

Since making the decision to take a gap year we have discovered that we are "old" travellers. Most insurance companies do not offer back packer insurance to people over 36! In light of changing lifestyles, the fact that people live longer and have children at on older age, I think the age limit should be adjusted upwards to beyond 37 at least. There's another good reason to travel: travel while you are young, fit and can get insurance at a reasonable price! It seems we may have missed the boat on "young". But we are still fit (at least we think we are) and we have had time to earn enough to afford extortionate insurance.

We thought that it would be good for our well being to take some time away from work. It is so easy to become engrossed in a job and to forget that it is not the only option. Maybe we will see the bigger picture when we go travelling. Although, I have no expectation that I will understand the meaning of life just because I have been swanning around for 7 months while my peers have been working. Our assumption is that it is more difficult to make the decision to travel than it will be to find a new job. We will find out later this year if our assumption holds true. Work may even seem like something fun after battling wind, rain, high temperatures and the Rockies on a bike. We live in hope.

There were some other extraneous circumstances that propelled the decision to go travelling. Two days prior to buying the flights I had come back from my 2nd conference in Amsterdam and my ability to think straight had been lost somewhere at the Amsterdam Hilton - or maybe I had gained an ability to make snap decisions. The other driver in the decision was drinking a bottle of champagne between getting the quote for the flights and paying the deposit. And, why wait till tomorrow with what you can do today???

Why are we cycling across America? Well, because we both think we look really good in lurid, yellow lycra. And, because Stephen wants 4,100 miles to prove that he is faster than I am. Oh, yes the race starts here!