TransAmerica, Trixie and Mark

May, Sometime in 2007 - I was going on one of my first rides after buying Trixie with my then roommate Tim, my now roommate Jim, and my friend Gwen. We did a ride to Mt. Horeb, which is what I'd classify at "Wisconsin Climbing"... not too steep, but the occasional climb or so mixed in with some flats. Coming back from Mt. Horeb, right after one of the little climbs right after the Riley Tavern, I felt weak and tried to slow down to take a break. Not understanding my toe clip pedals, and some combination of exhaustion and being out of shape, I just kind of fell over. Everyone kinda got a laugh, I drank some water and everything was a bit better. This was the first time I remember getting beat up on a climb, but I've tried since to avoid the repeat process. Flash Forward to this Monday: We woke up and had another pleasant morning of conversation and coffee at Molly's place. Molly is a saint for taking in Jon and me and letting us crash for 4 days. At the end of th

I wrote about this some back when we climbed Hoosier Pass, but one of the things that we do on a regular basis is convince ourselves that we're up to the task at hand. Normally, this is pretty easy because we're in pretty awesome bike shape. In the case of today, we woke up and looked at the weather forecast. It looked like it was going to rain a little bit, but that we'd be at the top or over by then, so we would have a leisurely brunch waiting out the storm, then roll downhill into Jackson. Easy... we are some awesome! Well, of course, verily this did not come to pass. Our climb up Togowotee was going pretty well for the first 12 or so miles... a bit colder, but no problem. Then it started to flurry a little. No problem we thought, we saw this when we climbed Hoosier Pass and it made for great photo ops with snowmen and stuff and made us feel even tougher. Then, it started to snow alot , to the point that we could barely see the road and definitely couldn't see anyt

We woke up to no wind and started plugging along our way towards Jackson. We started chugging the 3000 miles toward vertical feet up over the next 90 miles. We biked through the Wind River reservation and saw some folks in Fort Washakie as we stopped for a quick snack. We kept rolling onto Crowheart, where we found a few things: 1) We stopped a convenience store where you were allowed to not only buy sundries and general store-type things, but also guns. Rifles, or even Dirty Harry's handgun. I asked them if I could buy a handgun, and they told me I couldn't since I wasn't a resident. But, if I was a resident, I could walk out with a gun that day. So, remember, Wyoming is not the state to do things that increase your proclivity to being shot in a crime of passion. 2) We bumped into a touring group of older dudes that had been touring the TransAm slowly over the course of a few years. This year it was the colorado to Wyoming sections. They didn't like Jeffrey City or

We woke up in the trailer we were staying in and stumbled our way over to the Split Rock, where Vikki made us a large pile of pancakes and we said our goodbyes. We made our way along the final route to Lander. Along the way, we got a totally awesome and scenic downhill into Beaver Rim. Totally sweet downhill Lander is a pretty hip town with NOLS and a few other things going for it. I got the front wheel of Trixie fixed and bought a new bike helmet. Dustin and Jon did laundry. I took a shower at the community pool. Then, as in most days, we stopped in at the brewery where we started chatting with the congenial cyclist/bartender. We talked some about touring and beer and life in Lander. It was slowly revealed that Jim was in fact the proprietor of the brewery, in which we got to hear how he came to be. Totally cool. Jim suggested that when we got to Jackson that we try to look-up folks on warmshowers to stay with, and had a few people in mind. Warmshowers is a website that allows

Biking today ended up well and the front wheel held up today. We passed through a decent amount of nothing, but we had the wind at our back except for the last few miles. Our destination was Jeffrey City, WY. We had been dreading Jeffrey City since it was the only sign of civilization from Rawlins to there, and really the only place for 60 miles in the other direction.We had heard from the blogs and from a few other folks that the restaurant there wouldn't serve food or give water to cyclists for some reason. That only 50 people lived there. We've passed through alot of towns that folks in cars would blink through and miss. We had heard back in Saratoga that things were a bit better and that the restaurant was under new ownership. We even heard that some folks next door were taking in cyclists. Things were looking a bit up, but as with all things, we try to remain level and not get our hopes up. Places sometimes arbitrarily close (especially in rural areas) and in a town of 5

The Man and the Machine I'm much more of a creature of change and I ordinarily thrive on a sense of disorganization that somehow makes sense to me in my head. As such, it's been a bit of a change to live on such a regimented life the last month or so while biking. At times, I feel like I'm just as plugged in as a machine. Everyday follows a pretty predictable pattern: Wake up Tear down my tent and put away my gear Change into biking stuff Eat food, not in a way in which I ask myself what sounds tasty today, but in the pure fashion of "How many calories do I need to consume to get to the next place I can consume calories and what's the most efficient and economical way to do so". It's more like putting gas in a car than dining. Bike Eat food Bike Enter town, figure out where to stay Talk to folks, who generally ask the same 20 or so questions ("Where are you coming from?" "How long is your trip?" "What's your favori

In Walden the night before we met two young hitchhikers on their way hitching across america. They were camping in the same park as us. The guy had been hitching for awhile and had his girlfriend with him. We need to rely somewhat on the kindness of people to get across America; if we hadn't been taken inside in Rush Center, KS, we would have been pelted to "pain" by hail. It would take us longer to navigate around detours. The trip would be less cool. It was interesting to talk to someone who's philosophy was to rely on people's kindness entirely. They had soup to barter, which they hoped would net them beer or cigarettes... which was interesting. They were just two short college kids, so they were about as unassuming as if my kid sister suddenly bought a flannel shirt and start hitchhiking. But, I suppose why people would help folks even in this situation is because helping folks like that leads to an encounter that is totally unordinary. It's the same rea

Last night was cold.... it dropped below freezing during the night with no cross wind at all. Meaning that I bundled up into my sleeping bag like a cocoon to stay warm (worked), but woke up with condensation all over the inside of my tent. My single-walled North Face tent looks awesome and is super-lite, but if there's no wind and there's humidity and it's cold outside, the inside gets super damp. We finally woke up when the sun came up and it took me 5 minutes to get out of the ball I had rolled myself into in my sleeping bag. We woke up, ate at the "Glory Hole" diner, and began riding up the mountain to the continental divide. We didn't see any moose, but there were girls cycling, which are almost as unusual to see in the middle of nowhere. The climb today was easier, as I feel like I finally have adjusted to the elevation. We zoomed up to the top of Willow Creek Pass at 9683 feet and crossed the continental divide again. From there, we dropped back down the

We woke up this morning, and had a slow start with a tasty McDonald's breakfast and then some conversation at the gas station with Chris, who was riding from Eugene east to Denver. He gave us some pointers on the rest of the route. From there, we had an easy downhill, tailwind day around the Green Mountain dam. It was simply gorgeous. We headed east to head back north again, but by doing so, we got to ride through a canyon while an Amtrak train was going through. I could only pull over and watch. I came to the library and furiously updated my blog, and now might go eat something or sit in the hot springs. A great day after a rest day :)

When you're biking East to West across the TransAmerican trail, you say things to yourself to feel better about the accomplishments you've already done. You'll say things like that the Ozarks and Appalachians have harder climbs (technially, true), that you've already biked 2200 miles before the Rockies (totally badass!), that you're skinnier than before and probably sent things home you didn't need (yup.). But, don't underestimate the Rockies. The reasons as follows: Maybe you'll be lucky and you'll catch a killer tailwind or no wind days through the mountains. But, we had wind. And since the climbs and downhills are generally so gradual, it means that the wind kicks your butt on small climbs and makes you pedal on downhills. It makes the days deceptively harder. It's also super demoralizing when you can see where you are going in the valley, but won't be there for 30 minutes since you're biking at 5.5 miles an hour into the wind. The

The first real day in Colorado wasn't much different than much of Kansas. Flat, towns every 30 miles. A good time to think about things or listen to music from the speaker on my iPhone. As such, it was so nice to stay with Gillian and Mark at their house in Ordway. Gillian's place is known as a safe haven for cyclists across the TransAm trail; she's a lively Kiwi who's done her own share of travelling, biking, hiking and sailing herself. When we arrived, some other folks were over to barbeque. We were able to grab some meat for burger and beer and jump right in. Gillian has a small farm and takes in WWOOF'ers, so we got to see all types of birds and goats and other exciting things. The small converted motor home that they let cyclists stay in also has the most comfortable mattresses ever. The next day we helped them move some telephone poles and chatted about stories for awhile. As we left, Gillian gave me solid hug #2 for the trip, and we moved on to West Pueblo.

We woke up in Rush Center, knowing full well that we had to fight the hard winds to our next location. The forecast was calling for 20-50 mph winds. To fight the winds, which came from our side most of the time, we rode side by side on the highway. The working rider got hit by the northern wind and fought to not get thrown into the other two bikers... the other two riders would rest on their side. We rotated positions every 5 minutes. And on we went into the wind, getting beat up, rotating, resting, getting beat up, etc. At Dighton we called it a day, where many motorists refered to us as "brave" or "stupid". We ate at the diner at the bowling alley and chatted some with our British friend Peter while we were staying at the park, who was also riding the same way. We were able to use the showers at the local pool, which provided flashbacks to the Barnesboro pool days of yore. The showers were even warm, providing you wanted to hit the 30 second push button shower eno

We woke up in Wichita, said our final goodbyes, and started rolling through the city and began cutting northwest back towards the TransAm trail by Hutchinson. Like most days after rest days, I felt slow and plodded along the highway. We stopped in Hutchinson, grabbed some Ice Cream and saw the exotic animal farm in Nickerson, our destination for the night. We made friends in the library with Gay, the librarian, and Phyllis. Phyllis thought that it might storm (it did), and she hooked us up and let us stay in the Senior Center. Unfortunately, most places in Nickerson were closed to eat by the time we got moseying (at 630 PM), so we had a cornucopia of food from the convenience store to eat. In the morning, we knew we had a solid tailwind coming and started jamming westward. The good news is that when you have an eastbound wind, you go really fast. The bad news is that when the eastern front and the western front collide, that the hammer is going to come down and it's going to stor

And so began Kansas. We were pretty lucky to have a tailwind through most of our first day in Kansas. We hopped off the TransAm route to go south to Fredonia and eventually to Wichita. Once we hit Fredonia, Jon met up with his girlfriend Tia while Dustin and I set up camp in the town park. While we were in the town park, we began hearing a cell phone ring somewhere in the park. Picking it up, we were able to let the woman know that her daughter's cell phone was somewhere in the park and that she could pick it up from us. This park was pretty awesome; it had all the dangerous things that most parks don't have anymore including 9 foot tall, metal slide. Something that looked like a combination of chains and tetherball The best tilt-a-whirl with sharp metal edges After Dustin took a try at the tilt-a-whirl, he encouraged me to give it a go as well. And so I began spinning, and spinning, and spinning. Not being one much for keeping my equilibrium, upon getting off the tilt-a-w

As the day started we caught a bit of rain heading out for our last little climbs out of Missouri. We got in from the rain at an awesome diner called "Cooky's Cafe", known across the TransAm for its amazing pies. I debated the merits of just ordering 7 different types of pies, but decided on a balanced lunch and got a sandwich and 2 slices of pie. Peach and Blueberry; I think I liked the blueberry a bit better. We rolled into Pittsburg, and I took an ironic picture since it's not really the real Pittsburg(h). Totally ironic?  We went to the park to check in, then went to the YMCA to take some showers. At the YMCA, I had this exchange with a teenage girl: Girl: Why are you on your trip? Mark: You know, to meet people, adventure, that kind of stuff. Girl: You're going to need to break that down for me, I'm not even in High School yet. Mark: Well, I guess then it's just cool to see America then. Girl: Where did you bike from? Mark: Virginia.

Pro cycling tip: Talking to people and taking advice from folks is an important part of any trip. However, be wary of advice regarding bridge closures. People with cars, when presented with signs for detours, often take the detour. They might not be qualified to tell you what lies beyond the detour. Is it passable? Is it impassable? Will you be attacked by trolls or zombies? Always ask a construction worker or police officer that actually has a reason to go to the detour and see what's up. They'll generally give you the scoop (construction's complete, you can walk across, you can wade across, or they'll reveal that there are actually aberrations that will attack you lest you follow the advice of MoDOT). In this case, after having folks reveal that any number from 2-10 bridges were out along the recommended route, with detours adding up to 20 miles suggested, we decided to just roll through the path after the Sheriff's office told us it was a good idea. We were able

We biked the beginning of the day with some SAG support from Dustin's mom and dad again. We said our goodbyes after riding to the top of a hill and pushed our way onwards. After a few hilly sections, we had a nice downhill through a river valley. We made it into Hartville, where we were allowed to camp out on the courthouse lawn. We ate at a little cafe and we called it a night. It got down to 34 degrees, but I was warm in my sleeping bag.

Dustin woke up early to meet up with his mom and dad in Eminence, but it sure was cold and rainy at 730 am. Jon and I looked outside and after getting a voicemail from Dustin that he was getting soaked, we decided to sit on the couch and watch infomercials until 10, when the rain had set from a drizzle. Some folks consider this day to be the hardest of the trip with it's roller coaster climbs. Luckily, the inclement weather meant that the wind came unusually from the South or South East, giving us the occassional tail wind. I stopped in Ellington to eat the typical gas station sandwich; when I biked another 200 yards through town I saw that there was a festival with all types of carnival food. I really wanted a funnel cake, but I pushed onwards. For the last few miles through the Ozark Scenic Riverways, Dustin and his parents picked up my rear bag, which allowed me to zip up and down the last few climbs. I thought the day was challenging, but wasn't as tricky as the day that we

We woke up, ate some breakfast and then crossed the Mississippi. Into Missouri we went. It got pretty hilly quickly, but the easy mileage of the day made it doable. There weren't any gas stations or small towns for 40 miles of the ride, so it was a pleasant surprise when at the top of a hill was Crown Valley Brewing Company. I had a beer tasting and an order of nachos, which is the way a day of biking should really be completed. We moseyed down the hill into Farmington and settled into the Bike Hostel. Al's Place, named after the charismatic Long John Silver's George Bailey of Farmington, would probably be the most awesome bachelor pad. As such, it made great accomodations for our night in Farmington. We ate some Chinese food and called it a day.

I felt excited as the day began since today was the day that we'd pass through Carbondale to hit our first bike shop since Virginia. I had been having problem with flats with my thinner 700cx23s; not even as much punctures but anytime I hit any heavier rocks, dividers between bridges, etc. Our detour around flooding from Shawneetown had us riding on a shoulder along a smaller state highway. These were the worst roads for my now apparently flimsy tires. Of course, getting 3 flats on the way to Carbondale would be the final hurrah from my tires. But, I made it and put on 25 Continental GatorHardshells. I was a bit sad that 28s wouldn't fit, but I was happier for any improvement that I could make. I ate a burrito and then began biking towards Chester to catchup with Dustin and Jon. The rest of the trip on the highway I felt like I was driving a bulletproof car as trixie shot debris away from the tires. Awesome. When I started biking up the levees on the Great River Road, it was

Today was a pretty good riding day initially as we made our way to Shawneetown. Our detour around the flooding and the high Ohio River at Cave in Point worked. I, being a klutz, forgot my phone in the town beforehand. I started to plan to ride back 15 miles, get the phone and ride back before dusk, but Dustin and Jon encouraged me to ask around for help. As I tried to ask the folks at the police station for a ride (couldn't cross back into Kentucky) and folks at the gas station, things didn't seem like they'd work. One of the employees, Judy, was so kind to let me borrow her car and drive back to pick up my phone. It's one of the nicest things that's ever happened to me. I hope I can pay it all forward some day.

Our first century of the trip came on this ride. Today the up and downs seemed a bit harder, but we kept slowly moving towards our goal. The highlight of the day was a small bar right before we entered Whitesville, which served us our first beers in Kentucky. We also re-entered the central time zone. We had our first rerouting around flooding and got to see the Rough River dam work overtime to meet the needs to satiate the dam. We were able to sleep at the fire station on the route in Utica. So good.

Took a brief ride to Loretto, KY, home of the Maker's Mark distillery. Loretto, Pennsylvania (near where I grew up) had a monastery/nunnery and a college. Loretto had whisky. Loretto, Kentucky might be slightly cooler in that regard. The tour was fun and we met up with our 4th companion, Jon Mohr. We biked at a decent clip to Hodgenville. Paul, the caretaker, allowed us to shower in the community building and we were able to camp near a pavilion. The mosquitos were a bit bad, but I was able to get them out of my tent before sleeping.

Began the morning with a cool ride on 28, which was one of the cooler roads I've ridden on so far. From there, we had alot of downhills that crested quickly over uphills. To fly at 30 miles an hour down a hill to have your momentum throw you over another hill is one of the true joys of life. There were about 60 of these and one climb through farm country that reminded me of Observatory Drive in Paoli. Dustin may have taken the faster route, but I wouldn't have traded this for the world. Abe and I shared some breakfast at a greasy spoon diner with smarmy service.Wouldn't expect any less. Camped out by some baseball fields and called it a night.

A short ride in preparation for making our way to the Maker's Mark factory on Monday. It was a lovely sunny day in the morning, so I took my time leaving and jammed out to some music on my iPod. Leaving finally around 11, I made it into town. We did some laundry and ate some ice cream at the Dairy Queen. I railed about how it was unamerican that we couldn't drink a Mint Julep where we were (dry county, again), then missed the running of the derby itself because the announced time of the start of the race was wrong on my phone. Womp womp.We pulled into camp at the Oh! Kentucky campground and I bought some things at the Walmart. Onwards to tomorrow.

Day 2 in Kentucky turned out to be pleasant, although a bit more hectic since the Transamerica route put us onto a 4-lane highway for awhile through Hazard. Them Duke boys almost got into a bit of trouble, but we were able to get back onto a relaxing country road soon enough and back on the road. We settled up in Booneville and we were able to camp at the church lot. The shower had only the cold temperature, but it was nice to be clean after biking. We ate at a small smokey diner and listened to some bluegrass with some "mountain clogging", which is the process of folks tap dancing to Bluegrass.

We started the day off lazily from Breaks, but the day quickly picked up with climbs. Though not necessarily harder than the day before, being sore from Breaks kept the day fresh. Some of the places we biked through looked broken, old roads with no shoulders where folks left their loose junkyard dogs out to chase a cyclist. Normally, a dog chase isn't much of a thing... few dogs are mean enough to bite. They probably are having an awesome time chasing after a piece of spandex up a hill. But, when there's no shoulder and falling off a one lane road with no shoulder = pain, so it wasn't quite as cheeky as the usual dog encounter. After 2 climbs, 1 confirmed mullet sighting, 9 dog chasings, 2 orange sodas and the girl at the counter telling me that I was "moving super fast while she was driving behind me" (Only bike compliment from a random ever), we arrived in Hindman. We conversed some with the "legendary" folk figure Charlie, who wanted us to pay a lot o

Woke up at the break of dawn and started rolling. Today was a harder day with 5 tricky climbs.  Probably my hardest day riding ever, let alone touring. But, we were able to keep rolling and reached the top. I spent some time looking at the majesty that we just rolled over to get there. Breaks Interstate Park is known as "The Grand Canyon of the East". I feel like alot of places call itself it's own version of the Grand Canyon. Just like some colleges call themselves the "Yale of the <Insert geographical region>". Breaks... be your own park, don't feel the need to conform to those other geological features. I was able to snag some Wi-fi so I could Skype call MB (AT&T reception in the mountains was bad), then we rode down the hill a bit to stay in a motel for the night. 570 miles through Virginia, Kentucky began tomorrow.

Today was a pretty easy day of biking with only one big climb, and then a blissful downhill into Damascus. I was worried the entire time that my last tube would blow out, but luckily everything ended up OK. We pulled into Damascus and I was able to pick up some new inner tubes for my bike. We pulled into a hostel hosted by the Methodist church. There were some older hikers there, since Damascus also crosses paths with the AT. We met a biker who was biking from the beach with an old Wal-mart bike, rolling "35-40" miles a day. Maybe that's the way touring or living should be done. We ate some pizza, then called it an early night so that we could attack the next day bright and early.

Woke up and said goodbye to our friendly hosts. We started biking towards Whyteville/Rural Retreat. I had a tough day. I blew one tube with a snakebite puncture, blew another with a cracked valve and then had my chain break. But, I was able to fix everything and keep moving. I was a bit afraid since I was out of tubes if another one broke (not likely, but could have still happened). I imagined myself being like a person in the Oregon Trail where I would need to barter tubes for powerbars. But, I made it to Whyteville OK. I then was able to stop at the local EMS, where Dustin secured us a place to stay. I ate some tasty mexican food, kicked it some with the EMTs and Dustin and Abe and then slept on the couch.

Woke up and ate a historically relevant "frittatta" and a biscuit with awesome blackberry jelly at the civil war reenactors breakfast spot. We then biked up the road a little bit where I met Jim and Elise. Jim is Dustin's wife's cousin and Elise is his wife. They grabbed some of our gear and we rode up towards Blacksburg. It was nice not to have to carry my heavy stuff and it was nice to go fast. We then stopped at Dan and Ann's house - Ann is Elise's sister. They took us in and fed us and let us stay there. Everyone was super nice to help us out and take care of us. Some highlights: - Dan played some banjo and enjoyed talking about bluegrass - Sleeping in a bed - Virginia Tech had a bunch of similar looking limestone, which reminded me a bit of Dickinson. - Dan went to Notre Dame and Ann went to St. Mary's. They had the "Play Like a Champion Today" sign heading into the garage. Felt good.

Woke up to eat a sandwich inside the store and then started biking towards Buchanan. It was windy... I felt slow. I didn't hurt as bad after the climbing day as I thought that I might, so I was glad about that. We stopped in Buchanan for the day since we knew that we were going to bike a longer distance in the morning with Dustin's cousin and his wife. We camped by the river in Buchanan next to a bunch of super serious civil war reenactors. I couldn't see myself ever doing it... yeah... I couldn't see myself ever being a civil war reenactor. But, they enjoyed the guns and such and I didn't mind it after falling asleep early. General Lee could have knocked on my tent door and I wouldn't have minded it any more.

We started the day a bit later after waiting out the storm until 10 and got our feet moving at about 11. We biked up past Afton, where we met June Curry. June, who is otherwise known as the Cookie Lady, has been taking in cyclists since the Bicentennial/TransAmerican route was established. We were just starting our ride, but it was nice to chat with June and see the collection of things that June had  acquired throughout the years. My favorite was a tandem that had a switch so that the front or back rider could steer. We then continued to climb up through the Blue Ridge parkway. The grade was rather gentle, but it was miles upon miles of climbing and climbing. It was a relief to finally end the day with a 5 mile descent into Vesuvius. We came to a place called "Gertie's", which looked closed. However, we saw someone working on the sign and Tammy (Gertie's daughter) came over to open up the place (they closed for the day since they hadn't had electricity since 3) a

Woke up to the rain coming down a bit just as I was taking down my tent. During my sleep the night beforehand, I heard the train coming by and I thought that I had accidentally setup my tent on the train tracks. It took a solid minute before I realized that was crazy. We started taking off towards Charlottesville. I was feeling great about riding until I hit a bump in the spot betweeen the road and a bridge and my rear tire went flat. Boo. It was split right by the valve. At which point, I pulled out my one spare tube to find that the tube wouldn't hold more than 60 psi of air... maybe I should have picked up new tubes instead of the random one sitting in my car. I was finally able to get my other spare tube on the bike. The climb up past Monticello was rough, but I was replenished by some barbeque sandwich and sweet tea in town. We kept on rolling past to White Hall to camp at the base of the mountain. We met some pleasant folks painting (Virginia and Meg), grabbed a meatloaf sand

After a relatively long day, we were able to make it towards Mineral, VA. It was a pretty easy bike, culminating in us ending up around noon to stop for lunch in Mineral. I ate some dry brisket, though the service was super friendly. At that point, we started to think if there was a way that we could somehow get to Charlottesville (40 miles away) or stay somewhere in between. Since we could stay for free at the Fire Department/EMS station, we decided to stay put in Mineral. There was a winery nearby, so Dustin and I hopped on our bikes and had a little tasting at Cooper Vineyards. It was a pretty cool building since it was LEED platinum with the grapes growing in the fields behind it. After eating cheesesteak number 2 of the trip, I set up my tent in the yard by the fire station and called it a night.

Day 3 - Woke up a bit lazy, but saw a note on my frisbee from Dustin. His tent and bike were gone. Aw man, dude bailed already? He just went up the road for breakfast... we were ok. We met up in Charles City and biked towards Ashland. Road was super smooth and flat. It was 89, so we were ready to be done by EOD. We got stopped by a crossing guard in Mechanicsville, but it allowed some time to rock out to music from nearby radios. Ate a crazy amount of pizza afterwards. Early to bed, early to rise.

Some updates from the road and a few things worth mentioning: Day 1- Newport News to the Ocean and Hampton (22 miles): Arrival into Newport News was pretty simple and the walk to Conte's where my bike was was an easy one. I put on my bags and set off for Hampton. Dropped some Marriott points to stay in a courtyard for the night and I biked to the ocean at Buckroe Beach. I put the bike in the ocean, even though it was sandy for Trixie. I got a cheesesteak from a place near the beach and ate it over the next 3 meals (thing was huge). Rode back to Hampton and met up with Dustin and hung out and went to Walmart. Picked up supplies and ate. Was ready to go the next day. Day 2 Hampton to Yorktown to Chickahominy Campground (48 miles): Woke up, drank some coffee, and rode to Yorktown. Hi fived with the Easter bunny. Met up with Abe and the rest of the Lishansky fam. We checked in at the national park office where they gave me a pin. I'm not totally psyched about it, but maybe