Days 1 & 2 thru Mike's lens

Just finished planning tomorrow's journey and taking care of a few other odds and ends...and finally have enough energy to update the blog!  Erin and I wrapped up our biking by 5pm these past two days (days 3 and 4) and that has been huge.

DAY 1:  Washington DC to Culpeper, VA (65 miles...plus an unexpected 15 mile cab ride)

Bike touring doesn't get much rougher than today.  Wrong turns, dangerously busy roads dictating a longer route, and THREE flat tires -- if there was trouble, we found it.  To the surprise of a couple of people we've met along our route, the first 30 miles out of DC went swimmingly well, with Google's biking directions taking us safely outside the beltway to Manassas. From there, though, Google directed us on to Nokesville Rd (VA-28), and there our problems began. It was mid-afternoon at that point, and the commute home for some VA suburbanites had begun. In other words, VA-28 was extremely busy with car traffic and the occasional semi. With no shoulder to ride on, I found myself holding my breath and saying a little prayer each time I heard a car approach.  After 3 miles and no abatement in traffic, Erin and I decided we had to find another route, even if it was longer.

Almost immediately after doing so, Erin's rear tire went flat. No problem.  We had each packed a spare tube with Co2 inflation, and we were rolling 10 minutes later. The roads on to which we had detoured were bike friendly, too, so things were good...until a wrong turn...which then put us on another busy commuter route, this time with no viable alternative. Somewhat shaken 8 miles later, we were finally on a better road. The relief was short-lived. As we arrived at a small service station to check the map, we realized that my rear tire had developed a slow leak and was now almost entirely flat.  While Erin went in to buy us some iced tea, I prepared to change my rear tube...only to discover that my spare also had a small tear. Thus, I patched it, used my Co2, and hoped for the best.  And for a while, it looked like things would be OK, even though our detours had us looking at a 80 mile day (almost double Erin's previous longest day of biking). I can't hardly imagine what was running thru her head on her first day of touring, but she was a trooper nonetheless!

She even kept her composure when my patched tube failed a quarter hour later, 15 miles from our destination of Culpeper. With no more spare tubes or Co2, we were in a bind.  The churchgoers at the nearby Baptist church were friendly and offered to pray for us, but they had little interest in giving us a lift to Culpeper in one of their pickups, even when Erin played the religion teacher card. :)

Eventually, however, we landed a not inexpensive cab ride to Culpeper. As a bonus, we were able to take our bikes with us, too, because the cab was a minivan with seats that folded down. And thus, quite a bit after our scheduled check in time, we arrived at Fountain Hall B&B, a beautiful Victorian house. Heck, there was even a mini fridge in our bathroom stocked with drinks! Coupled with a shower and some table-side made guacamole and chips at a nearby Mexican restaurant washed down with a beer (me) and margarita (Erin), things seemed all right again. 

DAY 2:  Culpeper to just south of Charlottesville, VA (62 miles)

Day 2 got off to a great start, beginning with a delicious breakfast at the B&B that included fresh, homemade croissants.  Erin and I then walked our bikes a half mile to the Bike Stop to purchase more tubes and inflation. Though they were extremely busy that morning, bike shops tend to be staffed by good people, and here was no exception. Given my two flats and two oversized rear panniers, the shop owner/manager recommended a thicker, more puncture resistant tube. Done. (We haven't had a flat since.)

The day continued to look up as we rolled out of Culpeper and got on Rapidan Road, a flat, safe stretch of asphalt. Twenty easy miles later, we were in Orange, a quaint town where we had a fabulous lunch at Elmwood at Sparks, a well-reviewed restaurant in town. On the way out, a woman asked where we were headed and wished us well. Being unfamiliar with highway 20 to Charlottesville (also known as the Constitution Route due to Jefferson and Madison covering this terrain on horseback), I asked the woman whether she thought it was a good one for bicycles. "Yes, it's mostly downhill" was her response. Famous last words. 

Truthfully, she may have been correct. Though we began to encounter some gently rolling hills, we probably descended more than we ascended.  However, those elevation changes slowly but surely started becoming both steeper and longer. To wit: at intersections, we began seeing street signs with names like Grande Vista Drive and Lonesome Mountain Road.

Eventually, tho, we made it to beautiful Charlottesville, home to the University of Virginia (where I so nearly went for both undergraduate and graduate studies!). Though tired, we took in the pedestrian mall downtown before settling on the South Street Brewpub for dinner.  There, I enjoyed a delicious pint of Satan's Pony Amber Ale while Erin had a Snakebite. I think we both would have enjoyed a second round and spending more time downtown, but back in Orange, we had booked a campsite at the KOA a bit south of Charlottesville. Our thinking back in Orange had been (1) the 50 miles to Charlottesville would be below our targeted daily mileage of 60 and (2) the weather was great and we wanted to use our tent and sleeping gear as long as we were carrying it. As for taking Erin to a lovely B&B the first night followed by a campground the next, that was just my bad planning! Honestly, though, Erin is a pretty easy going gal when it comes to that sort of thing - it's one of the many things I love about her.

The reality, though, was that the hills of those first 50 miles felt like 70; we were both ready to be done biking for the day. Nevertheless, we grudgingly hopped back on our bikes and began riding the nine miles Apple maps said we had to complete to get to the KOA. Sure enough, a couple miles outside of town, the hills returned with a vengeance. At some point, the route dictated that we take Jones Mountain Road which, while scenic, lived up to its name. Still we plugged on until we arrived at the KOA...or at least where Apple maps said it would be. It wasn't. With darkness approaching, this was not good, but Erin quickly got help from a car that pulled up and I confirmed using Google maps that we had another mile to go...which meant that we never even needed to get on the diabolically hilly Jones Mountain Rd. A pox upon Apple! It is Google maps from here. 

Still, we were ecstatic to finally reach the KOA just before 9pm, shower, and make camp. I slept fairly well.  Erin, not so much. She had brought a sleep sock (essentially a sheet sewn together) and at some point in the cooler than expected night, she was literally covered from head to toe with most of her clothing and some of mine. The pic I took of her (which she says she has already posted) does not do justice to the image I saw. :)