final thoughts

I finally added up the totals of our ride. We biked 3872 miles in 278 hours at an average speed of 13.9 mph. We averaged 77 miles a day, and rode for an average of 5 1/2 hours each day. Here is a histogram of how long we rode each day:

miles	#days
110+	1
100-110	2
90-100	8
80-90	9
70-80	16
60-70	4
50-60	7
40-50	1
30-40	1

I had 5 flat tires on the trip, and my dad had 1. I ate about 100 Clif Bars, 100 bananas, and about 150 granola bars. I ruined 1 tire (pinched in the van door) in Nevada, and wore out the spare by the end of Kansas (it was a cheap tire). My dad wore out his back tire somewhere in Missouri, I think. It has now been almost two weeks since we reached the East Coast, and I still have the last signs of the permanent helmet-hair I was sporting the entire trip. One of my favorite memories will be that almost every night, after we had recovered a bit from the day's ride, I would say to my dad 'So, do you want to go on a bike ride tomorrow?' and he would say 'that sounds like a good idea. Let's do it.'

It was an amazing experience, and I'm so glad I was able to do it. I'm especially glad I could do it with my dad.

day 50

22 July 2008



50 riding days, and we made it! We rode the last 59 miles, past Jamestown, through Williamsburg, and finally to Yorktown.

Benji, a friend of mine since we were tiny, was able to come down from D.C. and ride with us for the last day. I talked to him yesterday, and he said he wasn't going to be able to miss any more work. But this morning early he called and said he was on his way. It was great to have him along. This trip has been something that both of us have wanted to do for a long time. When I planned this trip, I was really torn because I knew he wouldn't be able to do it with me. So I'm really glad he could make it for the last day.

Starting in Jamestown, we got on the Colonial Parkway, which goes from there to Williamsburg and then Yorktown. It was this incredibly bumpy rock and cement road, which I'm sure the Jamestown settlers would have been very appreciative of, but was very hard to ride on :)

It feels great to have done it. I still can't believe we've ridden from the Pacific to the Atlantic. What an amazing ride it has been.

day 49

21 July 2008



The weather forcast said it was going to be 97 degrees today, with lots of sun. So we decided to go very early to try to beat the heat a bit (I think it was only supposed to get down to 75 or so for the low, so we figured it would heat up pretty quickly). We got up at 4 am and got on the trail as quickly as we could, which was around 5:30 (we had to drive about an hour to get from the hotel back to where we left off).

We picked up the pace a bit, but still didn't finish until about 1. We stopped at one of the Civil War battlefield sites, which was pretty amazing. There are still embankments all over from the trenches they dug. The battle was called the battle of Cold Harbor, I think. The Union troops charged the well entrenched Confederate troops, and 7000 Union troops were basically mowed down. Most of the killing took only 30 seconds. It's crazy to think about how many people died in that war.

We rode 84 miles, and ended a little past Glendale, which is a little way East of Richmond.

family photos - week 8

day 48

19 July 2008



I think today was the hottest day we have ridden in so far. The hills have really flattened out. I think we are out of the mountains, and the rest of the ride to the coast should be easier as far as hills go. The weather, however, looks like it will just get hotter and hotter.

We rode 79 miles and ended in Mineral, VA. We couldn't find a hotel to stay at there, so we drove on to Richmond. We'll stay here for the rest of the time. Mondays ride ends very close by, and then Tuesday we'll reach the coast! (assuming all goes well) I can't believe how close we are. I'm getting very excited!

day 47

18 July 2008



Today we rode about 27 miles along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Park that is pretty much just the road and a few overlooks. It runs along the ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains all through Virginia and North Carolina. At the visitor center they said it's the most visited National Park in the country.

To get up onto the Blue Ridge Parkway, we had a 4 mile climb that was super steep. It was definitely one of the toughest climbs we've done. The Parkway was very pretty, and we got some great downhills at the end.

In Afton, right after the Parkway, we stopped and visited "The Cookie Lady". She's had bikers staying at her "Bike House" for years, and the house is chuck full of memorabilia left by bikers. She's famous among TransAm bikers, and everyone told us we should stay there. We didn't end up staying there because we have the van and trailer, and didn't really want to impose, but my dad and I visited with her for a while. She has had a stroke a little while ago, and a fall just barely, and is reaching the point where she probably won't be able to keep housing bikers much longer. I think she said she's 83 or so. She has had over 14000 bikers stay there, and has binder after binder of photos to prove it. It really was quite the place, and she is an amazingly nice lady.

We rode 70 miles today, and stopped at a campground near Greenwood, VA.

day 46

17 July 2008



We rode 73 miles to Natural Bridge, VA. We followed the freeway pretty closely again today.

After we got in to the campground, we went to see the natural bridge that the town is named after. It was purchased from Britain by Thomas Jefferson for 20 shillings in 1774. Unfortunately it's privately owned, and they charge more than they should to get to it, but I'm glad we got to see it. It is very impressive. Legend says that George Washington carved his initials in the rock. And they have a highway that goes over the bridge, just to give an idea of the size. They say it is taller than Niagara Falls.