Day 1

My journey began at historic Yorktown around 10:45. I dipped my back tire in the Chesapeake (just 10 or so miles from the open ocean, so I'm still calling it a coast-to-coast tour.) My parents and I had a tearful goodbye that really wasn't a goodbye — more on that later — but, I was off!

Last night, my aerosol sunscreen exploded in my pannier, so I had no sunscreen today, but was only burned lightly. A few times, my parents seemed to pop up randomly on my route, which I found rather amusing. They are still in the area enjoying some of the historical fixtures — Jamestown, Williamsburg, et al. I can't lie - at one point I accepted some teddy grahams from the open window of their car.

Perhaps a more egregious bicycle touring error was commited by me later. The Adventure Cycling Association registers riders who complete their routes, provided that they stay on the established route for 90% of the time and accept no rides in motor vehicles. Well, my parents and I had arranged that I would stay in their hotel outside of Richmond after my first day; as the dinner hour approached and passed, they grew more and more impatient and picked me up about 5 miles out of town. I voided my official capacity to register the ride — on day one! To keep it honest, though, dad agreed to take me back to the same location (an elementary school) when I start tomorrow.

All in all, I rode 93 miles today, although only 80 or so of those miles actually counted toward the progression of my journey, thanks to a map-reading misstep. No complaints except for sore hands and a sore back from hunching over all day. Until next time, I'll just keep spinning.