Cycling into D.C. and ending my ride at the Lincoln Memorial

I woke up and looked outside and I imediatly realized that it was a mistake yesterday to quit early to catch the Packers and vikings games.  Rain was on the forcast today and it looked to be a certainty.  I got on the road before eight o'clock in hopes of beating the rain.  I had to cross a bridge that they would shuddle me across but not before they robbed me for it.  It costs 30 bucks to get a ride across.  Luckily before I got to the bridge I stopped at a gas station to get a bit of food for lunch, but then I saw something better than lunch, a truck with a guy getting ready to go.  I asked him if he was going to be crossing the bridge on 50 going towards D.C.  When he said that he was and seemed like a nice enough fella I asked "You wouldn't mind being a taxi for a cyclist looking to cross the bridge as they are not aloud."  He said "Sure! I don't see why not."  Yess!! I was in luck.  I think that there are reasons why we meet certain people sometimes and after talking with this guy for very long it was pretty easy to figure out why we crossed paths.  As we were talking I told him a bit about my story and the cancer and he told me that his mother had the same type.  Usually when I tell people I have brain cancer they leave it at that and do not go on to ask what kind.  But it turns out that his mom fended off my kind of cancer until her 80's before she died.   Some survivors don't want to talk about cancer stuff but I don't mind.  

Cycling into D.C. the traffic was insane. but I had a pretty good shoulder most of the time but crossing the exiting lanes seemed a bit dangerous, but I was just careful when I had to cross them.  When I arived at the "Welcome to Washington D.C." I just felt a great rush of acomplishment, not as much as when I hit the Atlantic coast at VA beach, but here is where I end my ride.  I cycled to the mall and was guided there by the Washington monument.  I saw it from blocks away and once I got there I cycled around it taking a few picures.  The reflective pond was a disapointment as it was drained for cleaning but oh well.  I cycled to the Lincoln monument and took a few pictures.  I've really enjoyed all of the lincoln spots along the tour from the birthplace, to some things in IL to this memorial to the exibit I caught on my way home in Chicago.  There was a group of cyclists that were local riders for some cause there when I got there.  I told one of them a bit of my story then I went to visit the memorial up close.  I came back to my bike and road by those cyclists and they all started clapping and cheering me.  It was a very welcome conclusion to a very very long epic journey.  I smiled and waved as I cycled past.  I cycled to the road and was picked up by friends. to get me ready to catch the train home.  It was a wonderful conclusion to my story.  Now the next adventure will be to document this entire journey from front to back with the cancer battle in the middle in my book.  It's one heck of a true story and all I had to do is pay attention and take notes.

Almost in DC/Dogs/Flats/Hills?

So this morning I got going and I realized I had a flat.  This is never a good way to start out the day.  Then I realized that I used my spare that I had in my pack and didn't replace it.  This is bad because it is a lot of work to pack all my gear into the big bag and then the tent stuff that goes into a bag that sits on top of the bob bag.  I bungee those all down and get both of my flags situated...Its the least favorite part of touring and I did it twice this morning since I had to undue it all to get down to the very bottom where the spares are.  Only 2 left so I hop its not a thorn in my tire that I've missed.  I felt around where the whole would have came through the tire and couldn't feel anything.  The tire was being very difficult this morning but 40 min later I had the tire changed and everything bungeed up again.

I went to Mc Donalds which I do for breakfast sometimes.  I sat down to eat and realized they messed my order up.  I got bacon sandwiches instead of sausage, oh well, I didn't want to go stand in line again as Mc D's was a popular place this morning.  I ate and got on the road by 10AM, much later than I had wanted to get cycling.  I hit it hard and put music in today.  It was a Barenaked ladies and Dave Matthews day.  They kept me moving fast along with my cliff bars.  I was so happy there was less wind today than yesterday.  Yesterday I just gave up at about 3:30.  I just couldn't hack cycling into the wind anymore.  It had been all day.

I had dogs chase me today.  Some Rin tin tin looking dog and a pit bull.  I was in no mood to be chased.  I got off my bike and yelled at them.  THey growled at me.  I got my camera stick that works well for a dog waker.  They backed up a bit.  I got on the bike and started going and they ran right up to my bike.  I got off with my stick and just chucked it at the pit bull.  He ran away  the other one I guess saw that I didn't really want to be chased and went away too.  I think I was more patient with dogs be fore one grabbed my jacket on my trailer and ripped it a few weeks ago.

Now I'm camped outside a Catholic church in the country that was built in 1765 named st Josephs off of 404 and church ln.  I might go worship here tomorrow...but maybe not...Catholics have funny communion rules.  I might find a different church to drop in on.

Anyways.  I'm tired so I'm hitting the sack.

I'm sure my next journal will be in DC.

Later,

J

Ocean city

Well I took 4 days and cycled up to Ocean city.  I didn't get to cycle on the island with the wild horses.  I guess everything is a mess out here due to that hurricane.  I guess they do tend to mess things up where ever they go.  I was going to go home from ocean city, but renting a car has got a lot more expensive, or is just more expensive out here.  I don't know how they are still in business.  They wanted more than 700 dollars to rent a regular mid size car for 2 days.  Man, if I pay that much for a car for 2 days it better at least be luxury or a sports car...nope! A ford.  So I'm finding other means home.  I ruled out planes due to all my gear.  I've ruled out cars because they are insane, so I guess the only thing left to do is to go by train...at least according to John Candy.

I'm going to cycle to Washington D.C. because the train doesn't do bikes or checked luggage from out here and I have both.  So three more days of cycling! again!  I thought about ending in VA beach, which I forgot if I wrote about or not, but there were no cars anywhere because they were talking evacuation of the whole area, the very area I was cycling towards and yes I questioned the sanity of that move.  So everyone rented all the cars and got out of dodge.  Then it turned out they didn't get it quite as bad as they thought.  It's still a crazy mess with flooding and trees down everywhere and electricity problems....I guess that usually goes with the trees down everywhere part, but it wasn't Armageddon.

Off to D.C!  Now wishing I would have went there from the beach in the first place.

Joe

Week to Virginia beach in Pictures!!

Share this album with anyone by sending them this public link:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2171257&id=73405078&l=b40e52c9ae


I hope you like the album.  There might be one more as I'm cycling to Ocean city, but this is the finishing of my Coast to Coast adventure.
Joe ><>

After much thought my decision was made for me

11/16/09

So I originially I wanted to cycle to Washington D.C.  After cycling through 30 miles of heavy traffic to get to Virginia Beach I decided that I'll drive through D.C. On my way home.  The Cross country Journey part ended with the ceremonial dipping of the front tire on VA Beach.  Since I was supposed to be here a few days ago but was delayed by a huricane or "Nor'Easter," I thought I might just rent a car from the beach area and drive back, but here's the deal, since all the crazzzy weather just came through here not a single car at any of the rentacar places is left...not even one....hmmm ok, that option was crossed off for me, I guess I'll just cycle up the coast a ways to Ocean city which should take three days ride and there is supposed to be three days of sunny weather, so that sounded good to me, cause I'm really sick of riding in crazy weather and rains and G-force winds.

I found a cheaper hotel, for 50 bucks that had a much better view of the coast.  It was on atlantic and 33rd street.  They put me on the 3rd floor in room 33.  It was a very trinitarian spot : ) and very beautiful.  I got up the next morning to try and catch the sun rise as I really really wanted to see the sunrise on the eastern sea board.  And I did.  Just as I thought there it might me a little cloudy on the horizion as it was hard to tell, there it was, just a little speck of sun.  for the next 3 min. I didn't care weather or not looking at the sun was bad for your eyes.  I just watched almost memorized by the majestic sight.  I looked down the beach and every hundred yards or so I saw someone else just standing looking, being the first ones in the country to see the sun today.  And with this experience, my trip was complete.  The main goal was to cycle across North America but the bonus would be catching a sunset in the west and a sunrise in the East.

I Made it!!! Pacific Ocean to Atlantic Ocean ride Complete!!!!

I sit in my hotel room on the fourth floor.  I opened the sliding door to my deck so I can hear the Atlantic waves crashing against the Eastern shore here on Virginia Beach.  Today was a little bit of a hectic ride finding my way through all the busy roads out to the coast, but it was worth it. 

I started out today not suited up in my rain gear because it was just supposed to be cloudy.  Unfortunately for me  it was cloudy with a side of drizzle most of the day.  I passed many yards that were under water due to all the flooding that came with the hurricane.  The storybook ending would have finished in sun shine with birds singing along the way, but with everything that has happened in this story, this is a fitting ending.  After all, what kind of stories to you get when things go perfectly.  You get a story when you finish in a hurricane. 

Once I got to the city of Virginia Beach I took a picture at the sign, but it was on the other side of the four lanes of traffic., and even if I crossed, there was no one to take my picture.  I told myself, “ah, who cares, the beach is where you want the pictures.”  But I did want a picture at that sign and just as I was getting back on my bike a mini van pulled over and people jumped out with cameras.  I thought, they might be a bit of a traffic hazard but who cares, I scurried quickly across the four lanes so I could catch them before they took their pictures.  It turns out  these two parents and their young boy, who was adorned with at least 24 burger king hats on his head and arms were on a scavenger hunt.  I said to them “I’ll take your picture if you take mine.”  Then they replied, “No, we want you in our picture.  We get more points for finding strangers.”  I just thought that was a great coincidence that as I pulled into my final City on the way to the East Coast that someone else pulled over to take a picture too.  I forgot to take a picture of them with my camera, but then I bumped into them again a few miles down the road taking a picture of a fake dolphin.  I chased them down to get a picture of them, so I’d  remember them for the book.  My pictures are how I remember stories, so I was glad I saw them again.  As I left she said maybe we’ll see you at the beach.”  It would be about an hour I replied.  It’s just 15 miles she said….People that are not cyclists are goofy.  They have no concept of how long it may take on a bike while pulling a trailer.  15 miles is at least an hour, probably an hour and 10 min pulling this rig.

I was following the directions on my GPS as I had to abandon my paper directions when a bridge on the route didn’t work out.  I didn’t go all the way up to the bridge because I heard it was a tunnel and those don’t fare well for cyclists, so I ended up finding another way across.  That has been a big frustration several times on my ride.  I try to google whether the bridges are passable on bike and I just can’t find the info.  I just got lucky with the james river bridge. 

I thought about how I might react when I arrived at the coast and I wasn’t sure.  When I got about 2.5 miles out and I saw the water on my GPS, I got a little emotional.  I wondered if I might just cry when I finally got there.  It has been such a long journey on so many different levels since I started this thing and through the Cancer I knew I had to come back and finish this ride and here I am.  When I got to a half mile out I couldn’t tell if it was water or clouds in the distance as they blended together on this windy overcast day.  At least the drizzle had stopped.  As I saw that beautiful coast, I didn’t shed tears but it was emotional.  I was so happy to have made it.  I thought about all the experiences I’ve gotten from this tour.  All the people, places and different terrains from the oceans to the desserts, from the plains to the different mountain ranges.  Scenes just flashed through my mind and here I had arrived.  I cycled down the handicap ramp right into the sand, unclipped and with a leg on each side just pressed forward pushing my heavy bike through the sand.  Usually you avoid sand as a cyclist, but I didn’t care right now, I was at the Atlantic ocean.  I pushed my bike right up into the water for the cerimonial tire tipping.  Most cross country cyclist dip their rear tire in the pacific and their front in the Atlantic.    Well I got hit by a pretty good wave when I dipped in thePacific and I dipped my whole bike (tires) in the Atlantic. 

Then I went to the waters edge with my canister of water, water that had traveled thousands of miles  I opened the little jar and poured it into the Atlantic.  And I took another container, a ride Virginia bike bottle, that was given to me by the ELCA Lutherans I met at a Presbyterian church and I filled it with Atlantic Ocean water.  I walked around the beach picking up Sea Shells and putting them in this bottle and I will put it on a shelf at home in Wisconsin to commemorate my dream I chased down.

I might not of had anyone to celebrate with but as usual there was someone there and this guy who took my picture was so excited for my.  “Gosh Man, That’s Awesome”  He Shook my hand, just amazed at my journeys end.  He took a few pictures.  He had a little boy with him named Noah.  He was 2 and liked to run off into the water so we had to keep a close eye on him, so playful.  I talked a little more to Robert (the guy who took my pic)  and in just another burst of  excitement for me he gives me a big hug and just enthusiastically says congratulations!  So I did get to share my excitement with a stranger God provided for me : )  And I guess the very first thing I did do when I got to the beach before I pushed my bike in and before I collected water, rocks and shells was to thank God for making it here.  I thanked Him for my recovery and all the blessings along the journey as I know he had my back on this long solo trip.

Since the Huricane made cycling a little slower than planned, I think I will call my journey good at Ocean to Ocean.  I was thinking about cycling up and Ending in D.C. but this trip wasn’t about that.  It was the trip of the beaches, Laguna beach to Frisco to Virginia beach.  Now if only I had my surf board.

 

James "River" Bridge- Yorktown to Churchtown

11/13/09 Friday the 13^th.  Yorktown to Chesapeake super 8

How strange it is to look at the final stretch of 26 miles.  I’ve came thousands of miles over great stretches of desert and over many mountain passes and tomorrow is it.

Today started out kinda fun and different.  I got to know cole a bit more.  He is a pretty cool guy who is the head sheff at the Duke hotel in Yorktown.  The power was out all morning and it was pretty blustery outside.  They call this a Nor-Easter and it did a heck of of a lot of damage, just as much as a hurricane might have.  Cole and I went to 7-11 and got some breakfast.  Everyone comes together a lot more when the electricity is down.  Life really revolves around electricity.  I only had 10% left on my computer so I looked up directions on google and quickly wrote them down as I modified them off of hwy 17 as much as I could. 

The wind wasn’t as bad today as it was yesterday but I enjoyed reading the newspapers about all the damage that was done yesterday.   I biked through it and it almost blew me over a few times.  I also learned today that when I set out on 17 from Yorktown yesterday, that I went the wrong way, so It was a good thing that I decided to go back to town and stay there.

The highlight of today was going over the james river bridge.  I don’t know why they call it a river because it is clearly a bay.  It was about 5 miles long.  Leading up to it I wondered how it was going to be, if there was going to be a path on the side for bikes.  Going up to it there was a sidewalk but then the sidewalk disappeared, I continued, annoyed but then I saw that the bridge was still closed.  I don’t know why the bridge was still closed as the water doesn’t come up.  I thought about turning around, but then I had no Idea how I would get across as there ar no ferries and I just didn’t want to deal with the mess that would come with trying to figure out a different way across, plus, the road is closed which means no traffic!  Sweet!  Not to mention I had a Nor-Easter to my back.  I decided to go over it.  I saw a car  go a ways a head of me with white flashing lights.  I figured I would get busted as I’m sure plenty of people saw me, but I cycled 25mph over it and figured if I just did it really fast that that single patrol car might not circle back in time.  Luckily I was right.  About 2 miles after the bridge I saw a patrol car going the other direction.  I’m betting he got a call about a cyclist on the bridge, but he didn’t catch me on it so I was home free.

The Rain Hit me pretty good for a while in the late afternoon and I did get caught in the dark but at least I had some pretty bright LEDs working for me, and an Orange reflective bike.  Eventually I did end up at a Super 8, so it’s nice to be dry.  Oh how I long for those days that I wasn’t constantly biking in rain and I would just find a shelter verses a hotel room.  I’m glad that people supported me on my ride more than I needed cause I’ve been using it lately.