| June 13, 2003 | Wethersfield, CT - Fairfield, CT: 66.6 miles
Rain! Ick! But as I say, it's still better than a day at work. :-) Took a wrong turn in Wallingford and ended up going 3 or 4 miles out of my way. My maps got wet, and the ink ran dreadfully. (Note to self: Next time print them on a laser printer!) This day's maps were pretty well ruined, so I had to improvise a route. I just took US 1 from New Haven south. By the time I got to Fairfield, I was just sick of riding in these conditions. So I stopped in a motel about 8-1/2 miles short of where I had planned to stop. |
| June 14, 2003 | Fairfield, CT - Suffern, NY: 75.3 miles
I made up the 8.5 mile shortage from yesterday by 7:30 AM. (I left Fairfield at 6:45 AM.) Morning was hazy and cool, but much improved from yesterday! Riding through Fairfield County into Westchester, I saw a lot of VERY nice houses. I hate to think what some of those places must have cost! The sun came out about the time I got to Yorktown Heights, NY. While still a hazy day, it sure was nice to see the sun. Got some good views of the Hudson River as I approached the Bear Mountain bridge, although the haze limited the views somewhat. After crossing the Hudson at Bear Mountain, I headed south on NY 9W, which is also NY/NJ bike route 9. A few miles south of the bridge the bike route veers off the road onto a dirt track that runs parallel to the road. Unfortunately, with the recent rains the track was filled with deep, wet sandy soil that was too deep to plow throgh with anything short of a mountain bike. So, I had to stick to the road, which entailed climbing a pretty good sized hill that the bike route misses. On the other hand, I got to coast down the far side of the hill at about 35 mph, so that was fun! Had to duck a late-day thundershower, waiting it out at a convenience store in Stony Point, NY. |
| June 15, 2003 | Suffern, NY - Somerville, NJ: 68.3 miles
A beautiful, dry morning! At one point, my mapping software routed me along "Canal Road" in Oakland, NJ (I think it was Oakland, anyway). Turns out "Canal Road" was a footpath. Ridable on a bike, but good thing I wasn't trying to drive the route! I stopped at Washington's Headquarters in Morristown, and also Jockey Hollow, where his troops were camped during the winter on 1779-1780. You hear a lot about Valley Forge, but I gather conditions here weren't much better. Both sites were well worth the visit. Jockey Hollow is a beautiful wooded area, quite apart from its historic value. Just as I was leaving Washington's HQ, another cyclist pulled up to chat. He had seen my loaded panniers ("saddlebags" to the non-cyclist) and wondered where I was headed. Turns out he's done some cycle touring, going up to Quebec and Toronto from his home in Hoboken, NJ. Had a heck of a time figuring out how to get into Somerville. There's a limited-access highway that crosses east-west, and my map wasn't clear on where you could get over it. I found it eventually, though. |
| June 16, 2003 | Somerville, NJ - Wharton State Forest, NJ: 70.3 miles
Left Somerville bright and early, before the morning traffic could build. From here, the terrain flattens out all the way to the end of my trip. Today's route included about 20 miles along the towpath of the Delaware and Raritan Canal. Like other 19th century canals, this one had a short active life, as railroads displaced most water traffic shortly after it was built. Now, though, it's a beautiful linear park, with a well-maintained towpath of hard-packed crushed stone and dirt. Easy riding, although there were a few muddy spots due to the heavy rains of recent days. I saw only a couple of other cyclists on the D&R, but there were a number of runners and walkers, especially where the path passed through the town of Princeton. The final part of the day's route was on US 206, whuch carries a fairly high volume of traffic. But it has very wide shoulders (like 8 feet or so) most of the way, and they are in good shape and fairly clean, so it was easy riding. The Wharton State Forest, Atsion (lake) recreation area, where I camped for the night, was just off Route 206 and easy to find. There were only about 3 campsites occupied of the 25 in the area where my campsite was located. |
| June 17, 2003 | Wharton State Forest, NJ - Cape May, NJ: 63.9 miles
The area experienced near-record lows overnight (of course!) I was a bit chilly but managed to get a full night's sleep anyway. Hot coffee made on the camp stove in the morning sure tasted good! Not much dramatic scenery today. Mostly farmland (a lot of turf farms, for some reason). The forecast for today called for rain, I got to the campground in Cape May and set up camp before the rain started. Rain started about 5 PM as I was sitting in the campground laundry facility doing some wash. |
| June 18, 2003 | Cape May NJ - Pocomoke State Forest (Shad Landing area), MD: 64.1 miles
It wasn't raining too much when I got up and broke camp, but rain started as I was on my way to the Cape May to Lewes (DE) ferry. The ferry ride was very nice. It's a big boat -- carries 100 cars. The rain tapered off after I left Lewes, traveling across the farmlands of Delaware and Maryland to the state forest near Snow Hill, MD. There were few campers there this night. I had a nice camping spot near the shower facility. Rain started after midnight. |
| June 19, 2003 | Pocomoke State Forest, MD - Kilmarnock, VA: 57.4 miles
It was a very wet ride this morning from the Pocomoke State Forest to Crisfield. This morning I saw another bike tourist -- the first of this trip -- headed in the opposite direction. We stopped and chatted briefly, across a road in the pouring rain. He was also traveling solo, from Savannah, GA to New York City. He was as glad to see me as I him, if only to confirm that there is more than one person crazy enough to be pedaling along in the rain in the midst of a thousand-mile bicycle trip! The boat rides (one to Tangier Is, and one from there to Reedville, VA) were great. On the second trip, we got to stop for a while and watch a commercial fishing operation net a school of fish from the bay. Very interesting! I had planned to stay in Reedville, but the weather was so nice I pushed on about 15 miles more to Kilmarnock. |
| June 20, 2003 | Kilmarnock, VA to Poquoson, VA: 55.2 miles
Forecast was for scattered showers with a chance of thunderstorms today, but I managed to miss them all by stopping when I saw black clouds ahead. Virginia roads for the most part do not have paved shoulders. Cycling is done on the right side of the rightmost travel lane. This sounds dangerous, but in fact the drivers here have come to expect there to be things in that area and are very good about passing safely. Even if they have to slow to the cyclist's speed until it's safe to pass, they do so without complaint (at least, any that are audible to me!) I crossed several bridges today, as I traveled across the "northern neck" area of Virgnia where several rivers empty into Chesapeake Bay. One of these bridges had no shoulder to speak of and only a 3-foot-high railing on the side of the bridge. So I was riding along looking over the side at a 100+ foot drop to the water. A bit disconcertng at first, but not really a problem. I arrived at the home of some friends, the Hartmanns, in mid-afternoon. Just before I got here I heard the distinctive ping of a spoke breaking on my front wheel. That'll need to be fixed, and I didn't bring any spare spokes. |
| June 21, 2003 | Poquoson, VA
I stayed over at the Hartmann's today instead of going on to Jamestown as planned. Took my bike to a local bike shop where they replaced the broken spoke, retrued both wheels and lubricated the drive chain. Hopefully things will be good for another 500 miles, but I got a couple of spare spokes just in case. The charge for the service and the spokes? $7.25. Amazing. |
| June 22, 2003 | Poquoson, VA - Jamestown, VA: 42.0 miles
I left Poquoson about 11 AM and rode straight through to Jamestown. On the Colonial National Parkway between Yorktown and Jamestown I encountered strong headwinds. I suppose it's an ill wind that blows no good, though, because there was a group flying kites along the (York) river who made good use of the winds. One discovery I made is that in Williamstown, the Colonial National Parkway passes through a tunnel in which bicycles and pedestrians are not allowed. I had to find an alternate route, but that wasn't difficult, and since the new route went right through the middle of Williamsburg, it was interesting, to boot. Once I got to the campground I set up the tent immediately so it would dry out. (It was still wet from its last use in Maryland.) The campground was right on the James River, next to the pier for the Jamestown/Scotland ferry, and right across the road from the Jamestown Settlement living history park. My camp site turned out to be right at the end of the campground -- the nearest site to the river. Sitting in front of my tent I could watch the ferry and the other river traffic. After setting up I went across the road to the Jamestown Settlement museum. This is an attempt to reproduce the elements of early Jamestown, and it's done pretty well. About the only minor complaint I'd have is that it's done a bit too well. Everything is in just-built shape. The reproduction ships are freshly painted and tarred. Everything looks unused! Aside from that, though, it's worth the visit. After that I went just down the road to Jamestown Island. There is, of course, very little left of the original dwellings of Jamestown. Much of what we know about it was discovered using archeological techniques. Those uncovered some foundations and other remnamts, but these had to be covered up again or they would clearly deteriorate. Still, it's a beautiful spot, and it was interesting to see the displays they did have available. |
| June 23, 2003 | Jamestown, VA - Suffolk, VA: 55.7 miles
A gorgeous day! First up on today's trip was crossing the river on the Jamestown/Scotland ferry. This (free) ferry service runs frequently and is heavily used. During my crossing, I chatted with two other cyclists who had also stayed at the campground the previous night. They were from Chesapeake, VA, and were just staying at the campground and riding around the area for a few days. On this day, their destination was Smithfield. Shortly after crossing the river I stopped at Chippokes State Park. There the state has a farm and forestry museum I wanted to see. I got there a bit before it opened, but the attendant was kind enough to let me in anyway. The museum has farm and plantation tools of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, showing how farm technology improved across the years. It's a fascinating exhibit, and I just didn't have enough time to see it as much as I would have liked. Next stop was Smithfield "Ham Town," VA. I passed several of the large meat processing plants for which Smithfield is justly famous. In the center of town is the Smithfield Ice Cream and Sandwich shop, where I lunched on a hot ham and cheese sub -- with Smithfield ham, naturally! The campground in Suffolk I had planned to use was full. (I called before I got there; cell phones are wonderful cycling accessories!) So, I holed up at a Days Inn. |
| June 24, 2003 | Suffolk, VA - Edenton, NC: approx. 60 miles
Another beautiful day -- a bit warmer -- and the forecast is for nice, hot weather the rest of the week. Finally! Today's ride took me through the flattest country yet in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. Mostly my route passed through farms and fields. I had two interesting encounters. One was with the proprietor of a small country store where I stopped to get a mid-morning snack. Turns out he's origially from southwest Connecticut. He moved down to North Carolina years ago and is happy to be there and not in Connecticut! The other encounter was with a fellow who said he was a reporter from the Charlotte Observer newspaper. He was riding the other direction about 5 miles before I got to Edenton. We stopped and chatted. He interviewed me briefly and took a couple of photos. (I took one of him, too.) Edenton is a very pretty town with a number of restored homes from the 17th and 18th centuries. I haven't had a chance to look at it closely yet but will as soon as I'm done updating this log. (I'm sitting in the Edenton library at the moment.) The place where I planned to camp tonight turns out to no longer exist, as a campground, at least, so I'm stuck in a motel again. |
| June 25, 2003 | Edenton, NC to Goose Creek State Park, NC: 65.1 miles
I left Edenton in the early morning, passing along the shore of the bay. It was very pretty in the morning light. Shortly after leaving Edenton I traversed the 5-mile bridge across Albemarle Sound. There are signs there for cyclists, warning of low bridge railings and high cross-winds. On this day the winds were light, so it was no problem. And frankly, the railings were no lower than those on the bridge I passed over on the 20th -- and the Albemarle bridge has a 3-foot-wide shoulder, which the Virginia bridge did not. It was a beautiful view of Albemarle Sound from atop the bridge. Oddly, I didn't see a single boat in the miles of sound I could see. Just after the bridge my route ran for a few miles on US 64. This was the worst stretch of road I've encountered on my trip. No shoulder and heavy traffic, including lots of trucks. Exciting! US 64 passes within a stone's throw of the shore of the sound in a few places, and I ducked down one short road to get some photos. There were some new houses being built on the waterfront. It looked like a lovely place to live. After that, it was miles of corn and tobacco fields. I arrived at Goose Creek State Park in the early afternoon and set up camp. Then I spent a lazy afternoon in camp reading and dozing. There are 12 "primitive" camp sites in the park, and mine was the only one occupied. I had the entire state park to myself! |
| June 26, 2003 | Goose Creek S. P. to New Bern, NC: 51.4 miles
Although this was one of the shorter days in terms of mileage it turned out to be one of the hardest. It started out promisingly enough, with a quick ride through Bath, NC (home of the infamous Blackbeard the pirate), and on to the ferry across the Pamlico River. I had about an hour's wait for the ferry. I passed much of it chatting with a young fellow who was also waiting for the boat. Across the river is a huge chemical plant (PCS Phosphates), and he was going over there to his job as a welder. He had just missed the 9:10 boat and had to wait for the 10:30 sailing. It's possible to drive upriver to cross, but the whole distance -- up river, cross and back down the other side -- would be 50 or 60 miles! The ferry ride was enjoyable, but once it ended and I was back on the road I hit stong headwinds for much of the rest of the day. Across terrain that I would normally have ridden at 15 mph without strain I was now making 10-11 mph because of the winds. So the 50 miles or so I rode felt more like about 75. It's frustrating, too, pedalling hard and making comparatively little progress. Plus it was blisteringly hot. All in all, not the best riding conditions. (Still better than being at work, though!) The campground I was planning to stay at turned out to have no food source near by. Their camp store was in the process of being rebuilt. Since at that point I was out of food, I decided to press on into the town of New Bern. This involved crossing yet another considerable bridge, across the Neuse River, with the headwinds still fighting me. As I rode into town I stumbled across the visitor's center, where they helped me locate a motel. After cleaning up at the motel, which is in the downtown area of New Bern, I walked around and found a restaurant called The Chelsea at which I had the best meal I've had for a long time. I also discovered a club called Diamond Jim's, where they were going to have some comedians later. So I came back later and saw the show (and hoisted a few beers -- gotta rehydrate, you know). The show was pretty good. Or maybe the beer only made it seem that way! |
| June 27, 2003 | New Bern, NC
Shelly will be meeting me here in New Bern today. Since I got delayed a day en route and Shelly left a day earlier than originally planned, I'd otherwise be still on the bike for several days while my family was at the beach. That didn't make too much sense, so we decided that I'd stay here and we would meet up, then we'll drive to Myrtle Beach. So, the bike trip ends here, after "only" 800 miles. Today I played tourist in New Bern. (Which is, by the way, called NEW Bern, not New BERN.) I toured the Tryon "Palace" and its grounds. This is the residence of the original colonial governor, and is an impressive place. Equally impressive is that while the building burnt down at the end of the 18th century, it was rebuilt painstakingly from the original architect's plans in the 1950s. This was funded by a wealthy woman whose dream it was to rebuild the palace. And wealthy she must have been since it must have taken millions to rebuild. As one example, the main staircase is made from solid mahogony and is entirely hand carved! To prepare the grounds, they also had to remove all of the post-18th century objects from the space, including buildings and US Route 70! The resulting buildings and gardens are spectacular, though. So ends the trip. That's okay, though, as I had a great time. I've seen so much and had so many exeriences on my trip that it seems like I've been traveling for months rather than just two weeks. I've taken hundreds of photos with my camera and thousands with my mind's eye. I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Now I think I'll just lie on the beach for a week! |
Final Thoughts
Wethersfield, CT to New Bern, NC
Days: 14
Total miles on bike: 795.3.
Average miles/day: 56.8 (61.2 counting only travel days)
It was a great trip. I learned a few things about touring, too. One was that I really should think about sturdier wheels. Although the ones I have did get me through, I had an eyelet pop out on the rear rim and a broken spoke on the front wheel, which are probably symptoms of running at the edge of what the wheels are capable of. It's worth thinking about an upgrade.
On the other hand, the 27 x 1-1/4 Continental Top Touring 2000 tires and Tour 28 tubes proved to be an excellent choice. No flats in 800 miles, and the 1-1/4 width seems like a good one. (The bike is a late-80's vintage lugged steel "sport touring" bike that has had most of its components upgraded -- triple crankset, 7-speed freehub, long-cage derailler for large [34T] granny, Sora STI shifters and modern dual-pivot Shimano brakes with Kool-Stop Eagle 2 pads.)
As usual, I took too much stuff. Bike plus load weighed in at nearly 80 pounds. Next time, I'll do better. (I've said that before!)
The Arkel panniers are nice, but having to use plastic bags within the panniers to keep things dry is a pain. Maybe I'll think about a change there, too. Or maybe not.
The tent I used, a Eureka Zeus EXO 2 worked out well, keeping me nice and dry in some heavy rains. One thing it lacks, though, is a fly. And its ventilation is pretty minimal, too. In rain, you have to close up the vestibule zipper because of the lack of a fly, and then the ventilation is even worse. Before I left I devised a homemade fly out of materials gathered at WalMart. (You can see it in one of the photos.) That worked out nicely and I was glad I had it. I'd like to find a less bulky pair of sectioned poles than the ones I slapped together out of 1/2-inch PVC tubing, though.
The longest tour I had taken previously was a week. I had heard from others that on longer tours you need to schedule a day off here and there, but I didn't do that. I did end up taking a day off, though, which caused my schedule to get skewed and resulted in cutting the trip a bit short so I could meet up with my family. Next time, I'll know better. And I think next time I'll shoot for a bit less than the 60 miles/day of this trip, in order to allow more dawdling along the way.
I was a bit disappointed to run across only one other bike tourist. I spent several days at the end of the trip following the Adventure Cycling Atlantic Coast route and felt sure I'd run across some there... but no. Where was everyone?
Hey, I had fun and I learned stuff. What more could one ask from a tour?
2003-06-13
Ready to go! (By the end of the day this cheap WalMart poncho was in shreds.)
2003-06-13
Lovely day for a bike ride, eh?
2003-06-14
Downtown Fairfield, CT.
2003-06-14
View of the Hudson River from near Peekskill, NY.
2003-06-15
Jockey Hollow, NJ. This is a reproduction of a typical soldier's hut during the encampment at Jockey Hollow.
2003-06-16
Lock on the Delaware and Raritan canal.
2003-06-17
Campsite in Wharton State Forest, NJ.
2003-06-18
One of the Cape May-Lewes ferry boats.
2003-06-19
In Crisfield, MD, this boat was being filled with used oyster shells. They take the shells back out into the bay and dump them for the young oysters to use.
2003-06-19
Fishermen on the Chesapeake Bay with their catch.
2003-06-22
Camp site on the James River, near Jamestown, VA. In the background is the Jamestown/Scotland ferry.
2003-06-22
Reproduction of one of the ships that brought the original settlers to Jamestown. Located at Jamestown Settlement "living history" exhibit.
2003-06-23
Jamestown/Scotland Ferry.
2003-06-23
Farm implements at the Chippokes, VA Farm and Forestry Museum.
2003-06-24
A frequent sight in North Carolina, a farm family's graveyard in a cleared and well-tended spot in the fields, near the road.
2003-06-24
"Biking Mike" Gordon, interviewing me for possible coverage in his Charlotte Observer stories.
2003-06-25
Edenton, NC, waterfront in the early morning.
2003-06-25
Edenton is justly famous for its beautiful historic homes. This property jutting out into the bay is one of the prettiest I saw.
2003-06-25
Cabbage harvest near Pleasant Grove, NC.
2003-06-25
I saw several places where there were new houses being built on the shore of Albemarle sound. This looked like a nice one!
2003-06-26
From the ferry across Pamlico sound you can easily see the huge PCS Phosphates plant.
2003-06-27
Main building of Tryon Palace, New Bern, NC.
2003-06-27
Gardens at Tryon Palace.