I started writing this last post about three weeks ago; in many ways, living normal life is much harder than biking 100 miles in a day. When we were cycling, we had no other obligations. Now that we’re home, we’re divvying up the hours of the day among work, home, family, friends. Good things all, but blogging doesn’t take precedence over washing dishes, grading papers, calling students’ parents, and doing laundry in this life…I wish I were on my bike.
We pedaled into Yorktown, Va, the terminus of the TransAmerica bike route, on August 7th. In the weeks since we’ve been home, our tan lines have faded, our muscles have softened, and our memories of summer ’09 have become rose-tinted. According to us right now, there were no hardships on the entire trip. Thankfully we have our journals to keep us honest. But seriously, our last week was blissful, a perfect blend of all our favorite things about bicycle touring.
Virginia is just so dang pretty, and we agreed that it’s one of our top 3 favorite states on the ride. We loved the rolling hills, but we also had a couple super challenging climbs. (The infamous climb out of Vesuvius to the Blue Ridge Parkway was killer! We were in our peak shape by that point, yet we struggled to go 5 mph. I’m not sure what the grade of that climb was, but it felt steeper than anything else on the trip. For you Greenville cyclists, Altamont’s got nuthin’ on this.) We also rode along farms and orchards, and toward the end, plantations. Our infatuation with this state came as no surprise–it was our favorite on our AT thru-hike in ’06.
Another great thing about our last week was that we were able to meet/hang out with some stellar peeps, including our longtime buds Jonathan and Emily who now live in Blacksburg. They met up with us for lunch one day and had very little trouble convincing us to stay the night at their place. Jonathan made us a mean blackberry cobbler with blackberries he picked from their yard–the best dessert of the entire trip (let’s not count the deep-fried Oreos, which really belong in their own category). We also got to meet and stay with the legendary Cookie Lady, June Curry, in Afton. June has been allowing cyclists to stay with her since 1976, and we found my aunt’s photo from her ’86 ride in an album June had in her bike hostel. Joel’s sister Amanda and her husband, Bronson, picked us up outside of Richmond the night before our finale, and we had a great time hanging out with them and their crazy cat.
The mark of a good vacation is that when it’s over, you feel happy and rested but not quite ready to go home. Our last day, we stalled as much as possible, including making an unscheduled stop at an obscure plantation for two-and-a-half hours. My mom, Joel’s parents, and my sister Jennie, whom we dedicated our ride to, came up to Yorktown to watch us pedal the final yards of the 4, 262-mile route. Though some of you wouldn’t consider biking every single day for two months a vacation, to us it was a retreat. We loved the cycling aspect, but the trip also gave us time to reflect on our lives–how we’re living, what we’re living for. It helped us set new goals for ourselves and think about our priorities. Riding for the National Kidney Foundation added a dimension to the trip, too. On the days we felt overwhelmed, discouraged, or bored (Kansas, coughcough), thinking about people like Jennie, who live life well despite kidney disease, gave us energy and a good kind of “quit yer bitchin'” guilt trip. We also thought of you wonderful people who gave over $1800 (!) to the National Kidney Foundation. Thank you for your generosity and support of this worthy cause.
We’re grateful we had the opportunity to ride our bikes across our beautiful, rugged, diverse, purple-mountain majestic country. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Blue Ridge Parkway, Spring 2010–Wanna join us?
XOXO,
Renal Riders
P.S. As I wrote, it’s been a bit difficult adjusting back to normal life. To ease the pain of separation anxiety, we’ve been doing as much as we can around the house on our bicycles. Take a look:
- Home, Sweet Home
- Cook, Clean, and Cycle
- Rub-uh-dub-hub
- Just a touch up
- Now we have more than three pairs of clothes to wash
- Watching a classic
- Chocolate Sparkle Pony prefers baking