Because I used to love her, but it's all over now

Well, it's hard to believe that it's over.  For the past two months I've been getting up every day 5:30 to 6AM, just to put on damp cycling shorts and jersey, put everything I have into two (originally 4) bags, loading up and heading out, only to have to find a new place for the night, eat, go to sleep, and do the same thing over again.  It's a strange kind of routine, but over the past two months that's been the routine.  Now it's over, and I'm free to go back home and sleep in the same bed more than one night in a row.  The other side of this routine we've been in for so long is that we were able to make good and steady progress on the ultimate goal.  To get to the other side of the country.  And now we've done it. And now we're done.  Two weeks earlier than we expected, but we're done.

I think it's pointless at this point to talk about the overall meaning of the trip, what I've learned, what I liked, disliked, will and won't miss.  I'll leave that to a follow-up blog with a few days' perspective.  For now I'll simply cover the finish.

We started out today from Tess's apartment.  We got up early, of course, anticipating another high 90's day, planning to get in a lot of miles before lunchtime.  We had some real home breakfast, meaning we had bowls of cereal, something I have at home but typically can't on the road.  Mmmm good.  In any case, we left our bags behind and rode out this morning on the lightest bike I've ridden on in, um, two months.  It felt a bit strange.  We rode back through Richmond, like we had yesterday on our day off.  The route took us down Monument Avenue, the main street through Richmond, which for years had statues of many Civil War losers, oh, I mean Confederate Generals and the President.  Now, however, only one statue remains, a very large statue of Robert E. Lee on his horse.  A few days before I left for this trip we had moved Tess here and most of these statues were still there; Lee was untouched.  Now, after the chaos of the past two months, Lee's statue was there, but the base was completely covered in graffiti.  From what we heard, the last of the lawsuits holding up the removal of Lee's statue has been dismissed, so I believe this is the last we'll see of ole' Robert E.  

Old Robert E. Lee, and his pedestal's a bit more colorful than my trip in May.

Directly in downtown Richmond has a bike trail that leads to Jamestown, and almost all the way to Colonial Williamsburg, the original Virginia capital, before Richmond took that honor.  They call it the Capital Trail, because it (almost) connects the two capitals.  This route was terrific, as it was paved, mostly running along Route 5, called the John Tyler Memorial Road, since our 10th President, who was born and raised on the Virginia Peninsula where we were traveling.  It was mostly shaded by woods, so we didn't really feel the heat right away.  All along the bike trail were historic markers, citing history that spans from the founding of Jamestown (on the route) through the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and of course the Civil War.  Both William Henry Harrison and John Tyler, his running mate and successor, were born in the same area.  Some of the markers were sad, as they dealt with how the original residents, the Native Americans, were treated (poorly), and information about some slaves and lynch victims, but some were really incredible.  One marker showed where the Union Army had crossed the James river in 1862; and 1863; and 1864.  Until Grant took the reins, the Union didn't really do well in this particular area.   

The Capital Trail's a nice path, filled with a lot of history

We got in a lot of miles this morning, but there really weren't any typical amenities along this route. About 40 miles in we found a small market at a gas station which had been there since the 1890's (I assume the market, not the gas station).  Not many snack or drink choices, but we found something. and that was it, until we hit Williamsburg at about mile 72.  This meant that by mile 64 or so, I was a bit hangry.   And this is also where the Capital Trail ran out, and we then went onto the Colonial Trail, which was really a very old road that was paved in a way that the gravel was overexposed and we shook, vibrating all the way down the road.  I thought the wheels were going to come off the bike.  This lasted all the way into Williamsburg.  I was over-ready to find some lunch, and we found a retro-diner that served shakes and sandwiches, and I was whole again.  Much happier, and re-filled with ice water in our bottles. Everything we needed for the balance of the day.  We cruised up to Colonial Williamsburg, but in the end decided not to pay to visit.  Because of the Covid, not all of the park was open. Mostly it was because we were only 14 miles from the end and didn't want to get distracted from our ultimate goal.  

Lunch in Williamsburg, but no Colonial Williamsburg for us today

Off we went, back onto the Colonial Parkway, which from Williamsburg to Yorktown was not nearly as shaky.  It was about 14 miles away, and these miles went fairly fast.  As we approached the end of the peninsula we went over more bridges and saw more of the water.  It was a perfect blue sky, although very hot, as usual.  Jerry made the comment today that he thinks we haven't seen a day under 90 degrees since we left Colorado.  This means all of Kansas, all of Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia have all been in the 90s.  Wow, it's been a hot, hot streak.

We finally entered Yorktown, the end of the road.  We went to the Yorktown visitor's center, but it was closed.  Perhaps it was another Monday closure, perhaps not.  We don't know the reason, but it was indeed closed.  We went through the park and found the Yorktown Victory monument, before traveling up further into the town, where we found the waterfront and a small beach.  We had reached the absolute end of the road.  While this isn't technically the Atlantic, the York River opens up at this point into the Atlantic.  The water is salty, and that was good enough for us.  After a celebratory ice cream at Ben&Jerry's, we went to the beach, walked into the water, Jerry threw in the rock he'd picked up at the Pacific, and dipped his bike in the water.  Honestly it was a bit anti-climatic, but I'm not quite sure what we were expecting.  Because of the heat, I took off my shoes and jersey and jumped in.  The water was a bit warm near the beach, but refreshing.   We found some outdoor showers to wash off the salt, and changed into the shorts and T-shirts we brought with us.  

The Yorktown Victory Monument. Not installed until the 1880's a hundred years after the victory over the English

Ocean to ocean, in less than two months

While waiting for Tess we had some dinner at the Yorktown Pub, which wan't bad, but we were a little uncomfortable with the degree of social un-distancing they were practicing at this particular place.  The locals were having none of the safety measures, so we paid up quickly, went back outside (into the heat) and began some disassembly of the bikes so that we could fit them into Tess's hatchback.  Before too long Tess arrived, we put the bikes into the car (with a bit more dis-assembly) and headed back to Richmond.  Honestly it was a long day and by the time we got back to Richmond all 3 of us were tired and ready for bed.  So we stayed up and got food - and then went to bed.  

Monkey and Cow hoist a beer to celebrate

Tomorrow we get up early, TAKE A SHOWER, and go to the airport to pick up our rental vehicle for the driving trip back to Lakewood.  It'll be another long day, but certainly a different one.  

Today's numbers: 89 miles covered, 2,084 feet climbed, one coast-to-coast trip completed.