Distance: 25 miles Jamestown, VA to Yorktown, VA
Ride Time: 1:59
Average Speed: 12.5 mph
Altitude Gain: 823
I have played this day over and over in my mind for months. I have planned to leave from the Jamestown Visitor Center and ride the Colonial Parkway to the Yorktown Battlefield Visitor Center and then ride into Yorktown to the monument and the Atlantic Ocean with Kathie.
I started riding from the Jamestown Visitor Center parking lot. The surface of the Colonial Parkway was made with rather large rock, so it is somewhere between chip seal and a cobblestone. It was a real vibration on me and the bike. It is interesting; however, that the longer I rode on this surface, the smoother it felt to me.
I came to a tunnel and a sign said “no bicycles allowed.” I thought that it wasn’t long enough that I couldn’t ride though it safely. But my GPS took me off the Colonial Parkway and into Colonial Williamsburg. I rode on the Colonial Williamsburg dirt streets and felt like a real party-pooper riding my Cannondale through all the tourists. Before long I was back on the Colonial Parkway. 25 miles goes by pretty fast when you are only going that far and soon I was at the exit for the Yorktown Battlefield. As I was paying attention to the signs, I hit a crack in the pavement that hit the front wheel hard and caused a snake bite puncture of my tire. I am literally within sight of the visitor center where I will meet Kathie. I decide to ride on, flat tire or not. I rode my bike to the truck and put the front wheel back on Kathie’s bike. Her brakes did not like the ride across country and would not release. Again, I’m too close to mess with small details, I unhook the front brakes on her bike. We ride through town to the waterfront and Kathie takes a picture of me rolling my bike into the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. We had lunch on the waterfront and took pictures at the Revolutionary War Victory Monument. I have completed a goal that started years ago. I couldn’t believe I have ridden my bike from coast to coast. I couldn’t have done it without the miracles of a Loving God. It is a goal that Kathie has shared with me and been such a support. It wouldn’t have meant as much to me if I hadn’t had her to share with me. Thank-you Kathie.
ThruUSA2 