Day 49- Ashland to Yorktown

The end! Finito! Done! Woohoo. The flat terrain today appealed to my
lazy side but the traffic was a bit crazy. Not that there was too much
of it but American drivers refuse to slow down, especially on the
weekend when everyone is rushing to get somewhere relaxing... And even
on roads as narrow as today, where I have nowhere to go as there is no
shoulder, they always want to squeeze past no matter how fat their car
is or how big the one coming the other way is. Idiots. My last 20
miles was then ruined by the "Colonial Parkway", which connects the
three historic towns of Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown. Its
surface looks to be as old as the three towns, so rough that my wrists
and elbows soon started hurting from all that rumbling! I made it to
Yorktown all shaken up and with a really sore bum (hadn't mentioned it
in a while but these sores don't go away, they just become part of
everyday life). The tour's official finish was at the victory memorial
in Yorktown. But now I had to get back to Williamsburg, 13 miles away
on the parkway, because none of the motels I called in Yorktown had a
room. Luckily, I found a couple who were just packing up their bikes
in a big SUV who gave me a lift back.
So, here are the statistics:
4,250 miles in 49 days including 3 rest days. So on my riding days I
averaged 92.4 miles per day.
I rode through 10 states on the Transamerica trail (Oregon, Idaho,
Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky,
Virginia) and briefly rode into Washington on my first day.
I rode over 4 mountain ranges: the Cascades, Rockies, Ozarks and
Appalachians.
I don't want to know: how many chocolate bars, burgers, eggs and other
crap I ate; how many gallons of Gatorade/powerade/vitamin water and
milk I drank; the number of close calls with cars and trucks or how
much roadkill I've seen!
Overall, an amazing experience. The way I did everything worked out
perfectly for me, although many people would tour differently. The
people in all states were great, very friendly and helpful all around.
And I love my bike! I think it'll serve me well as a commuter, off-
roader or winter training bike for years to come.
I was planning to ride down to Virginia Beach tomorrow to spend a few
days relaxing at the beach. I figured though that I wouldn't want to
ride 50 miles south just to come back north again a few days later.
Plus, knowing myself, I'll spend at least two days in bed watching
TV... So the beach would be useless. Instead, I'm taking the train to
Richmond (laziness and avoiding weekend traffic!), where I'll spend a
few days relaxing and sightseeing before I head up to Washington DC.