Day 7: Cape Charles, VA to Yorktown, VA to James City, VA

My campsite

After an amazing nights sleep I awoke to breakfast at a table with a group of people I'd never met before. By the time I'd eaten my food and drank and my OJ though, I'd figured out a way to get me and my bike across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Ann and Whit were celebrating their anniversary by sneaking away to a b&b and ended up offering me a ride back over to Yorktown and giving me a grand tour of the area. They are about the nicest people you could ever meet and I'm eternally grateful.

Two superstars of niceness!

It took me 5 days to get down to the actual starting point of the TransAmerica Trail (http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/transamerica.cfm) but finally I was here and I can't describe how excited I was to finally be heading west. I felt like my whole trip was finally coming together now. I could throw away the scribbled notes and scraps of paper I'd used to get me from New Jersey to this point and start using some actual maps. This was one of the best days of riding I've ever had period.

PICS!:

Victory Monument

I had to pull over and go for a swim in the James River.

Day 6. Pokomoke City to Cape Charles, VA

Its been 3 days since I have added anything to this so here goes:
The trip along the Cape of Virginia towards the Chesapeake Bay Bridge was a hot, sometimes boring, sometimes dangerous one. (The roads I decided to take were direct, but not necessarily the safest for a bike to travel on.) It didn't help anything that I had a repeat performance of my first day out, four flat tires.

My back tire once again had a knack for finding every tiny, sharp piece of metal on the road.

The cape of Virginia is mostly made up of produce and chicken farms. Perdue Chicken Company has a major stake in this area. Every big chicken farm here has a big ol' Perdue sign in the front of it. These farms are basically made up of enormous warehouses with giant feed silos attached to each one. For some reason, I couldn't find a single chicken or person hanging around any of these farms as I rode by them. There were also some really cool swamps:

swamp!

I finally made it to Cape Charles well after the sun went down and was lucky enough to find a place to let me stay. A reasonably priced B&B run by this really nice guy named Steve. 

(taken the next morning)

Day 5. Ocean City to Pokomoke City?

Pokomoke City, MD sits just a couple miles north of the Virginia border in. Today was a rough ride. Google Maps really screwed the pooch on this one. The routes it told me to go were either long, winding back roads to nowhere, or roads that were unfit for a bike to ride on. I faced rumble strips on the shoulder of the road all day with tractor trailers bearing down on me. Not fun. The heat didn't help anything. I did get some water from these nice people who have a restaurant that sells muskrat though. It supposedly tastes like dark chicken meat.

Day 4. Cape May, NJ to Ocean City, MD

I took the ferry from North Cape May to Lewes, Delaware. The first town in the first state. It was about an hour and twenty minutes long and I was a bit scared that the giant breakfast of eggs and pancakes I'd eaten earlier was about to make a reappearance. Alas, no barf bag was needed.

"Hi. I'm on a boat."

After getting off in Lewes, I rode down Rte. 1. Southern Coastal Highway. I hit a few winding bike paths along the way and ended up in Ocean City, MD by the end of the day.

Day 3. Egg Harbor City to Cape May.

My last official day in NJ. By the time I arrived in Cape May I missed the last ferry to Delaware by fifteen minutes and was forced to spend the night. I got the cheapest motel I could find by the beach, threw off my clothes, and ran to the ocean. I'd been smelling the ocean for miles before I actually got to it. An amazing way to finish a very long day of riding in 90 degree weather. I got some really good steak, crab cakes, and clams. Watched some Shark Week. And passed out.

I tried washing my bike clothing in the sink of the hotel room. I'd been sweating in them for 3 days and they stunk. I dried them and wore them the next day and they seemed to smell even worse.

Day 2. New Egypt to Egg Harbor City.

This is what I looked at the majority of the day.

After a rough first day out I had a really positive second day. Luckily, there was a bike shop not too far from where I'd spent the the night. So before heading out I stopped to replenish some of the tubes I had used up. Thats where I met two people who helped me more than they will ever know. Besides tubes, and directions, they were so nice to me and gave me such a positive outlook on things which, in turn,  helped me through what turned out to be a long, hot day through the pine barrens and cranberry bogs of deep south Jersey.

Jim, his wife, and pooch @ Max's Bike shop.

Also, I can't forget to mention Tommy @ Mack's Canoe Shop who helped me out with free water, the much needed use of his restroom, and a look at his maps. This place is nestled deep within state forests and endless miles of cranberry bogs.

Some sights from the rest of the day:

bad pic of a cranberry bog

Day 1

Jersey City to New Egypt, NJ.

The day was cut a bit short due to the fact that i got four flat tires but all in all I feel it was a success. I saw two deer, two wild turkeys, about a hundred chipmunks, and one rabbit who ran next to me for about fifty yards. I also ran into a shirtless dude on a dirt bike with both nipples pierced who warned me about going down a certain road because apparently it plays host to KKK rallies. I did not go down that road. I did, however, find a bike shop in New Egypt so I can refill on backup tubes. As for now, its dinner at WaWa. Hopefully tomorrow is much less eventful and will end with a nice swim in the ocean.