Lexington, KY to Baltimore, MD (by bicycle)

[David Thornton]

I toast you Sir. A most impressive accomplishment. And, I am looking forward to the pictures.

David

[way2fractious]

Wow, what a ride! There are now about three dozen pics in the album. Neither they nor this make a full account of the trip, but provide a flavor of the experience.

I can now agree wholeheartedly with those who say that riding Appalachia is tougher than riding the Rockies or the Sierra Nevada. Everywhere I rode, the people were friendly and the drivers gave me clearance. Three instances of open-handed generosity will stay with me always.

In Virginia I often went off the meandering route, opting for long stretches of Route 11 and Route 1, in order to make Baltimore timely. For a week, the heat and humidity was almost enough to reduce me to just a puddle of sweat if I stopped for any reason. The section of Blue Ridge Parkway, however, made for an extremely pleasant ride in a most beautiful surrounding. The Mt. Vernon bike trail was great, but the Rock Creek bike trail was more like a jigsaw puzzle.

And I was fortunate enough to leave the Maryland/D.C. area, returning home Saturday evening, before the tropical deluges hit the area. In reading the damage reports, names of places I passed through kept appearing.

Here are my recapping stats for the trip:
Riding days: 11
Total miles: 780
Avg miles/day: 71
Total hours (overall): 105
Avg hours/day (overall): 9.5
Avg miles/hr (overall): 7.4

The stats do not hold up to my earlier projections of speed and daily distance; those Appalachian roads are steep.

I will be interested to see where I decide to ride next year.