Touring Tunes

After hosing down and hunkering down in Stafford, VA last night, we were ready for sleep. But around 11 pm the rain started up again, and by midnight we were all wide awake from the deafening rain and the lightning and thunder. When the wind started blowing and bending the tent sideways, we huddled together and thought we might seek shelter indoors, but decided to wait it out and soon after, it calmed down and we all slept soundly.

It rained lightly most of the day today, so Petunia’s rain fly was covering her carrier to keep her dry, but she likes to stick her head out and check out the sights and smells, even if she gets a little wet. We had a pleasant ride to Fredericksburg and enjoyed walking around the city a bit and surveying the many dining options. His propensity to try to scavenge anything off my plate that I don’t immediately inhale has earned Greg the nickname “Are You Gonna Eat That?”

Following a leisurely afternoon in town, we decided to make a break for the local Kampground of America about 12 miles south of downtown Fredericksburg. We splurged on a simple cabin so we could avoid more rain and catch up on some sleep. We’re all ready for some zzz’s.

Lots of lovely people talk to us and Tunes, and so many have been and kind or have otherwise been really neat folks:

–The young guy at the bike shop in Alexandria who had a friend who, immediately following the high school graduation ceremony, walked off the stage with his diploma and hopped onto his bike, still in his cap and gown, and took off for California, stopping to pose for pictures in his grad garb all along the way.

–The teenager at the ice cream parlor who told me we were inspirational and gave Petunia a small scoop of vanilla on the house.

–A woman who was originally from New Jersey who pulled over in her car to offer us assistance when she saw us checking the map, and realizing we were about to go around a dangerous bending road, followed us with her hazard lights on as a safety escort.

–In DC, a woman we saw near the White House told us her daughter follows another dog blog online and would love a picture of Petunia in her doggles. She had once done a trip from north to south across an entire country in the Middle East on a CAMEL. That’s pretty amazing.

Not only did Tim and Natalie shepherd us in and out of the storm, they graciously shared their breakfast with us today, and then we were off to an early start on the road. The air was very humid and some storms were predicted to pass through, so we were determined to put together some miles toward Fredericksburg in a hurry.

When we took a wrong turn and even when it started to rain again, we weren’t too discouraged. However, the route took us along some areas with very narrow shoulders and high traffic, and it seemed the aggressive and abusive drivers of northern Virginia were out in full force today. Several large trucks blared their horns at us without provocation, and a couple of men shouted incomprehensibly at us as they blew past us in the rain. It was somewhat stressful to keep it together as we started the last 11 miles to our campsite destination.

A few miles from the campsite, we rolled to the top of a hill and let Tunes out for a pit stop when we were approached by a man from his house who said he’d seen us pedaling while he was on his way home. A fellow adventurer at heart, he offered to let us camp in his field and use water from the hose, and even offered to let us put our bikes in his workshop. It turned out to be just what we needed. It’s only been a little more than a week, but so far we’ve had exceptionally good luck.

Yesterday we pedaled through to Chevy Chase Maryland and decided, after realizing the dearth of camping options and getting some advice about the places to avoid camping in the area, that we would try to reach out to connect with a possible Warm Showers host for the first time. It’s a network of cyclists who offer a shelter and/or shower and other amenities based on reciprocal hospitality. We’d heard good things about it, and boy, were we glad that we decided to give it a try.

A cyclist named Frank guided us along the Rock Creek Trail through Bethesda until we called our hosts to confirm we would indeed make it over to their place for the evening. Our lovely hosts Betsy and Bill had an amazing chicken, quinoa and kale dinner waiting for us, some ingredients from their local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and some decadent Mayan Chocolate Pudding. Dessert was so delicious that we asked Betsy to share the recipe, which she kindly did. We were treated to fun conversation, a shower and a bed to curl up in after putting in a long day in the saddle. Having hosted several other bike tourists, Betsy and Bill had some great stories to share, including their encounter with Pablo Garcia, a man who has been on a mission to ride in 100 countries and has been touring by bike for ELEVEN YEAES. Pablo’s story sounded incredible and we were fascinated by how this man could live on a bicycle for so long. Betsy and Bill also offered breakfast and generously allowed us to take care of some much-needed laundry. Grateful doesn’t even begin to describe how we feel after meeting so many wonderful folks.

We cycled on through Washington DC today, and we stopped in front of the White House to take some photos and videos, when suddenly we heard “tttsssssssssss” and realized Greg’s rear wheel has gone flat.

After an unsuccessful patch attempt, he replaced the tube with a new one and off we went toward the fun town of Alexandria. We replenished water, replaced the spare tube, and had some ice cream, before hitting the stellar Mount Vernon bike path. The smell of fragrant honeysuckle was heavy and the humidity was high.

We planned to ride through to a campsite west of Fort Belvoir, but suddenly the rumored “passing storm” became a real threat and lightning and winds picked up. We took shelter under a gazebo just as the fat raindrops started to fall. Realizing that we likely wouldn’t make it to camp with the sun down and the lightning cracking overhead and that the military base would probably not approve of us throwing down a tent randomly on their property, we took a shot on Warm Showers again and to our great surprise, there was a host actually right on the base. Tim answered our call and our prayers and as we got to his location, the torrential rains started, soaking us all. Well, Petunia’s body stayed dry, but wanting to see what was going on, she stuck her head out of her rainfly and her face was soaked. It was quite a sight.

Tim and his wife kindly offered us towels to dry off with, a garage for our bikes and gear, a wonderfully warm shower, and talked bike travel over dinner. Having done a cross country trip from the west coast to Maine, Tim said “doing a ride like this will restore your faith in humanity” because of the kindness, generosity, and support of the people you’ll meet along the way…. We couldn’t agree more.

There were many folks out on bikes along our route in Maryland yesterday, and whenever we stopped to drink water or check the maps, our fellow cyclists offered assistance, directions and support. Several people cheered us on as we cranked up hills, shouting “you rock!” and “Oh my goodness, is that a real dog?!”

We rested a bit during lunch yesterday and made some progress uploading some of the GoPro videos from the camera to the cell phone so we can start editing and posting a few, but we’re being cautious about battery life on our phones. Hopefully we’ll share some soon.

We made it to a section of the very large Patapsco Valley state park in Marriottsville and found a few families camping in a youth-camping area. When we approached them to find out where we could set up camp for the night, we leaned the family had several Boy Scouts in their party and the rest of the troop had just left after a weekend camping event.

Roger lived in the area and was camping with his wife and two of his children, and he offered some camp-site advice and kindly served up some leftovers, for which we were very grateful! We learned about their Scouts troop and lots about the state park, the rich history of the area, wild pig hunting, and even some suggestions for future adventures, like seeing Skyline Drive.

Roger’s son Justin, who will be entering into 6th grade this fall, was very friendly and bright Boy Scout and was a big fan of Petunia’s. Knowledgeable about the state park, he told Greg, upon seeing him putting our food stuff in a tree away from our tent, “you don’t need to do that– there aren’t any bears here. There are a lot of white tailed deer, though.”

Justin was a big fan of Tunes and wanted to take a picture of her with her helmet on. We were so happy to meet you all!

It was a really beautiful day out on bikes and we couldn’t have asked for a nicer Memorial Day weekend!

Yesterday started with a gorgeous view of the sunrise at our fabulous free campsite alongside the Susquehanna River.

The ride was full of intense climbs through mountainous parts of Pennsylvania. Some sections so steeply wound around bending roads with almost absent shoulders that we had to pedal in the granny gears for 50-100 yard stretches, stop against the guard rail, regroup, and resume the struggle when we caught our breath. The other side of it, of course, was an intensely fast and curving downhill roller coaster!

We made it to Maryland in the afternoon and were greeted by rolling hills with 6-feet-wide shoulders that gave our legs and nerves a break. We took in even more gorgeous pastoral scenes and even a little puppy nap.

We were hoping to push onward to a convenience store to replenish our depleted food supply before trying to find anywhere to camp, but we were losing steam quickly. Luckily, we were greeted at the top of a small hill by Bob and Ginny of Jarrettsville and their two big brown dogs Holly and Sam. They offered us some much appreciated cold water and a couple of Snickers bars (which were immediately inhaled) and Petunia got a bag of Milkbones!

We stopped and chatted on their cozy back deck (super plush red cushions were a nice respite from a day of being in the saddle) and they showed us their pretty koi and goldfish pond and shared stories about their hiking and adventuring experiences. When they offered us a hot shower and a place to spend the night, we were overjoyed– and then they suggested a trip to the grocery store to restock our supplies. How awesome! We were so touched by their kindness and hospitality. Petunia got to play Goldilocks and tried out the different beds in their home, worrying Ginny that the wandering puppy had gone missing. Tunes was just happy to be off the sleeping mat for the night.

To top it all off, we were treated to strawberries on cake with ice cream and whipped cream (Jamie’s favorite summertime treat). Wow!

We got a great night’s sleep and after Holly the dog impressively fetched the newspaper, we waved and rang our bike bells goodbye and headed out. After a little pastoral roadside breakfast, we are ready to head toward Marriottsville.