Virginia

Well, I think I will break down my blog by interesting stories. There’s not much use in describing my ride as its pretty much 8 hours of just riding. Pretty uneventful, until something eventful happens.

Random comment 1: I’m getting sick and tired of my Ipod. I’ve gotten so accustomed to working out with my ipod that I always bike with it on. Now all I hear is noise, as the same songs are being repeated over and over. For the next few days, I’m biking music-free. Let the daydreaming begin.

Cross country biker hospitalized for 6 weeks
Leaving Richmond, I met an older man who was just completing a cross country bike ride from Oregon to Virginia. He looked pretty dejected and looked like he was ready to be home. He told me that he had left Oregon in May (it was mid October when I met him) and that while riding through Tenessee was attacked by a dog who knocked him off his bike, and caused him to break a few of his ribs. He spent quite a bit of time in the hospital. I had really had any dog problems in the north, but as I biked further south I encountered more un-fenced dogs. After shitting myself the first few times, I realized that most dogs just like the chase and don’t really want to bite you. Then I realized if a dog is getting to aggressive to yell at him sternly and if that doesn’t work spray him with your water bottle. If that doesn’t work, then you’re screwed.

I biked 105 miles from Richmond to Suffolk, which is my daily record so far.

I’m starting to become indifferent, if not slightly annoyed by random people asking me about my bike ride. Don’t take me wrong, I like people who take an interest and want to have a friendly conversation with me. But sometimes I get a lot of dumb questions and stares (and no offense, it’s happened with A LOT more frequency in the South):
“What cha got all them bags for?” I’m doing a cross country bike ride. “You going all that way on a bike?!” No I’m actually walking, and just pushing this thing in front of me. Pause. Blank stare.
The other funny conversation is this one.
I’ll be talking to a guy about my bike ride and then ask him, Well how do I get to town X and how far is it? “Well, you take a right here and get on I-10. Take exit 15. It should take you about 15 minutes”. Thanks, that helps a lot.

Today was the first time I had ever seen tobacco and cotton fields, and I biked through them almost all day going through the Virginia country. It’s a pretty neat site to see fields of what look like little cotton balls. Such a weird thing to see growing out of the ground.

Richmond to Suffolk, VA – 105 miles, sunny, motel
Suffolk to Coinjock, VA -65 miles, cloudy to rainy, motel