Resting in Richmond

…we skipped breakfast this morning and lunch as a matter of fact. We did finally leave the Hotel room and managed to complete a few chores, posting stuff back to the UK, searching for ‘mani-pedi’ establishments (but not finding any, much to Kat’s disappointment), servicing the bikes etc. Big shout out to Chip at Pibby’s Bicycle Repair who serviced the bikes and changed our tyres for a set of rubbers that according the marketing blurb don’t split under heavy use! …good thing really considering Anthony’s record.

New tyres on and chain gear nicely cleaned and lubricated we headed down to the Richmond Canal Walk (on the bikes though….well, who would walk?) to take in the atmosphere and admire the theatrical scenery.

Tomorrow promises to hold yet more adventures: we’re both looking forward to the short 35 mile stint, and then the 70 mile mega stage on Monday.

.. warm down!

Waking up, we were happy at the prospect of a short 20-mile sprint into Richmond, VA. The ride-in was as expected: fast, flat and a premier cru surface all the way to the Hotel in the City centre.

Apologies to the regular followers! The date may indicate we posted this blog yesterday, but you may have noticed it has just appeared this morning; please let us explain… We set off for a late lunch and a quick glass of vino. However, the Virginia Chardonnay was rather moreish and one glass quickly turned into a bottle, and then an extra couple of glasses. Then we noticed that the sun had gone down and it was cold outside. Taking refuge in a different warm and inviting bar/club/eatery on the way back to the hotel, we ended up clubbing until the early hours, got totally hammered – Kat is now a pair of sunglasses down, and a few empty containers of Thai food up. We had a great night and met lots of really cool people: James, a 71-year old party animal, his son Darren, who looked younger than Anthony but was 10 years his senior; and not forgetting Rita, who was the spitting image of Rihanna, and Shanna, who was the mirror image of Samantha Mumba.

…we’re off the see if we can collect some lovely photos of Richmond.

Us x

Heading South

OK so it’s our tenth day of cycling and we’ve managed to clock up 525 miles, burn 40,000 calories and still look the same…WHY?

Today was another exemplary day of up hill, down hill, energy drinks, close calls with Road Kill and great scenery. If only we had ‘Helmet Cams’ you could see what we see everyday in glorious technicolor. We hope the photos provide you with a little insight into how brilliant this trip has been so far.

Speaking of brilliant. Americans! What a lovely bunch people they are. Even the drivers of motorized vehikkles are friendly and considerate. There has however been the occasional incoherent hollerin’ from the passing truck, we can only assume they’re shouting ‘Go Kat and Ant you’re doing a great job”.

Apologies if this blog post is not very exciting; we’re both shattered after 4 consecutive days of cycling and tomorrow we have another 25 mile sprint into Richmond…then we rest (get bikes serviced, send emails and buy stuff) for a day.

US x

... cycling is like a bag of Revels

Forest Gump’s mother once said “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get”. We would say that our cycling tour is like a bag of Revels. Yesterday was the coffee cream, whereas today was either the toffee or the Malteser…. You know what we’re saying. Yes, today was a bright, crisp beautiful day. No punctures. Garmins working. 60 miles done by 3pm, and an average speed of 12.4 mph. Cool.

And when we arrived, 7 comments on our blog. We’d like to say a huge thank you for all you wonderful folk who are commenting. The first thing we want to do when we arrive each day is log into the blog and see our messages. They mean a lot. However, we know that there are a few people (ourselves included) who are desperate to add a few words of wisdom (or perhaps support) but who are technically challenged when it comes to posting a comment on the blog, so if anyone has a few minutes to explain how you actually add these comments, you will be our hero!

So, tonight we are in Fredericksburg, a wonderful town in Virginia, steeped in history. The Kenmore Inn, where we are staying (see photo) is beautiful, and many many years ago housed George Washington’s mother. The wonderful Innkeeper, Terri, also gave us the best recommendation for a drink before dinner: the Capitol Ale House, which has hundreds of beers, and a bar with an ice strip to keep your beer cool (photo). Truly cool.

We are now very drunk…looking forward to our 55 miles tomorrow.

Us x

Tyred & Emotional

So – you have good days and bad days on a trip like this. Suffice to say, this was a BAD one. Three punctures, Garmins not working (or worse, appearing to start to work half way through and then starting to take you back towards where you started), and then trying to finish the last part of the day in the dark (thank god we have good bright lights). We are reminded of a sign we saw earlier in the tour on one of the many churches we have passed on the route: “Can’t sleep? Try counting your blessings.” We’re trying. Tomorrow is another day….

Us x

... go Ravens

Well rested after our day off in Baltimore, packed lunches neatly arranged in our handle-bar bags, Garmin Edge 705’s in hand and programmed to take us the next 49 miles to Rockville, we set off keen to get on the road whilst the sun still shone. This state of euphoria was short-lived when Kat suggested that we take a more refined route than that recommended by the Satnav. What Katnav failed to realise was that the Satnav comes with a built in “avoid gangland territory” SD card, where as Katnav only comes with “where is the nearest Salvatore Ferragamo shop” SD card. Nonetheless, we did successfully navigate through the eerily silent streets of gangsterville, and were soon cycling once more across the rolling hills of Maryland.

We arrived in Rockville after achieving our fastest average speed (11.3mph) to date despite ascending over 3335ft in total. The hotel is great and the town had lots of great restaurants for us the pile the Kilojoules back on.

Now, all that remains is for us to watch family guy and finish another packet of peanut M&Ms... goodnight.

Us x

... And on the 8th day we rested.

It’s amazing how many things there are to do on a “rest” day on a cycling tour like this… Laundry, stocking up on supplies, bike maintenance, left over admin from the UK, trying to write a few texts and emails, route uploading etc etc. However, we had a relaxing day in Baltimore, stretching the legs by walking around the Inner Harbor and willing the sun to appear, which it eventually did this afternoon…yay. We have also been taking the chance to catch up on a bit of trash TV (is there any better kind) and have been trying to embrace the long commercial breaks, rather than whining about them, as we always used to do. You never know when we might want one of those set meals at Friendlies for $9.99, did you say “$9.99”, yes, that’s right, $9.99 etc etc. On second thoughts, maybe we did have a bit too much time on our hands today.

Anyway – we’re off early tomorrow, heading South, for the first of 5 days on the trot. Forecast is good, so we’re doing our sundance and keeping our fingers crossed.

Us x