August 8, 2016
DAY 71: Ashland to Elko: "I am a lazy man"
DAILY STATS
Mileage: 36.5
Average Speed: 12.2 mph
Maximum Speed: 26.2 mph
Yes, yes. I know what type thinking: "Jeremy, you lazy fart, you're so close! Why did you only pedal a measly 36 miles today?!?" I was thinking the same thing. The reason is that my mom and cousins are meeting me tomorrow at the Yorktown Victory Monument, so I didn't want to go too far. They'll e driving for about 9 hours, so I figured I may as well have a short day today and go further tomorrow.
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So, how was my second-to-last day? It was great. I awoke to cloudy skies, made my breakfast, and bummed the WiFi from Starbucks until about 9am. It was raining sporadically throughout the day, but it wasn't anything too sopping. Just enough to make you go "oh, is it raining?"
The road was gloriously flat today, but there was a lot of traffic, whichwhich made for somewhat stressful biking. I made sure to stop along the way to read the many roadside plaques, all of which detailed the surrounding military activities during the Civil War. At New Cold Harbor alone, more than 31,800 union and confederate forces were killed in two separate battles. That's an astounding number.
I passed by many such grueling sites before making my way towards Elko. While waiting to cross a highway, I found myself stuck at a traffic light, unable to trigger the sensor that would thus change the light and aid my crossing. At one point, I jumped up and down, to no avail. Eventually I weaved my way across and continued on.
Eventually I turned onto a wooded road to my (last) warmshower. Rachael and her mom are conveniently located just a few hundred feet from the TransAm, and warmly welcomed me in. The weather was increasingly gray, so I was glad to have a roof over my head. Hopefully tomorrow will greet me with big, friendly, billowy clouds!
Today's ride: 37 miles (60 km)
Total: 4,490 miles (7,226 km)
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