May 28, 2008
Day 16: Fredericksburg, VA to Lorton, VA
69.96 miles, 5:31:51 Ride Time, 12.65 Average Speed, 34.89 Maximum Speed
I slept extremely well in my bed at the Best Western; it might even have been more comfortable than my bed at home. Walked outside and saw that it had been raining, and looked like it could start raining again at any moment. Oh boy. It was the chilliest morning yet, quite different than yesterday's muggy start to the day. I much prefer riding in the heat than in the cold. Why, then, am I riding toward Maine, and then possibly riding along a route called the "Northern Tier?" Hmmm... that's a good question.
After the continental breakfast (best of the trip - notable for a large selection of Krispy Kreme doughnuts), I checked out of the motel and rode down the street to the Quality Inn, where I finally met Mike Weingarten and Joan Thomas (and their friends Jim and Mary Beth). Mike and Joan are riding from Cincinnati to Washington, DC, and had biked near my home a couple of times earlier this year, in the process meeting virtually every local cyclist (there aren't many of us) except me. The fact that our tours intersected in Fredericksburg on the same day was a neat coincidence. They are nice people; check out their journal.
Mike and Joan and Jim and Mary Beth were taking the day off to do some sightseeing, so I rode down to the Visitor Center with them, but soon decided I needed to get on the road. I was a little uneasy about today, since I expected the traffic to get heavy as I approached Washington, DC, and I hadn't figured out a place to stop for the day.
It remained chilly most of the morning (I wore my arm warmers until about 3:00 in the afternoon), and that, along with a headwind, made it hard for me to make much progress for the first few hours. I hit a few hills that would have been easier using the small chainring, but the first time I tried to shift to it, it wouldn't work easily. Also, something (the chain?) began squeaking, and this bothered me most of the day. I suppose I should have been checking out the bike last night instead of watching the Turner Classic Movies channel.
As expected, the traffic was a little problematic getting out of Fredericksburg, but I eventually got on some quiet country roads as I skirted the Quantico Marine Corps Reservation. Before I got to Quantico, though, I stopped at a store at a crossroads, came out, and rode off in the wrong direction for three miles. About a mile of that was downhill, so it was especially painful to retrace my path to get back on the route, once I realized my mistake.
(Another delay around this time wasn't my fault - two different road crews, one trimming trees, another a short distance away resurfacing, were apparently not in communication with each other at all, resulting in total gridlock for about 20 minutes. Fun.)
After leaving the Quantico area, the traffic turned into a total disaster - the worst I've ever ridden through (and I won't hit Washington, DC until tomorrow). On my maps, "Old Bridge Road" sounded like a scenic country road - it was actually an expressway, and I was hitting it at rush hour. I stopped at a CVS pharmacy and talked to Rich, a nice guy who verified that yes, this really was "Old Bridge Road", and not an interstate. As I approached the town of Occoquan, I was resolving to never ride into this kind of stuff at rush hour. I got some more directions from a couple of nice ladies in Occoquan (the actual town, away from the suburban sprawl and busy highway, looked charming), and rode off into more traffic towards Lorton (pop. 17,786) where there were supposed to be motels. The first one I saw was a Comfort Inn, and I won't reveal here how much the room cost. I'll just say that it would have paid for several days of cheap motels in Kansas (insert "Somehow I don't think we're in Kansas anymore" joke here).
The only easy dinner option was a nearby Burger King, so I did that, then spent a couple of hours trying to work out a plan for tomorrow. I got in contact with a couple in Washington Grove, Maryland, who host touring cyclists, and it sounded like that would work out. Hopefully, after tomorrow I'll be finished with the worst section of traffic on the trip. All of these cars have had me longing for the pine trees of South Georgia...
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Today's ride: 70 miles (113 km)
Total: 1,215 miles (1,955 km)
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