Duty Honor Country

When I looked at the map last night, I saw that I was very close to West Point.  Since I had never been to the USMA, I knew I had to take a trip there.  The only problem, is that I arrived at eight, and you are not allowed on the post until nine.  So I killed an hour, and then spent about an hour riding around the academy.  I'm sure I could have spent more time, but I was also pretty sure there was some weather moving in that I wanted to try to get ahead of.  Good plan, but it didn't work.  I got drenched this morning.  In case you didn't know, waterproof gear is only good up to a certain point, and this rain exceeded that point.  So I was a bit damp for the rest of the day, but it was much cooler than yesterday which was good.  Moving on, I got past Danbury Ct  and got on to the secondary roads.  These were pleasant riding roads, but except for the interstate, I never saw a road with a speed limit greater than 45.  It's really hard to travel at 25 MPH.  I found out that I'm not very good at it.  I crossed the Connecticut river on a ferry.  The structure you see across the river in the upper left is the Gillette Castle.  Interestingly, it has nothing to do with the Gillette razors.  After most of the day, I entered Rhode Island down in the southwest corner.  Since RI is the "Ocean State". I decided I should at least go out to one beach and find out what makes their ocean better.  It pretty much looked the same to me.  Guess I picked the wrong beach.

It Can't Be Done

Today's mileage:  243
Loop total:  1037
Quest total:  16,434
State total:  39
Present location:  Harriman, NY

I try really hard to stay off the interstates and miss the big cities.  That's really hard to do up here in the northeast.  I thought I had a really good plan (one that took me from NJ into PA and then back into NJ), in order to miss the cities, traffic and interstates.  Maybe two out of three isn't bad, but there is just noway to miss traffic just by skirting the cities.  Even though I stayed mostly on county roads, there were still plenty of four lane roads, traffic lights, and of course traffic.  Add to that the fact that it was quite hot today, and it made for a rather trying day at times. It wasn't all bad.  I did find some really great county roads away from the cities that gave me some great riding and some good scenery.  I have to admit, there were times when I didn't really think I was in NJ, because it didn't fit the mental picture I had.  But even with that, I think I may have to try some different tactics for the next few days.  I think I'll probably just ride the interstates through the cities and try to get thru them as quickly as possible in order to get to some better riding.  We'll have to see how that works out.  They are no real stories behind today's pictures.  I just found them to be interesting.  If you are interested, the car is for sale.
 

The Rinse Cycle

Today's mileage:  258
Loop mileage:  794
Loop total:  16,191
States total:  39
Present location:  Odessa, Delaware

When I checked the weather radar before I took off this morning, I knew there was a chance I could get wet.  I took off anyway, hoping for the best.  It wasn't long before I did indeed run into rain showers.  Luckily it didn't last long, so it really wasn't an issue.  I was in MD at this point, so I got onto secondary roads and headed for a ferry crossing.  Unfortunately, when I arrived, there was no ferry (closed for maintenance).  I knew there was another ferry crossing further upriver, I just wasn't sure where, so I took to the back roads to see if I could find it.  I'm sure it took me much longer than it should have to find it, but it was the type of riding that I really like.  They were good roads that were lightly traveled, and I was never really sure where I was at.  After the crossing, I continued north for a while longer on the back roads.  Every small town I entered had a sign stating it was a historical town.  I'm no expert, but I didn't think this house color was historically correct (and this was without any sunshine to brighten it up).  Maybe he just doesn't like his neighbors.  I reached 100 miles in MD. So I turned east to enter into Delaware.  That's when it really started to rain, I felt like I was definitely in the rinse cycle.  I don't consider rain to be a deal breaker on a trip, but it is a game changer.  It's one thing when you are heading for a destination, it's another thing when you are just meandering. It takes a bit of the fun out of it.  After about two hours of riding in a steady rain I was considering calling it a day when I came upon the Airlift Museum at Dover Air Force Base.  While visiting the museum's inside exhibits, it stopped raining, so after my visit, I decided to head east towards the coast.  This is when I learned that when the area has a lot of rain, and the tide is coming in, some of the roads in the low lying wetlands areas  close due to tidal flooding.  After crossing a marginal area of road that had rising water on both sides,  I decided to call it a day.  Hoping for a dryer day tomorrow.

Moving On

Today's Mileage:  536
Loop Mileage:  536
Quest Total:  15,397
Present Location:  Franktown , Va.

Today was a moving day.  I was moving thru states I have already checked off, in order to get to the areas I haven't visited yet.  This meant that I spent over 300 miles on the interstate.  Still not my favorite, but it did get me to where I want to be, which is in the eastern shore area of Va.  From here, I should be able to cover MD. And Delaware tomorrow.  Nothing special on the interstate, but I did go thru the Chesapeake bay bridge tunnel.  For those of you who don't know, this is a 17 mile long system of both bridges and two tunnels across the bay.  The tunnels allow sea going ships to pass thru the bay.  The picture is from one man made island to the next in the distance that a tunnel connects.  It's considered an engineering marvel, but they did charge me 12 bucks just for the privilege to marvel at it.  Only other highlight of the day was that it was open mike night at the local clam shack where I had supper.  The second guy up was playing a 12 string guitar, which was about 11 more strings than he could handle, which was more than I could handle so I bailed out.  I'm sure that there is probably some fine talent playing tonight, but it's been a long day, so I'm calling it quits for tonight.

The Road Home

Today's Mileage: 342 Loop Mileage: 9371 Quest Total: 14861 State Total:36 Current Location: Home

I left out of Princeton and headed into Virginia.  Got off the interstate pretty quickly and got onto some back roads.  It was a pleasant ride initially, and great weather.  I was surprised at all the Christmas tree farms that were in the area.  At times it looked like any plot of ground that wasn't covered by rocks, was covered by a tree.  Generally, another pretty area.  When I turned west, I got on a really twisty road that took me over the highest peak in Virginia.  There's never much traffic on these roads,  and I always wonder what the locals do when it snows or freezes.  I know I wouldn't be driving them under adverse conditions.  There must be great bicycle trail riding in the area, because when I was coming back down the other side, I saw a lot of vans trailering bikes, taking people up the mountain.  When I entered the nearest town, there were at least 8  locations for renting bikes and shuttling up the mountain.  Got on the interstate near the state border and headed for home.  I'm obviously not a fan of riding the interstates in general, but I must admit, when you are coming down I-26, there are some  very  pretty views.; Pulled into the garage around 2:30 pm and that was the end of Loop Four.&; That leaves me with the Northeast part of the country in order to finish up.&; The plan right now, is to wait until early September to do that, but as always the plan is subject to change.&; Right now, it feels really good to be home.&; One of the things about writing a blog, is that I really don't know who is reading it.&; I'll send out another notice, when I start up again, and you can either follow along&; or ignore the notice as you please.&; Until then, enjoy your summer.

I still don't know what causes all the miscellaneous items to show up.

A Good Day

Today's  Mileage:  469
Loop Mileage:  9029
Quest Total:  14519
State Total:  35
Current Location:  Princeton, West Virginia

The initial plan for this loop was to head straight home after completing Ohio.  But after thinking about it, and looking at the map, I decided to cover WV and Virginia.  I could have made it home today, but it would have been 12 hours of interstate riding, and I really didn't want to do that.  So instead, I jumped on the interstates for a couple of hours in order to get to some roads in Ohio that looked interesting on the map.  They turned out to be as good as they looked.  Additionally, when i got to the Ohio river, I had to take a ferry to get to West Virginia.  I hadn't realized that there would be a ferry, so that was a bonus.  Traveling thru WV was a treat.  The temps were in the 70's, puffy skies, and lot's of sunshine.  The scenery was beautiful, and I'm sure it would be spectacular in the fall.  The road was a little rough in places, but it really didn't matter to me.  After about four hours of this, I realized that i was having a good time, but wasn't making much headway in getting home.  So i headed back on the interstate, went to Charleston(which probably has the prettiest capitol dome in the country), and then headed south on I-77.  I was making good time, but it was just too good of a day to stay on the interstate, besides, this part of I-77 is a toll road, and I was getting tired of paying two bucks every twenty miles just to fight with the semis.  So I got off at beckly and rode the Heritage Coal Trail Byway.  This was an outstanding ride with some really pretty country.  The towns reminded me very much of the Mill Towns in the South.  At one time, these were definitely "Company Towns".   I doubt that it made up for the rough life, but it was really pretty.  There were no motels along the byway, so I had to cut back to the interstate to find a room.  I took hwy 10 to get back to Princeton, and it turned out to be a really fun road to ride.  Again, not a road I want to drive in a car, but it sure was fun on the bike.  So in the end, I got some great riding in, with beautiful views, and I made some pretty decent distance from my start point.  Plan for tomorrow is to ride some back roads in Virginia, and then head for home.  I plan on being there in time for cocktail hour.

Kinda Strange

Today's Mileage:  511
Loop Mileage:  8560
Quest Total:  14050
State Total:  34
Current Location:  Medina, Ohio

The plan for michigan was always to do the UP, on the two lane highways, and then to just ride the interstate down thru the rest of the state.  I did think about changing, and sticking with secondary roads, but once you make that turn towards home, you seem to just naturally pick up your pace.  When I was working, we called it GHP, which meant Go Home Power.   Additionally, I knew that if i pushed it a bit today, I could see and stay with our friends  Bob and Mona.  So that is why I did about 400 miles of interstate today.  The very first portion was riding the Makinac Bridge over the straits.  It was a little bit weird doing this on a bike.  It's not so bad when you look at the oncoming traffic lanes, but when you look out over the bridge supports, and all you see is sky and water, you can feel a liitle disoriented, as if you are just suspended there.  Anyway, after the bridge and interstate, I turned left and headed for Medina, Ohio.  Tomorrow I'll head southeast and try to cover West Virginia.