Today’s blog is different in at least two significant ways; one is that there is a guest editor (Paul evidently only does Mon to Fri) and another in that it will also be a lot shorter (due to our first rain which meant we didn’t get to see much for about thirty miles) After the…
Last night we stayed in a church, tonight it’s a fire station, courtesy of Mineral Fire Dept, Louisa County. We ended up cycling 80 miles today, due mainly to a map-reading malfunction. To explain, the Adventure Cycling Association provides excellent maps of the entire TransAmerica route. Yesterday we did two and a half maps to…
Have you ever heard of Trail Magic? Nope nor had we – but by nightfall we’d know exactly what it meant – and it has already sprinkled its dust on the bestbybike duo. The day didn’t start as planned. We made the classic mistake of leaving late – and after a few hundred yards we’d…
Sometimes the hardest part of any challenge is getting started and so it has proved with the TransAmerica. The official start of the cross country route is Yorktown, Virginia, but to my geographer’s mind that’s on the York River, Chesapeake Bay, not the Atlantic Ocean. So Terry and I agreed that instead our ride would…
It’s amazing what cycling can lead to. Most people know that Wilbur and Orville Wright were aviation pioneers, completing the world’s first manned flight in December 1903. But before all that, they were cycle manufacturers. Only five bicycles made by the brothers still exist and we discovered one today at the Smithsonian Air and Space…
Took the bikes for a test-ride around Washington today. Although many of the cycle lanes aren’t segregated, the roads are wide and the traffic, for the most part, is rather sedate compared to other large cities such as London. As on any major roads you need to keep your wits about you, but we had…
If you’ve ever thought air travel wasn’t stressful enough, that passing through check-in, passport control and customs is made far too easy, then here’s a suggestion to spice things up a bit: Take two really heavy touring bikes, ten panniers and a couple of tents to the airport with you and it will be a…
Ok here’s the first volume of what might out to be a continuing series: Terry’s Top Tips: Packing stuff for 3 months cycling: Leave it until the last possible moment … this focuses the mind …. also it’s too late to buy anything you’ve forgotten … or just want, so you don’t have to spend…