Posts by: Paul

Go Yell it on the Mountain! Afton VA to Lexington VA

Go Yell it on the Mountain! Afton VA to Lexington VA

It’s Terry’s better half, Liz’s birthday today and he was determined to yell it from the mountain. So it was a good job our task today was to climb the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and search for the lonesome pine in the pale moonshine etc. It wasn’t quite night-time when we left the Cookie…

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We’ve started – and we’re on a mission from God.     First Landing, VA via Virginia Beach to Yorktown VA.

We’ve started – and we’re on a mission from God. First Landing, VA via Virginia Beach to Yorktown VA.

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…

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On the shoulders of giants….

On the shoulders of giants….

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…

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Best by Bike goes to Capitol Hill

Best by Bike goes to Capitol Hill

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…

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Cakes, Cramp and Church….

Cakes, Cramp and Church….

With just two weeks before Terry and I head off to start the TransAmerica, the training isn’t going too well. We both had plans to rack up the miles on our new bikes, but with so much preparation still to do, kit to order and family and friends to see before we depart,  the bikes…

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A load off my mind (and on the bike)!

A load off my mind (and on the bike)!

It’s a strange phenomenon that riding a bike laden with panniers seems to earn you more respect on the road than even the most expensive carbon fibre machine. I’ve noticed it before, cars give you more space, pedestrians smile at you and small children look on in wonder. I guess people assume you are some…

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First ride – start of a beautiful relationship?

First ride – start of a beautiful relationship?

It felt like going on a blind date without a safety net.  I’d never met my companion before and apart from what I’d read, had no first hand experience of their personality. Yet I’d already agreed to nearly three months intimately connected with  virtually every hour spent  in each others’  company.  The strength of the…

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