Day 13/14 - Little Washington, Ex-Capital Edenton, and Everything In Between.

Early morning we awoke and left a note, thanking the Ammons family for taking care of us and headed for Washington, North Carolina on Saturday. It began as a typical day of riding. This day, though, we encountered road construction, just before reaching Washington, that we haven't quite experienced before. Traffic was cut to one lane for both north and south-bound lanes. A dreadful sight for cyclists, but in our favor, there was a detour that we gladly took. This proved to be a bad move on our part, simply because we assumed a detour would take you back to the road that you were...detouring from, but apparently, this is not always the case. After getting lost and backtracking and getting lost again, we finally swallowed our man pride and asked for help. So this minor incident only set us back forty-five minutes, and we continued on to Washington on the less than comfortable roads.

Upon arriving in Washington, we had a run in with a drawbridge. You see, the portion of the bridge that raises up to allow boats through is actually a mesh weaving of metal that is a poor surface for bike tires to ride over.(DEATHTRAP) We had no choice though but to ride across since there was no shoulder on this bridge or any other way to cross. Jamaal likened this riding experience to drifting in a car. (I seriously doubt he knows first-hand. He probably just saw it on a video game or movie.) Nonetheless, we made it safely to our hotel.

Today, we had our first rain of the entire trip. Two weeks of sunshine before we had any rain at all. Before we began this journey, Jamaal and I considered riding in the rain, barring lightning and tremendous down pours, but after testing the conditions of the roads for ourselves first hand, we decided that the roads were too slick. It would be selfish and stupid to endanger ourselves just so we could ride in the rain. Sunday always serves as a good day to rest and recollect ourselves anyways, so we appreciated the first true break from riding we have had the entire trip.

For dinner, we ate at a buffet that reminded me of the scene from Vegas Vacation. You know that scene I am talking about. The scene with the blue stuff and the yellow stuff ? Let's just say I played it safe, and ate only what I could recognize.

Tomorrow we will be in Virginia, only a week from our final destination- Philadelphi ! Now that Jamaal and I have rested up we will be riding strong for the last stretch. I can't believe that the ride is almost completed. I won't know what to do with myself after this is over and done with. I'll feel like I should get up every morning and ride for 60 miles or so before I can do anything else. I definitely feel changed for the better by doing this. Well, sorry for the late update folks, but we will have more video coming soon. Take it easy.

Love,
John and Jamaal.