Got to Yorktown yesterday and stayed at the Yorktown Motor Lodge last night…Let’s just say this is not a June approved travel accommodation, but it was fine for me at $50 bucks a night 🙂 Got up this morning and met Rob—Art Professor from NY—who stayed in the same hotel and we rode a few miles to the official TransAm starting point at the Yorktown Monument. Once we got there we met up with Stephen—a professor an engineering professor at Annapolis. Stephens wife drove him down yesterday so they stated in a little better hotel. Stephen, Rob and I all met online through the Adventure Cycling Association forums and discovered we were starting on the same day, so we arranged to meet and ride together at least for the first day or so.
Rob waned to sign the official ride journal at the visitors center so we waited until 9am when the center opened, we signed the journal and then hit the road around 9:15am. About 20 or so miles into the ride I wasn’t feeling so good. I had stopped yesterday for lunch and ate Trout with butter and lemon sauce—it wasn’t setting well on my stomach. About 25 miles into the ride we stopped at the Jamestown Settlement and I was feeling really nauseated. Got a big bottle of Gatorade and cup of ice and downed it. After about a 15 minute break I was feeling somewhat better. Got back on the bikes and at around mile 34 or so, I started feeling a lot better. At mile 45 we stopped at this little restaurant called the Courthouse Grille—it was in the middle of nowhere and seemed to cater to bicycle riders. I ordered a roast beef sandwich, but by the time I got it I was feeling sick again—think it was the smell of all the fried food being cooked. So, took one bite and couldn’t eat it. Ended up downing about 3 glasses of iced tea and we hit the road again. At mile 62 we ended up at the Willis Methodist Church in Glendale that is open and allows cyclists to spend the night in the church. That’s where Rob and Stephen planned to stop and spend the night. It was around 4pm and I was thinking about pushing on another 25 miles to Mechanisville and camping. But I stopped with them, walked in the air conditioned church that has a kitchen and showers for bikers, and decided since I hadn’t eaten all day and didn’t feel that great, that I would just call it a day and stay here as well.
So, we unloaded our bikes, rode down the road about a mile to a gas station and I picked up a can of beanee weenie’s, potted meat, some cheese and crackers. Had those for dinner and feel much better. Hopefully I’ll be over the trout sickness tomorrow. Was a hot, hot, humid day, but other than not feeling the greatest, it was a very good day.
