Day 77: 37 miles, Aug 3

Well, after two lovely days, I suppose you’re bound to have a bad one. The scenery was less than stellar today since the route skirts Richmond and proceeds through the I-95 corridor. It was mostly congested suburban traffic all day.

One bright spot was catching up to Mike and Devin, the two Arizona riders with pellet guns. Neither of them rides with a mirror, so I was able to quite easily sneak up on them in ambush. They were surprised, and had wondered what had happened to me. They rode on into Yorktown to finish the ride today, but it was good to see them (shoot them) again.

Despite getting a bit of a late start from the motel (7 pm), we suffered through the heat and arrived at the destination I had intended for today, Glendale, before 2 pm. Perhaps my dad was getting into shape pretty quickly, for he argued in favor of going on. Glendale is nothing more than a gas station and a church, so we’d be quite bored to stay here, he felt.

In the end, I won him over. A good friend from my hike once told me that “a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail should last 6 months. Eight months if you do it right.” I was in no hurry to finish my ride. Who wants to rush back into the world of cars and monthly bills? Besides, if we did another 30 miles, he’d likely be exhausted and regretful the next day.

Turns out my dad’s pretty good at not riding, too. The Willis United Methodist Church isn’t plush, but that didn’t keep him from napping for 3 hours of the afternoon! I entertained myself with the sanctuary piano. In the picture we’re enjoying a gourmet hot dog and wine dinner!