Dan Dodson
5 September 2023
On Sunday, I successfully completed my two-and-half-month long bike ride across America when I safely reached the beach in Yorktown, VA. I paid a visit to the beach as well as the Yorktown Victory Monument. The monument commemorates our win with significant help from the French in the battle of Yorktown, which effectively ended the Revolutionary War and secured our independence as a nation.
I started my last day of the tour at the Chickahominy Riverfront Park (where I had stopped riding the day before) and rode along the Virginia Capital Trail into Jamestown. When the trail ended in Jamestown, I took the Colonial Parkway through Williamsburg to Yorktown.
The Virginia Capital Trail is nice. It’s a typical paved bike path that is separated from traffic, which I really like. But, the thing that makes it better than most others is all of the historical markers along the way that recount events dating back to the 1600’s–very cool!
I learned that the first English settlement and first Thanksgiving in America were both in Virginia and not at Plymouth. The first permanent English settlement was at Jamestown beginning in 1607. The Mayflower Pilgrims did not arrive until 1620. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated by settlers who landed at Berkeley Hundred, Virginia in 1619. The first Thanksgiving in Massachusetts happened two years later in 1621. With a bit more research, I learned that St Augustine, Florida is actually the oldest permanent European settlement in the contiguous United States. It was founded in 1565. Even more interesting is that San Juan Puerto Rico, which was founded in 1521 by the Spanish, is the oldest continuously inhabited European city in a United States territory. But, San Juan is not even the oldest European established settlement in the Americas. It is the second behind Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic, founded in 1496. So, there’s your history lesson for the day. So, if you didn’t know, now you do. Maybe that will help you if you are ever on Jeopardy?
The Colonial Parkway was good and bad. The goods are: it’s a national park (so, it’s beautiful); it’s wide with plenty of room for cyclists; and there aren’t too many cars. The bads are that the pavement on the parkway is very rough and there were a couple of unexpected detours for construction. But, one of the detours actually turned-out to be a good one as the Google Maps App routed me down the main street of Colonial Williamsburg, which is an area that has been restored to its eighteenth century state. I thought you had to pay money to get into it and I’m not certain it’s kosher, but it was neat riding a few blocks back in time through colonial America. If challenged, I was thinking I would try to blame Google!
One of the other highlights for day happened when I was cruising along the Colonial Parkway and going up a slight hill. Without realizing it beforehand, I was clocked going 19 mph by one of those electronic signs that tell you how fast you are going. That made me smile because I couldn’t believe that I was going that fast uphill without even really trying. I think I am as fast now on a bike as I have ever been.
For the day, it was about a 30-mile ride. It was one of the shortest days of the whole summer; but, it was exactly what I needed to get to the coast and finish the tour. In all, I estimate that I rode a total of about 3758 miles since departing Anacortes, Washington on 12 June.
As I finished, I had mixed feelings. I was happy and relieved that I had actually done it without any major disasters like getting hit by a car. I was also excited about getting back home where I could spend time with family and friends. In addition, I was looking forward to football season, reliable high-speed internet access as well as clean, warm showers with good water pressure. But I was also a little sad that it was over because I really enjoyed getting to see new places and meet new people while slowly getting into better shape.
Afterwards, we went to Olive Garden for a late lunch before making the three-hour drive back home. I had promised Rebecca I would take her there at some point on the trip and we had not done it yet. So, that’s why. She loves Fettuccine Alfredo and that is what she ordered. It’s not Disneyland, but it was a good meal with good company.
In the restaurant, we were sitting at a table near a couple of older ladies who were very loud. We could hear everything they said which was slightly more entertaining than annoying. It made us all laugh the most when the waiter offered one of the ladies, who was celebrating a birthday, a free dessert. She exclaimed, “No thank you. Just because it’s free don’t mean it’s good.”
Looking forward, I think we are going to take a few more trips in the near future with the teardrop and without bikes. We might go back down to the Yorktown area so that we can spend more time at the historical sites down there on foot and learn more about our nation’s history. We also want to go out to Shenandoah this Fall to do some hiking and enjoy God’s creation as the leaves change colors. Next summer, we hope to take another trip out west to experience a few more National Parks like Yosemite, Sequoia and maybe Glacier.
As far as this blog goes, I have a few more stories and pictures from the trip that I want to add/share. I also want to capture a few lessons learned. Let me know if you have any particular questions that you would like me to address.
I think that is enough for now. Thanks for following along! I hope you have a great day! 🙂
Crazy Guy Getting Coffee on a Bike 