It’s been 3-1/2 weeks since I completed phase one.  Herminia and I spent half that time on a delightful trip to Portugal and Spain.  Here’s a recap of phase two:

• 16 days of cycling; 1033 miles; average 65 miles/day
• Dropped another 10 pounds in body weight
• Resting heart rate has settled into the 60’s
• Energy level is great
• Flexibility is outstanding

Observations from phase two:

• The continued generosity of donors to Coast Guard Mutual Assistance continues to inspire me. I appreciate you all!
• To date, this ride has been as hard as I thought it would be. High winds have been a persistent challenge. There have been more than a few mornings when I thought about waving the white flag due to fatigue and the anticipation of yet another day’s challenge. But after assessing that I feel “good enough,” get on the bike, and begin pedaling, these thoughts evaporate. And, before I know it, I’ve logged another 60+ miles without a journey-ending injury or mechanical failure. This gives me the confidence to continue.
• I’m going to miss cycling through rural areas as I prepare for phase three. Cycling in areas of increased vehicle traffic requires a lot more focus for obvious reasons.  As such, cyclists lose some degree of independence. I treasure the feeling of serenity that comes with cycling on a rural road when there is no one else around.
• I’m convinced that flying an American flag on the back of my bike tends to suppress negative behavior from passing motorists. The number of irate motorists I’ve observed has been remarkably low (less than 5 for the entire trip thus far).

Lessons learned:

• A daily goal of 60-70 miles is about right for me.
• DoorDash isn’t something I used in the past.  I’m a new fan, especially on those days when I’m too tired to go out to dinner!
• I’ve found no optimal cycling route planning app.  I triangulate between Adventure Cycling Association maps, RideWithGPS, and Google Maps. I’ve become very skilled at making route adjustments on the fly. And I’ve started to ask AI if there is a route that requires less climbing when the elevation profile for a planned route is disconcerting.
• Speaking of climbing, I climbed over 3,400 feet on the day before I finished phase two.  This was good practice for what’s to come in phase three, especially in Maine.

Preparations for phase three:

• Shift to a minimalist mindset for the amount of stuff I carry in my panniers. Maybe I don’t need to carry a spare chain through routes that have more bike shops along the way? This is in anticipation of the climbs that are to come, especially in Maine.
• Fix the minor wobble in my back wheel. I’m guessing that the wobble developed on gravel and sand roads, which tend to impose more lateral stress on the wheels. I have the tools to true the wheel by adjusting spoke tension.  I just have to be careful not to over tension any spokes, which can result in them breaking on the road.
• Perform detailed planning for the route.

Here’s a panoramic view of one of the places we visited in Portugal, Nazaré:

Having arranged to meet my family and Coast Guard Mutual Assistance officials at the Lincoln Memorial, I decided to make this last day of phase two an easy one.

I slept late (0600 is late for me).  I spent an hour cleaning and maintaining my bike.  And I headed off for the short ride to DC.  I soon connected with the Mount Vernon Trail, which provided a leisurely ride into the city.  I stopped at Gravelly Point, a popular place to watch planes take off from Reagan National Airport.  I stopped to admire the monument-rich skyline of the city of my birth.  And then I rode over the Memorial Bridge to the Lincoln Memorial.

The Lincoln Memorial is one of my favorite DC monuments.  As a child growing up in DC, I used to ride my bike from my home to the various monuments.  I was inspired by Lincoln’s words inscribed on the walls of his monument.  And I sometimes felt that his statue was looking straight into my eyes. It was as if this great man was conveying high expectations to me for whatever was to come in my life.

I was greeted by Herminia, our son Robert, nephew David and his significant other.  Shilpy Vohra and Erica Chapman from the Coast Guard Mutual Assistance Team also joined us.

Here’s a picture courtesy of Shilpy:

The scene was loud, with an activist group playing music and making speeches in the background.  Gotta love DC!  Yet we enjoyed a grand celebration.

Afterwards, our son Robert joined me to bike the remaining 19 miles home.

Tally for the day: 32 miles.
Tally for Phase Two: 1033
Tally for Atlantic Coast: 1595

Today’s winds are sufficiently minor.  I woke up feeling pretty good.  I re-planned my route to minimize climbing, at least as much as I could.

Even with rerouting, I encountered many, many hills dispersed throughout the route.  Knowing that this would be my last day of relatively long miles during phase two, I attacked each one of the hills.

One of the sites I passed by was the National Museum of the Marine Corps:

It was good to be back into familiar territory.

Towards the end of the ride, I decided to shorten my route by finishing on highway US-1 North.

Today’s tally: 56 miles.

The morning was cold but winds were light, and shifting towards my direction of travel as the day wore on.

As the day warmed, I was entertained by more butterflies.

I knew that today’s ride was especially hilly–and it was.  Hills were generally longer and steeper.

I usually love crossing a bridge over a creek but today was different.  Going downhill to a creek bridge just meant that I needed to climb back up to match the surrounding topography.

I experienced the lowest speeds going uphill (6 mph) and the fastest speeds downhill (30 mph).

Speaking of speed, I sped through a downhill so fast towards the James River bridge that it was unsafe for me to take the left turnoff to the pedestrian/bicycle bridge.  I crossed the bridge with cars and trucks and was fortunate to be able to cut over to the intended path before having to explain my situation to the toll taker.

As I transitioned from days of rural riding towards the urban sprawl of Fredricksburg, stoplights seemed like a new thing to me. I missed the rapid stop-and-go of those rural stop signs.

I also encountered rush-hour traffic, which I readily navigated through using bike lanes and medians.

Although today was tiring, I felt remarkably good at the end of the ride.

Today’s tally: 85 miles

Today was groundhog day–fierce winds against me and even colder than yesterday (34 degrees feels-like temperature when I started).  Ironically, the hills didn’t feel as challenging as the previous day but there were more of them.

Early in the trek, I ended up on the worst dirt road ever and ended up walking the bike for half a mile because it was safer than riding. Flat dirt roads are generally manageable.  Steep uphill dirt roads–oh my!

As a man of faith, I took note of the number of one particular state road that I encountered:

I studied the map to see if I could take an alternate route–no luck.  As I took the turn and headed down the mile stretch of this road, I couldn’t help but notice that the birds weren’t singing as much compared to earlier portions of the route.  Strange but true.  Suffice it to say that I was happy when I made the next turn.

As I rode past farm fields, the sound of my bike or rustling American flag often flushed doves out of the brush,  They make a distinctive repetitive chirp when they take flight.  Today, I was surprised then a very large and beautiful pheasant took flight in front me me. I marveled at it’s distinctive tail feathers.

Also, I took note of significant logging operations in the area.  I gave the logging trucks their respect, often pulling off the side of the road.  Here’s a picture of logs stacked a few stories high:

Today’s tally: 65 miles.

I begin every morning by evaluating the weather in my current location and intended destination.  Today’s evaluation was disconcerting.  Winds are forecast to be heavier than normal for the next two days, and morning feels-like temperatures will be in the low 30’s.  And, oh by the way, the climbing profiles get higher by the day.

I was motivated by the opportunity to cross into Virginia, getting ever closer to home.  So I decided to press on.

I surprised myself with my leg’s ability to handle today’s hills.  I did have to downshift more frequently.

In previous days, I’ve held back on going all out so that I could have sufficient reserve to get to my destination after fatigue set in.  Today was a turning point, giving me the confidence to know that I could cycle all out for longer distances.  No more need to hold back!

Yellow and Black Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterflies seemed to enjoy today’s winds, gliding across the roads in front of me.  Whenever I stopped for a water break, a few seemed attracted to my bright yellow helmet as they made cautious approaches to me.  It’s often the simple things that make bicycle touring such a joy!

Through many miles of rural cycling, I observed many stately looking homes as well as scores of dilapidated and abandoned homes.  A few of the latter had their own sense of history and beauty, such as this one:

This sign, located on a very remote farm road, warmed my heart:

Today’s tally: 62 miles

This morning is cool, in the mid-40’s.  Winds are from the north at 8 sustained 20 gusts.  My route says that hills today are more substantial than previous days.

I cycled through historic small towns such as Hookerton and Maury.  Because of the greater number and height of the hills (and riding against the wind), I took many more breaks. Climbing hills against the wind is double the fun from a fitness perspective.  But my legs handled the moderate hills with relative ease.

I didn’t stop to take any pictures today.  I did capture this video of my biking flag:

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Frankly, today was what cyclists would call a hard ride.  I was glad when it was over.

Today’s tally: 63 miles.

Today’s winds were forecast to be 8 mph sustained with 18 gusts building to 15 sustained and 27 gusts. This forecast tends to stifle any cyclist’s enthusiasm.  But I had places to go and people to see!

The trip was planned at 46 miles but I took some short cuts on main roads.  Much of my route was sans medians but traffic was light.  Here’s the typical farm road along the route (note the clouds):

As shown above, the day was partially cloudy.  There were very sharp-edged shadows of the clouds on the road.  I noticed that the cloud shadows were passing me at about three times my speed of advance.  The winds were zooming along, fortunately mainly in my direction of travel.

Heavy rain was forecast beginning at 4 pm.  So I sped through the journey arriving at my destination at noon. I hung out at a local McDonald’s until check-in time.  I entered my hotel room at 3 pm just as the heaven’s opened up.  The rain continued through the night.

Once again, unstable WiFi forced me to suspend attempts to update this blog.

Today’s tally: 42 miles.

I took a day off at the home of a former USCGC GLACIER shipmate, Bill Kelsey.  Bill and Lora are dear friends and were phenomenal hosts for allowing me a chance to rest and recover:

Today I enjoyed a mostly wind-aided ride to Jacksonville. I passed mainly farms, rural homes, and a few new housing developments that appeared to be out of place in their rural setting.

The first water stop I encountered was 62 miles into the ride.  Fortunately I carried extra water to eliminate worrying about running out. But what a difference a cold bottle of water can make to a weary cyclist:|

During today’s ride, the scent of pine trees was most pleasant.  And I was occasionally showered by falling dogwood petals and strands of oak tree pollen.  For the entire journey to date, I haven’t experienced any allergies.

I had one episode of gnats swarming around me.  Other than being pesky, the biggest problem is that they get stuck to my generous coating of suntan lotion.

I noticed that I was climbing more and more each day.  Even so, I was amazed that I covered the journey in only six hours.

Today’s tally: 73 miles

I was excited this morning about my ride to Wilmington.  Wind was forecast to be unhelpful but I felt ready for the challenge.

When I arrived at Elwell Ferry, one of the last 3-cable ferries in North Carolina, I was the only vehicle in the queue.  Vehicles must honk their horn to signal to the ferry operator on the other side.  My bell just didn’t cut it.  Fortunately, a car pulled up shortly afterwards.  I informed the two ladies about the horn protocol and it worked.  We could see someone exit a building on the opposite side of the Cape Fear River to bring the ferry over:

Because I had endured a few consecutive days of long miles, I was pushing the limits on my physical fatigue.  I took opportunities to take occasional breaks, especially at places of workshop like Trinity AME Zion Church:

I also passed a national park:

I fought winds for the final third of my trek before I arrived at home of my USCGC GLACIER shipmate, Bill Kelsey. I deeply appreciate he and Lora for putting me up (and putting up with me!).

Today’s tally: 82 miles