D Day

D Day

Days 9, 10 & 11 (May 10th, 11th, 12th)

Decision Time

Hiya everyone, Virginia has seen storms and torrential rain over the past few days so I’ve taken shelter in a Super 8 hotel.

 

It’s been lovely TBH, I’ve had a lot of baths, ate a lot of food and made an offline Spotify playlist so I have something to listen to back on the road.

I’ve also had a chance to look at the bigger picture. I was hoping to average 50-60 miles a day and that would afford me a few rest days. That was a plan formulated on my sofa at home and in reality it’s not working. I’ve made it over a decent wedge of the Appalachian mountains which were always going to slow me down but the past week has given me a taster of unforeseen delays like the weather.

I want the journey to be more than me just being strapped to my bike and moving onwards everyday. So far I haven’t deviated from the route and have missed some places I would liked to have visited.

 

I want to see the sights, meet the people and be able to stop whenever I like and this is more important than churning out the miles everyday.

This means my route is changing a little (Trans America purists look away!). From Radford,  Virginia I’m going to get on a train and take the Cardinal Route to Chicago, from here I will take the Southwest Chief to Lamar, Kansas. Essentially I’m going to bypass 2 states in the middle of the country, cutting miles and giving me more time to see some beautiful places and have a couple of beers along the way.

In the perfect world I would have more than 3 months to cycle but the Visa can’t be extended.

 

For my own ego I’m still going to hit >2,500 miles which as the crow flies is the width of America. So at dinner parties I can still bang that out, haven’t been to a dinner party  yet but anyway.

 

As a perfectionist it pains me massively to break the route up with non bicycle travel, but sometimes that’s the way the cookie crumbles.

 

Yours in cycling,

Dan


4 thoughts on “D Day

  1. Dan just read your blog…. sounds intense! Hope the rest has done you good and you’re back on the road! Can’t wait to catch up on your next post!

    Good luck, Lynsey xxxxx

    1. Hello Lynsey!

      I’ve learnt the importance of rest days for both physical and mental recovery haha.

      Hope you are well! X

  2. Hi, Dan. This is Tom from the plane to Norfolk, VA. Glad to see you are progressing, even in the face of bad weather. It is good to allow yourself to be a little flexible. That can be difficult for some of us. I trust we Americans are treating you well. As you move to a big city you may find people a bit different. Hang in there!

    God bless you!
    Tom

    1. Hi Tom,

      Brilliant hearing from you! I completely agree it can be difficult to be flexible.

      The journey is going so great and you Americans are treating me very well!

      Bless you,
      Dan

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