There we were in Portsmouth, New Hampshire getting ready to ride our bikes 1,800 miles to Florida. Our first day out we headed north while the rest of our group of 50 rode west. We needed to cycle a few miles in Maine – it was just across the river and another state to put on the riding list – to close to ignore.
Over the next nine days we pedaled as far west as Lancaster County, Pennsylvania before heading south to Washington D.C. The relentless hills made for the hardest nine days of cycling I had ever encountered, but the beautiful scenery almost made up for it.
When we stared out from New Hampshire, Hurricane Katrina was a non-event hovering over for Florida. Arriving in Washington D.C. for our first rest day, we watched in amazement as the events unfolded in New Orleans and other small southern towns. Many of the towns hit were ones we had cycled through on our cross-country trip in 2002. The devastation we saw on the TV was in harsh contrast to the memories of the lovely towns we had visited.
After Washington D.C. we kept riding south through forests on small back roads. By the second day, the roads flattened out and the winds were generally at our backs which made for some of the easiest cycling ever.
Our second day off was in North Myrtle Beach. The quality of the our hotel was lacking in many ways, but it was right on the ocean. We did some walking on the beach, explored the eateries in town, but mostly rested.
Our last week on the road was hot, flat, and fast. Savannah was the most interesting town. Almost all of the original “squares” (or city block parks) were still intact and beautiful. We took the traditional trolly tour and saw many historical locations and the buildings where many movies had been made. Our trip was to end 2 days later in the oldest city in the U.S. – St. Augustine, but we rode an extra 25 miles that day in record 97 degree heat to “touch” the point where we met the Atlantic on our cross-country bike tour in 2002. Bob had now completed his goal of circumnavigating the United States on his bicycle, I had completed two sides and own my first “corner”.
