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Bill completes his Big Bike ride!!!!

Started

11 May 09

Finished

15 June 09

Total Distance

2500+

Sponsor Bill & Eddie

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Map of the route

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Monday, 15 June 09	Yes we made it !!!! Two nights in Key West a lovely place. Tomorrow we will take the ferry to Fort Myers in West Florida to finish the final stage of around 205 miles to bring us to Ft Lauderdale next Sunday and a well earned rest, we have cycled every day for 5 weeks.

Sunday 14 June 09	Miami - Tavernier, 71mls, 20mls of off road cycle track brought us to the gateway to the Keys and I don't believe it Eddy punctured on a straight piece of road, no shelter, swamp either side, he repaired the tyre in double quick time to the anthem of a thousand mozzys as they chewed there way through our "hose" a nightmare, sweat poured out of me and I was doing the watching, poor Eddy.
Saturday 13 June	Delray Beach - Miami, 68mls, called in at Fort Lauderdale Airport, our departure Port on the 22nd June, to arrange packing boxes etc. Everything sorted we booked accommodation in Ft Lauderdale for next Sunday the night before we return. A good call as we are now sorted for the return to the UK on the 22nd. A difficult end to the day as we tried to navigate through back town Miami. You know the place everyone tells you not to go near!!!!
Friday 12 June	Stuart - Delray Beach, 67mls the weather is hot and humid, temp 90's, travelled passed stunning views, including Palm Beach, the playground of the super rich. Eddy punctured early and I came off later in the day. That'll teach me not to sneak a ride on Eddy's back when the going gets tough. Nothing too serious, only a few flesh wounds.
Thursday 11 June	Indialantic - Stuart, 82mls, temp in the 90's again, a beautiful ride on the Florida coast, the Ocean one side the Intra Coastal the other side, in parts the land mass is only a few hundred yards across.
Wednesday 10 June	Smyrna Beach - Indialantic, 78mls, Very hot now today the temperature 99 degrees. This has been the pattern in Florida and likely to continue.
Tuesday 9 June	St Augustine - Smyrna Beach, 69mls, Islands and bridges have been on the menu again. They make for exciting riding, especially when there's no cycling strip and the Bars have just turned out.
Monday 8 June	Amelia City - St Augustine, Florida, 58mls, a beautiful City. It was here I finished my Southern Tier ride 5 years ago, It was nice to return.
Sunday 7 June	Eulalia - Amelia City, 91mls another great day, an early start, 7.30 gave us a fine breakfast after 10 miles, followed by a lunch in the local Town Hall, at a wonderful little town called Woodbine. It reminded me of my first experiences as a smoker at the tender age of 10, or was it 11yrs. We saw people standing outside the hall and asked for a handy lunch stop. They invited us inside and for 6 dollars each, we partook of their weekly charity lunch. Sunday lunch with starters and pudding.
Saturday 6 June	Rincon - Eulalia, 81mls, After a difficult start today and a short but heavy storm which slowed us early on. We soon recovered time and finished the day well.
Friday 5 June	Walterboro - Rincon 85mls, a couple of short showers but no problem. About 400 yards from our motel Eddy nearly bought one when he struck a raised lane separator as big as half a football, he was shaken, but fortunately not stirred. They have some strange ideas about road safety in this state Georgia, like grinding rumble strips into the cycle lane by the roadside leaving a dicey path to follow, so a series of half globes in the road was only to be expected.
Thursday 4 June	Charleston - Walterboro, 55mls, heavy rain am set us back, and possibly an extra tipple too many the night before.
Wednesday 3 June	Andrews - Charleston, 71mls, temp 90's.
Sunday 31 May	Jacksonville - Wilmington, 77mls, Hot/ Sunny, 87degrees. Left early today on a continental breakfast so by 12.30 a cooked breakfast was well overdue. The route today took a detour via Surf City, a beautiful coast line, our route took us again across the Intra Coastal Waterway, a beautiful sea route running behind islands and extends down into Florida and through the Gulf of Mexico. The Intra Coastal route will pop up a gain as we travel down country. Lost our route this afternoon, costing us 6 miles just when we didn't need it. Good riding today, but very hot 87F. The travel lodge here in Wilmington was a much needed break after a hot day.
Saturday 30 May	Cedar Island - Jacksonville 92mls, Warm and Sunny weather made for a fantastic ride through flat salt marsh, crossing a series of islands by bridge crossings. An excellent lunch in a locals cafe, set us up for the afternoon. The cafe staff were very attentive. They loved our accents. The last 10 miles into Jacksonville was horrendous with heavy traffic, arriving around 7pm.
Friday 29 May	Rodante - Cedar Island 50mls Warm and Sunny with a strong head wind made for a difficult ride to our first ferry at Hatteras to Ocracoke Island, 15 miles to our next ferry 2.25 hours on the ferry brought to the days end at Cedar Island. Meal and bed at 10ish. .Riding the Outer Banks of N. Carolina is spectacular . Saturday,
Thursday 28 May	Elizabeth - Rodante, 91mls, spectacular day, cycling thro the Outer Banks, a series of Islands connected by bridges and ferries. A puncture today brought me back to first principles. Spectacular bridges across Currituck Sound. A 2.5 ml bridge brought us to Pea Island.
Wednesday 27 May	Richmond - Waverley 67mls, passed thro Sussex and Surrey, pretty countryside Waverley - Elizabeth City, pleasant day, cycling thro peanut and tobacco plantation, off route now as we rode the last 25mls through swampland to arrive in Elizabeth early evening.
Tuesday 26 May	Fredericksburg - Richmond today, nice ride, cloud cover made for pleasant riding 77mls covered.
Monday 25 May	Mt Vernon - Fredericksburg, 68mls Hot/Humid Countryside is beginning to flatten thankfully after days of tough hills.
Sunday 24 May	Washington DC. Today we spent with Richard, Rita, Emma, Ann and Alan Quayle. Richard and Rita live here, Mum Dad and Sis visiting on Holiday. We saw the city highlights from a river trip and later Richard took us on a city trip to see more sites, White House etc. Thanks for your hospitality.
Saturday 23 May	Maryland - Washington. Arrived in DC via Rock Creek Trail, a bum numbing experience, 15 miles of uneven cycle track. A couple of weeks of hard riding owes us a day off tomorrow in Washington.
Friday 22 May	Wrightsville - Owings Mills, 78 miles, very hot and difficult cycling today. More Hamish sightings were a treat to see with a backdrop of stunningly beautiful Maryland countryside. This State shows no signs of the "Credit Crunch". Big farms everywhere go beyond your imagination. A great day only slightly tarnished by our difficulty in finding accommodation. We finally rested in the Hilton Garden Inn, $147 dollars, senior rate applied. A bottle of wine and a go faster tea from the micro made a pleasant end to the day. Tomorrow we hope to arrive in Washington to visit nephew Richard Quayle and his dear wife Rita. Ann and Alan and Emma are visiting too so I have no doubt that the wine will flow liberally, with "Senior" rates applied. Richard promised us a day off on Saturday to see more of Washington DC, the city of dreams. That promises to be a great experience. Nearly 600 miles covered already. We are slightly behind schedule but hope to pick up the pieces as time goes on. Eddy is impressive for a man of such advanced years. I tried to drop him a couple of times as a test of his quality, but he sits on my shoulder like a louse on a salmon. I only see him in the morning, lunchtime, and evening. He's Known as the "shadow" amongst fellow cycling friends. We're having a great time,
Wednesday 20 May	Morgantown - Wrightsville, another tough day through hilly forest. The weather was hot and sunny. The sound of "pips squeaking" echoed in the forest, only to be outdone by the sound of Black Bears beating on their chests. We were privileged to see Hamish people today. I photographed a Hamish ploughing a field with nine enormous mules, an incredible site in the 21st Century. Also we saw families on the road in large horse drawn carriages, this the most memorable site for me so far. Their dress dates back to the 17th Century. They live a simple life of those times, but clearly they are a well-off cult, their turnout was immaculate. As the day ended, almost in disaster, Eddy punctured as we entered Columbia, Pennsylvania. We'd just descended a steep hill. For some reason Eddy's tyre lifted off the rim, his tube went off like a pistol shot and a bloke on the sidewalk nearly jumped over a nearby wall. A quick tube change and we crossed the Susquehanna River to find shelter in Wrightsville at the Alpine Motel $55 for the room, no senior rate.
Tuesday 19th May	Lambertville - Morgantown. Weather sunny sometimes a cool breeze. We rode 71mls today, I told Eddy he could crack these miles, the same as his age. More tough miles today through beautiful country, we got the pit stops wrong and paid the price, "the dreaded Bonk", a bit like hitting the wall in a marathon; I've written books on that subject. When will we learn?
Monday 18th May	Edgewater - Lambertville. Cycle on through NJ on our way down to Pennsylvania. This involved two major river bridges, crossing was not easy as the sidewalk was barely wider than the bike and panniers, the traffic was scary as it was literally only feet away from us. At one point the path was grown over by Japanese Knot Weed and it was a case of ploughing our way through it. We arrived in Newark to start a difficult ride through a series of dodgy neighbourhood towns. As we approached Elizabeth ,NJ, a guy drove along side me and said we should be careful through this area. I asked him why, was the traffic dangerous, to which he replied , no the people, these buildings are hideouts for bad guys. He was a plain clothes officer and said he would escort us through. He drove behind us for half a mile then wished us well and disappeared into the sunset. After many miles of difficult riding through some beautiful countryside we ended up in the beautiful town of Lambertville, at the Station House Hotel, by the side of the Delaware River, "Senior Rates" of course.
Sunday 17 May	Weather cool but sunny. Cycled 68mls today mainly down US1, Postal Route. This road was the first postal route in the USA and extends from would you believe Boston to Key West. Connecticut is hilly and many of the roads busy, especially as we rode across the border into north New York, The Empire State. This was quite amazing, especially as we approached upper Manhattan via the Bronx. The roads are incredibly bad (potholes so deep the sun never rises in them.) Eventually we arrived at 29th Street in upper Manhattan, the approach road to the George Washington Bridge and our passage into New Jersey. Crossing the bridge was a formality, but again more rubbish roads on the New Jersey side. We soon took root in a motel in Edgewater, NJ, a couple of beers and fries finished the day. Our room looked across to Manhattan an amazing site seen only by a privileged few.
Friday May 15th	Late start again, Liam's excuse of jet-lag is wearing a little thin. Breakfast at Bruesters Begal Bar, was a good idea. The Manager there, asked for photographs to put in the company newsletter. A beautiful hot sunny day today compensated for yesterday. The roads are much easier for cycling now in southern Connecticut as we approach the seaboard facing Long Island. we turned up a no cycling highway earlier. The best advice we got to get out of the situation was to walk with the railway line ( about 3/4 mile to the nearest town) not to be advised. The afternoon was really hot and the prospect of a train in your butt tended to raise the body temperature. Early evening saw us in New Haven, the home of Yale University, a meal and a couple of beers ended the day. Today is the end of Liam's bike ride. Tomorrow we are going into Manhattan for the day then saying cheerio to Liam . He flies back to the UK Sunday evening and Singapore in a couple of days.. I gave Liam's bike to a guy on the counter staff at the hotel. He thought this was a message from above to get his waistline down. So he pledged to ride to work from now on. He was a very happy bunny.
Thursday May 14th	Another late start today thanks to Liam's love affair with his bed. The road continues to rise up in front of us and the going is really tough. Low miles each day mean that we really will have to be on the road earlier to get our daily average up. Liam punctured today around 2.30 pm. A hole in the side wall of his tyre meant we were going nowhere. Just as we ran out of ideas, no bike shops, and in the middle of a forest, a guy, Tom, pulled up and ran us and the bikes to a bike shop in a town called Manchester. Two new tyres and a tube saw us back on the road. It was raining by now so the sight of a Days Motel was more than welcome as torrential rain set in for most of the night. Dinner and a couple of Sam Adams in a Mexican across the road helped to set me up for a further nocturnal anthem from Eddy.
Wednesday 13 May	On the road at 9.40am and made our way into the centre of the town of Bellingham. Breakfast (full English) in an all American diner in Bellingham. Carried on to Mendon, and then on to Douglas and Webster. Lunch in Webster (Caesar salads all round). Set out again and crossed the state line from Massachusetts into Connecticut at 3.46pm. Photos all round. Massachusetts was very beautiful, nice wide roads and liked by all but due probably to its harsh winters has turned road potholes into an art form. Connecticut on the other hand specialises in hills, particularly the "up" variety. Carried on through Woodstock, Eastford, Phoenixville, Ashford and Mansfield Four Corners. Bit of a shortage of convenience stores around these parts and everyone got rather thirsty. Started to get dark. Turned out nobody's' front lights worked. Ended up in the alumni residences of the University of Connecticut (very posh, a tad expensive). Burgers, salmon and beer for dinner.
Tuesday 12 May	Sorted out the bikes and made various arrangements for the trip. Set out from the Hastings household at 11.30am. Cycled to Foxboro where we had a late lunch and said a final good bye to Sean Hastings who had driven to meet us there. Carried on through Massachusetts, past the New England Patriots stadium, as well as the lovely town of Franklin, named after the former US President Benjamin Franklin. Had a light rain shower but nothing too bad. Got hopelessly lost ended up retraced our steps by 3 miles. Dad (Bill) relieved of map reading duties on Eddie's advice. Stayed the night in Bellingham in a roadside motel. Chips for dinner.