We will dedicate this rather short entry to the wild wonderful lands of Virginia. It is now day two on the road since we left dc, and the highlights have been Zach slightly vocal sleeping patterns, a blown tire and near death experience for Anthony, a night spent sleeping beside a graveyard, and oh yeah, one more thing. MOUNTAINS.

When we left the Heinswincz estate on Thursday morning after some fond wishes and fruit breakfast, we pressed on via a small highway and made our way back to the ever so familiar Rt 50, on which we began our trip in Ocean City. The ground was flat for about 10 miles before we came upon our first hill. It was small, pleasant, and the ride down was a grateful reward for the efforts put in on the ride up. The tenth hill however, did not warrant the same response. As we continued to go on the hills seemed to get successively taller. The mild warmth in our legs slowly transformed into a deep burn, and the small beads of sweat on our brows quickly started to stream down our cheeks. If you haven’t picked up on it from the description, this was not easy.

Somewhere in between these countless hills, Anthony managed to run into a bit of a problem in the form of a small shard of metal on the side of the road. Now when riding at about 20 mph, the shard, combined with the 40 pounds or so of gear strapped to the rear of the bicycle sends the front tire sailing into the road. Luckily, no cars were around to take advantage of this little mishap.

Upon completion of our first tire patching, we continued along a number of narrow roads cut through the mountains. We passed a few small towns with names like Middlebergh, Uppertown, and enjoyed a bowl of chili and sandwiches at a quant little deli called Danks’s. Even if we were able to eat at another establishment in this blink of a village, we were happy to have chosen it for its tasty food and uncommonly sweet name. Check our webshots soon for an appropriate picture.

A few hours later we were forced to make camp behind a small graveyard. Yes, that’s right, we slept outside of a graveyard. Now we realize that this is how just about every horror movie begins but after trying to ask several home owners if we could sleep on the edge of their property and being turned down (northern Virginians must still be pissed about the outcome of the civil war) a graveyard was our last option. Despite a small bite of fear we made it through the night with out any serious hauntings.

Now Friday morning mother nature decided to roll three elements that we had not seen thus far on the trip into a nice icy snowball and throw it right into our faces. Each of these elements on their own would have been difficult to overcome, however, the three of them acting together proved too much even for Team LOCO. The first element was the cold. The temperature had dropped to below 50 degrees over the night so we decided to buddle up a little more than usual. The second element was some serious mountains. Yesterday we thought we had climbed mountains, but those were simply small hills by comparison. The third and most difficult element to deal with was a steady downpour that continued to increase as we climbed.

After about 25 miles of fighting these three elements we finally succumbed to the pressures of mother nature as we stopped at a Golden Corral for a glorious buffet and then walked next door and checked into a Sleep Inn. The lady at the front desk gave us a discount on the room because she said, “You guys just look so pitiful.” We couldn’t disagree. Our toes and fingers were numb, we were drenched from head to foot, and our faces were drained with fatigue. However, after a nice rewarding sleep in beds and a solid continental breakfast, we are ready for our second attempt at the Appalachian Mountains. Wish us luck, next stop, Wild Wonderful, West Virginia.