There are a lot of churches along the route. This was one of the more striking ones today.

To Charlottesville

Some of the country convenience stores that are marked on the map have closed down, so we were glad to find this one open. I was starting on my peanut butter sandwich when Ingo came out with a tub of ice cream. That looked much more exciting than my sandwich, so there I was soon after with a tub of my own. It went down really well. After all the rain it is very humid, so the roller coaster hills were hard work.

Our scenic camping spot at William Hale's farm.

Ashland to Hale's farm.

During a beautifull route through rolling fields of wheat between shady wooded stretches, I came across this family of geese crossing a bridge. They waddled halfway up the hill in front of me before they veered off into the woods. But they weren't holding me up, I was huffing up the hill in 1st gear and battling to keep up!

It was a challenge to find a spot to pitch that wasn't waterlogged. It has rained a lot here. Check out the monster rv's in the background!

Day 3

Morning rush for coffee at the first convenience store. One of the shorter days, 30 miles to Americamp near Ashland.

Battlefields

The many preserved Civil War battlefields make good spots to munch on some sandwiches.

Williamsburg to Willis Church

After more on the parkway the route followed this new Capital bike path. It was another wet day, but luckily we could sleep indoors at Willis Methodist Church.

Wheel dipping in Yorktown

It was too cold and wet to wait for the whole group to do the wheel dipping. So we just did it quickly and got no our way back to our motel in Williamsburg. If all goes well I'll be dipping the wheel in the Pacific in three months.

Drizzly ride along parkway to Yorktown

Getting ready to set off on day 1

All packed

Time to pack

Final check of all the gear. It sure looks like a lot of stuff when its laid out like this! But I kept pretty much to the suggested packing list. Then its pack the bike and panniers. The Arkel panniers swallowed all the kit with space to spare. Arkel's front loading panniers really are a pleasure. Bundle the panniers together and I'm good to go.

5 days to go

Last weekend ride before I leave. This has to be one of the toilets with the best view! It looks out over the Karnmelkspruit gorge. You have a good 8km climb to enjoy this view.

6 days to go

My dad joining me for a windy ride

9 days to go.

Keeping the legs turning with 9 days before blast off. Fine tuning the load but not finding much I can put in the 'nice to have' pile and leave at home instead of the 'must have' pile that I'll haul 7000km for 3 months across the US.

12 days to go

12 days to go. Can't wait to get on tour and see new scenery. But this view still beats a cityscape!