Marching on to Fredericksburg

October 18th and 19th

Sorry for the confusion, I don't have any hay!

The Arkel Panniers have been great for carrying gear. The clothing choices--particularly my Gore Phantom Jersey--have been fantastic. Our bike lights have allowed us to see and be seen.

None of this really helps, of course, when you and your traveling partner don't quite realize how malnourished you are.

This morning we felt the repercussions from last night's ice cream lunch and peanut m & m dinner. My first mistake was suggesting that we try to make up for lost time by skipping breakfast at the campground and finding a place to eat on route. Nicole rightly informed me that this was beyond idiotic and counter-intuitive. In light of her suggestion, I started preparing our usual breakfast of oatmeal and sugar.

"I can't live like this," said Nicole dramatically. "I can't live like this."

"I'm doing exactly what you asked me to do." I said.

This sparked an intense, idiotic disagreement about whether or not we were arguing, after which we agreed to eat more real food as originally intended and be less concerned about daily mileage. With that, we packed up our gear and hit the open road.

Riding on the open road didn't last long. We were both feeling the effects from yesterday's bizarre food choices. It was like we were going through real food withdrawal. I felt a little fatigued and lightheaded, and Nicole said she felt sick to her stomach. We rode for about an hour and half before she could take no more. "I have to stop," she said. "I don't feel good."

We decided to diverge from the route about a mile and half and stop at a hotel. It would require much eating just to get us back into shape after yesterday's food fiasco. We stocked up on some real food at a boutique natural food store to have some fresh food back at the hotel along with the freeze-dried meal that we had originally planned to eat the night before. We still felt fatigued. For dinner, we went to a very tasty sushi bar. Great taste, great proteins, we still felt fatigued. It was time to retire for the night.

When we woke up the following day, we ate the continental "breakfast" before returning to the road. We didn't get far before we saw a rather inviting diner. The chrome exterior was so shiny that it looked brand new and the sign proudly boasted that they purchased local foods. I couldn't resist, and even though we had only been on the road for 15 minutes, it was time for brunch.

The menus were fantastic. They let us know which foods were in peak season and the point of origin of just about every item the diner served. We could relax knowing that our eggs came from an Amish farm in Pennsylvania. Nicole was giddy when she saw that this place had pumpkin milkshake. After we ate, we finally felt energized and ready to go!

This pumpkin milkshake was tasty but too filling!

For future reference, if anyone is traveling in the DC suburbs of Virginia, this place is the Silver Diner, located at 14375 Smoketown Road, Dale City, VA.

Shortly after leaving Smoketown road we find ourselves outside of the DC suburbs and--quite unofficially--in the "real" Virginia. At first it's not a pretty sight. We see a giant landfill literally across the street from a pristine national forest--but these give way as approach rolling fields and undeveloped forests. We cross a few of Virginia's many "runs," those small streams of which the most famous is Bull. The houses are a mix of homes which date from three eras: recent McMansions, smaller, more modest homes from the '50s and '60s, and estates that go back hundreds of years. White picket fences hem in horses from these fantastic colonial-era edifices. We're in Dixie all right.

As sundown approaches, we find that the hotel we planned to stay at has gone out of business. There's a motel 6 a few miles away, but it requires us riding off the route and uphill. It is what it is, and since there's rain in the forecast, it's not a bad proposition at all.

Tomorrow, the fine city of Fredericksburg . . .