Day 40 – Romney, WV to Purcellville, VA

Weather
Temperature: 40°F to 72°F
Conditions: Clear
Wind: SE 8 mph

Ride Info
Altimeter Trip: 3,950 ft
Altimeter Odometer: 89,750 ft
Maximum Speed: 44.5 mph
Average Speed: 17.7 mph
Distance Trip: 70.1 miles
Distance Odometer: 3,062.5 miles
Elapsed Time: 3 hr 46 min 42 sec


It was another cold start this morning and had some early morning fog to contend with (but nothing like we faced back in Iowa). Today’s ride put me over 3,000 miles for the trip. It was another hilly ride, and I was still suffering from the effort I put in two days ago. I rode much of today by myself as I was in a reflective mood. On one hand, I was excited that I would soon be completing a great accomplishment in just a few days. On the other hand, I was bit melancholy as my trip would soon be coming to an end.

We passed through Winchester about midway through today’s ride. I rode around town looking for a bike shop to get a new cassette put on my bike. The town seemed like a ghost town. Where the hell was everyone? After a while, it sunk in – today was Sunday. You never really remembered what day it was on the trip. So I got back on the trail and moseyed my way into Purcellville. We stayed at a nice high school there. Tomorrow’s ride would take us right into Washington DC and we’d spend a majority of the day on a bike path. I talked to one of the mechanics, and he told me about a bike shop that was just off the path near Leesburg Highway. I was pretty nervous hoping that I wouldn’t get lost or something. I really needed to get a new cassette installed because my bike was shifting more and more like shit. Less than 200 miles to go…