About my First Tour.

I pulled onto Park Ave @ Thompson around 9am, loaded up my bike and hit the road at about 9:30am. Most of the first 30 minutes of my ride was spent adjusting my fenders and mounting my bike with gear correctly, (believe it or not, this is an art!)

I passed gillies park at 10 and Dorey Park at 10:30. (Again, a bit slow the first hour) I started to get a decent pace when I turned onto Bike Route 76, which I maintained all the way to Surry country. There really isn't much to Surry County besides the occasional turkey or deer crossing the road.

Map of Route Here: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Asher-s-first-bike-tour

While on the Ferry I noticed my quads to be in a bit more pain than I would imagine 65 miles into my trip. I adjusted my saddle about 2 inches higher and that seemed to prevent the pain getting any worse. My glutes. . . a different story, I will definitely need to replace the saddle with a Brooks Touring saddle seen  here www.brooksengland.com/en/Shop_ProductPage.aspx?cat=saddles+-+touring+%26+trekking&prod=Flyer  you really started to feel every bump in the road after riding 8 hours.

Williamsburg is more beautiful than I remembered it, but I didn't have much time to enjoy it today since I still had miles to go before I slept. I jumped on the Colonial Parkway and headed to Yorktown. I had wanted to make it to the Newport News Campgrounds, butthe light had faded to fast, and I didn't care much for biking at night, so I did some guerilla camping. I found a nice secluded spot on the York River, and set up camp for the night.

In the morning I stopped at Aroma's Cafe' in Williamsburg and got a breakfast of eggs, bacon, OJ, coffee, hash browns, toast and a fruit bowl. I figgured since I'm burning 500 calories an hour I needed a big breakfast, which is also a great thing about touring, since your burning an EXTRA 4000 calories a day you can eat whatever you want and still lose fat and gain muscle.

I took route 5 the rest of the way home, (a beautiful ride) most of which has a designated bike trail on it. (A full Richmond to Williamsburg bike trail should be completed sometime 2012) I stopped frequently to eat an energy bar and rest. I knew I had already bit off more than I SHOULD chew at this stage in my training when I was halfway through the trip.

What I learned:
-Take care of your quads, palms, and glutes, these spots are where all the pressure is held (suprisingly not so much on your feet)
-I need a better saddle (seat)
-I need better panniers (bags)
-I need better gloves
-Don't buy cheap gear
-Don't wear shoes with laces while on a bike.
-Eat a lot and eat often!
-Carry more water than you think you will need (you don't even realize your sweating that much with the wind in your face. I drank nearly 3 gallons of gatorade/water over a period of 36 hours and pee'd about a liter-I also lost nearly 3 lbs. of body weight)
-Bring SPF infinity (I still got a bit burned with 30)
-People are more friendly to you when you're on a bike.
-Stretch every couple of hours
-The second long ride is guaranteed to be more enjoyable.