Day 1 - Monday, May 11
Miles - 41.5

I started out my first day with very little sleep, too much on my mind the night before. The three hours I slep during the drive down to Yorktown were just not enough. After a brief lunch with Dad, and about an hour setup of the bike and all the gear and a few photos, I finally got the ride started around noon. Rainy for most of the day, I was just focused on getting used to following the maps and getting a feel for the extra weight on the bike. Gear weighed in at 52lbs, much less than I thought I was going to be trying to bring. But you do feel every pound of it, and I haven't even gotten to the real climbs. First day was relatively smooth, no major hills to climb, no problems. And not much in the way of people, pretty rural country. The route took me through a very wet Colonial Williamsburg where I had my picture taken with some colonial fancy lad and immediately moved on. Around dinner time, I met a lady, Theresa, who kindly guided me to a country store in Charles City (they use the term "city" pretty loosely) where the owner let me camp in the back by the pond. Already nice folks helping out. Camping was great by the pond, many new sounds at night. Sounds a bit different from Chicago, or Philly.

Found myself with mixed emotions: proud of myself and enjoying the moment, but also missing people. People to share it with. Woke up at 6:30 to the sounds of the local rooster. That was new!