Margaret brought me to Richmond last night to begin my journey. It was too late to do any riding so I had dinner and relaxed in my motel room. It’s a shabby motel, a little musty, but it’s clean.
The Schwinn stows nicely between the beds.
My motel is right on US 40 near the end of the Dayton Cutoff, which you can read more about here. It’s also near a road that I’ve long suspected is an old alignment of the National Road. It’s signed as Woodside Drive. It is a curved road that begins and ends at US 40. This map snippet shows both roads. Woodside Drive starts immediately left of the Red Lobster, and the Dayton Cutoff comes in from bottom right at an angle and ends at US 40, which is the double yellow line.
All the way here I felt strong feelings that could have been either excitement or anxiety. Maybe they were both. What a thing I’m doing! For the next four days it’s just me out on this road I love so much, seeing it much closer than I ever have. But I’m definitely apprehensive about the risks — traffic, bad weather, bike breakdowns, bad people. I’ve prepared as best I can for these things, and now I just have to relax into the ride.
