It all worked out beautifully

Wow, is really the one word to sum up my day yesterday. Well I still don't really believe it but I rode the entire del-mar-va peninsula yesterday. 130 miles into 10mph winds, this is incredible for me. Ya know I really believed in myself about 10 miles into the ride and it happened.

Riding route 13 the entire way I saw way backwoods things. And it's amazing how much stuff you find on the shoulder of a road, mostly various tools that I would pick up but I don't want to be hauling the weight. So my ride is pretty decent, mostly countryside, then temperature is good, gas stations to fill up drinks are no too rare, body is feeling good, then about 80 miles in.....

Flat tire in the back, which is more difficult then a flat in the front but anyway. I take off all my gear attached to the bike, remove the wheel and then notice I have a broken spoke! Not cool because I forgot spokes. Having a broken spoke makes the wheel wobble like it's bent. So I replace the flat, put the wheel back on and then see it wobbles so much it doesn't clear my brake pad! Now I'm not real happy I'm in the middle of nowhere and know it's not even asking if there is a bike shop around because I can guarantee there isn't! I end up just completely disconnecting the back brake because trying to true the wheel with the neighboring spokes was taking too long. So I over inflate the wheel and get back on the road moving pretty good again but feeling a little uneasy about my ghetto fix.

I finally see a sign I like 30 miles to the bay bridge and tunnel. I call ahead and tell the toll authority I'm about 2 hours out and need a lift across. I did some research on this before I left and knew what I had to do. They say not a problem see you soon and were very nice. I get there and wait out back for my ride. Charles shows up in a pickup truck we load the bike in and pull around so I can pay the toll, ok I'm not complaining about 12$. At this point I melt into the pickup seat because for the last 3 hours this moment was front and center on my mind! It's a nice ride across and I just kinda zone out for a minute before the stressing starts.

I get across and the plan was to stay with a friend but that connection failed me so now I need to find a place. I call a hostel on the side of the road and book a hotel room with them for 60$ a night right in the middle of the action! Great! But priority #1 is fixing this freaking bike!

I iPhone bike shops and find one on my way to the hotel but now it's 5:30 Saturday and my fear is there closing soon and probably not open tomorrow. And in the meantime I get a slow leak in the back tire that requires pimping up every 20 minutes. Ok people right now I've had enough riding for today, enough of it all, but I know how vital it is to get to a bike shop and get this fixed asap. Oh and by the way I don't know how I'm still riding because my legs are at about 10%. so first bike shop closed, but they recommend another open till 8 but 5 miles away. I ride there in about 10 minutes somehow. I meet a guy named ray, tell him my situation and we get started on my bike right away. He even goes over the whole bike and finds another minor problem with my handlebars. He and the other tech Rhett are real cool dudes and they give me info on my next portion of the ride. So it's now dark I'm all fixed up for 20$ and I leave to find my hotel.

Another 5 freaking miles to it, and I have a pretty dangerous encounter with a speeding Ferrari. But anyway I get there safely and check in. Wow I have arrived my very own hard earned hotel room, amazing. I shower up and walk out to the beach and boardwalk 1 block away kinda feeling like a zombie. Eat some pizza take a look around and head back to the room for the highly anticipated bed time. I decide to stay in Virginia beach for another day because there us rain on the way and my legs are screaming at me. Tomorrow I move to the hostel bed for 20$