THE BIGger RIDE COMPLETED

From Bill:

The ride on Sunday, August 12th was the fulfillment of a challenge I posed for myself when I "signed on" with the ALAW Big Ride. As you may know, I started a few days before the official start of June 25th, at Cape Flattery, the most northwesterly point of the contiguous United States. That was a two-day (~65 mi. + 55 mi.) ride to Kingston, WA, from which I took a ferry ride (with bike atop car) to Edmonds. Then I started with the official ride with my fellow riders at Lake Washington on June 25th. The ride to the Delaware coast followed the end of the Big Ride.

There are a couple of things good to know about the ride from Washington, DC to the Atlantic Coast. The most important is that provision must be made for the crossing of Chesapeake Bay. Bicycles are expressly forbidden from the bridge (actually a bridge, an island, and a second bridge completing the crossing of the Bay).

The second is the length of the ride - 96.5 miles to Broadkill Beach on the Atlantic at the termination of Delaware Route 16.

This is a pretty easy ride, with mostly low elevations, rolling forested hills, and flat agricultural landscape. In general the route I took was replete with generous shoulders, and, on Sunday, the traffic was light in the easterly direction.

On August 11th, we rode on Independence Avenue going west from the Greek lunch to the finish line. My ride began on Independence Avenue going east. I stayed on this route through street name changes (to East Capital Avenue), weird intersections, but always going straight east and following signs to Route 214 East to Annapolis. I remained on 214 East with only one very unnerving lane change: two highway-speed lanes to the right need to be crossed to continue on 214 to the left. Once past this, a blissful ride to Annapolis follows. Look for a left on Riva Road at about mile 28 or stay on 214 until Route 2 North. Both intersect Route 450 for a right turn into Annapolis. Lunch in the harbor is a pleasant stop, after which you can put your bike on your sag vehicle and go over the bridge. Follow Route 50 to the bridge. The bicycle permission sign is approximately 3 to 4 miles after the second bridge. Proceed on Route 50 until you reach Route 404 (left turn off Route 50). Continue on 404 East until you reach 16 East (about 8 miles east of Denton) - a great route out to the coast with good shoulder.

I apologize for not offering a century - I had the disadvantage of a map - a cue sheet would probably give you a century! (To David Latner - a few loops around the parking lot at Broadkill Beach would get the 100 miles for you.)

Overall the ride is quite nice, with very familiar appearing countryside along the way - cornfields and forested rolling hills reminiscent of the ride from Gettysburg. The anomalous bonus I got (having missed seeing buffalo where "the buffalo roam") was seeing buffalo on Route 16 near Denton right at, humorously, Buffalo Road.

That does my ride, very close to 3,500 miles coast to coast, with very little coasting along the way.