Day 53: One Big Rest Stop

68.3 km

When I first started biking at 9:30, I felt incredibly strong and rested. I don't remember ever having such a feeling of being able to cycle any distance, loaded or not. The first 50 km went by incredibly fast and I was feeling very motivated. When I thought of the fact that it was no need for me to bike very far for the rest of the trip, it dealt a kind of demoralizing blow to my motivation. Because I had prior to the departure for Seattle set a fixed date for my flight home - paid and everything- I had always had this small bit of pressure to do the daily mileage or more, so that I can relax if an accident was to occur or if I needed rest days or even just to relax at the end. Now that I am at the end, without any accidents to make up for and have had more rest days than ever planned, I find myself in a position where I actually want to bike for a considerable amount of hours a day. I have gotten so used to the routine that I felt restless, even 50 km into the day. 

When I reached Max Meadows - a small town with a convenience store and a railroad cutting through, I spotted a pavilion under which I probably could chill out for some time. I went over to the store and got a cold drink and sat down in the shade, studying my maps. I was trying to decide wether I should push for Yorktown (the official endpoint of the Trans America Bicycle Trail), an option which included I would have to backtrack 150 km and be a little stressful, or just take my time, aiming for D.C. the whole time. 

After spending about 6 hours (!) on the same bench, reading a book and taking nap, I decided it was time to go. It didn't take me long to get to the next campground and after passing it to get a delicious meal at an Italian restaurant, I headed back about 2 km to the campground. I got there as little late due to basically the whole day being spent in procrastination, but I managed to get a sweet spot by the river just as the sun set behind the rugged Appalachians.