Day 1 – 49 Miles

Yes!!!! My journey finally began today. I took me forever to fall asleep last night because I was so freaking excited for this morning. The weather was a beautiful 70 degrees and sunny, blue skies, birds chirping. You get the idea. I got the most amazing sendoff from the lovely Shaunna Elizabeth Muffley and the ever gorgeous Vivienne, she took some sweet videos of the first few feet of my journey. On top of that I had my good friends Jon and Shelby ride with me the first few miles. It was all so perfect.

Jon seeing me off for the first few miles. Thanks, brother!!!

The first hour or so I rode on the Dismal Swamp Trail I talked about in my previous post. It was just as beautiful as the last time. As I approached the end of the Virginia section of it an old fella on a recumbent trike flagged me down and we chatted for a bit. He was supremely jealous that he couldn’t just ride off into the sunset like me. Apparently his wife only trusts him out on day rides haha. Once he stopped talking my ear off (in a good way, he was really nice) I crossed onto the highway for a bit before rejoining the Dismal Swamp Trail on the North Carolina side. NEW STATE!  The trail only lasted a few miles and dumped me out onto a county highway that luckily ran right through my next stop in Sunbury. There wasn’t much of a shoulder and there were plenty of huge semis whizzing past but they were surprisingly courteous and moved to the other lane while passing me (mostly).

First new state!!!

I stopped in Sunbury at a mini mart to fill up my water bottles, grab a snack and check my phone. Lo and behold I have zero service, which kind of sucks because the last thing I want is for someone to fail to get ahold of me and think I’m pancaked on the side of the road by a huge truck. My map told me there was a library about 15 miles up the road right near my camping spot for the night so I headed over there to soak up some wifi. After I got that out of the way I headed to the campsite. It’s a nice place and has unlimited hot showers which I most definitely needed but at 18 bucks it was kind of steep. Meh. I’m not gonna complain 🙂

My campsite for the evening 🙂

So now I’m going to lay around in my hammock (thank you Johnny Boy!) and read before I cook my dinner of spam and spaghetti. Yum yum yum! Oh, and how could I almost forget to mention one of the best parts of my day. So as I was riding out of Sunbury towards the library this lady sitting on her porch waves me down and asks me where I’m headed. When I tell her my next stop is Florida her eyes almost pop out of her head. She tells me to hold on a second and runs inside. When she comes back out she brings me a gigantic glass of ice cold, fresh squeezed lemonade. It was soooooo goooood. I chugged it, thanked her profusely and was on my way. I think that was a good sign of the good things to come.

18 Replies to “Day 1 – 49 Miles”

  1. So proud of you bro! Can’t wait to see more of your amazing journey!

  2. Jessica (sister) says:

    I’m glad you had an awesome first day!

    Love you!

  3. James, when you hit Florida let me know. If your close I’ll ride awhile with you! Jim said to stay safe! ?

    1. Of course! That would be amazing. I’ll let you know when I get to Tampa ?

  4. What am amazing first day. ❤❤❤keep on keeping on friend. Any way we Could get a shot of your meals from day to day? Your dinner sure sounded interesting. ??❤

  5. Angela Mikulenka says:

    Dude this is super cool and I’m super jealous!! I will be tuning in everyday!! Stay safe ☺️

  6. Angela Mikulenka says:

    Dude this is super cool and I’m super jealous!! I will be tuning in everyday!! Stay safe ☺️

    1. Thanks girl ❤️

  7. David horrocks says:

    Stay safe out there! Im glad your first day went well.

  8. Sounds like a great beginning to an awesome adventure. I pray that you will continue to meet neat people and will be safe on this journey. Looking forward to reading your posts each day.

  9. Chris Garcia says:

    Good luck and God Bless you Bro. Love it! Can’t wait to see more…of the “trials and tribulations” of your journey. Hoo-yah!

    1. Thanks a lot, Chris! I’ve got many miles to go but I’ve never been happier

  10. Jimmy- you are amazing! I’m so glad you are able to do this! I loved reading about your first day adventure! I can’t wait to hear about your next adventure! Stay safe!

    1. Thanks, Lore! Second day is up and I’ll keep em coming unless I’m too tired to type hehe ??

  11. Jimmy… friend… you never cease to amaze me <3 please be so, so safe and have a shit ton of fun. Maybe I'll see you again… someday 😀

  12. Lauren Bartholomew says:

    Ok – following from San Antonio, Texas! Hope you’ve heard of Warmshowers.org – couch surfing for touring cyclists

    1. Yes! I plan on using it in the future when I’m in an area that has hosts. Thank you! ???

  13. Re: Warmshowers – be sure to download the free App – makes finding hosts much easier! Have a fantastic trip!

Comments are closed.