Day 9, 65 miles, Lorton to Culpeper, VA
Day 8, 60 miles, Columbia, MD, to Lorton, VA
Day 7, 45 miles, Aberdeen to Columbia, MD
First of all, allow me to apologize in advance to anyone from Baltimore, who has family and friends in Baltimore, or who has some special affinity for the city.
But Baltimore ranks dead last on my list of cities to bike through.
Major (and mid-major) cities I’ve cycled through on this trip and their bike friendliness
1. Philadelphia (takes care to put bike lanes through most major streets in town)
2. New York City (the roads suck but the bike culture is prevalent, and exciting!)
3. Wilmington, DE (small enough so that riding is easy; and an awesome bike path out the south side of town)
4. New Haven, CT (see #3; small city, nice bike path coming INto town)
5. Washington, DC (good bike culture here, too, and lots of bike lanes, but a little dicey getting into the city; bonus for a great bike path across the river in Alexandria, VA; and the Capitol area can’t be beat for biking through)
6. Newark, NJ (huge gap between #5 and #6 here; Newark was awful: bad, bumpy streets full of dangerous holes, and not bike friendly—literally bike-unfriendly)
7. Baltimore (I didn’t think a city could surpass Newark until I risked my life riding into Baltimore. No bike lanes, tons of traffic, asshole drivers—even a fire engine buzzing me. And it didn’t help that it was pouring rain and I slipped on crosswalk paint downtown and went down. Just a cherry on my knee (I’m fine, Mom) but had to realign handlebars.)
Baltimore (east Baltimore anyway) looks like a city that has given up.
Also, this isn’t Baltimore’s fault, but it was fitting. This is spring, and I knew I’d be riding through some rain, and strong winds at times. But hail? I didn’t see that coming. About halfway through the city I’m getting pelted with ice pellets, a full-blown hail storm! I started laughing, not a funny haha laugh, more like an FU laugh, like “bring it on, that’s all you got?” It seems a little crazy looking back.
Here’s a pic of me in the pouring rain, in front of the Guinness factory (I should’ve just gone in and downed some). 
Ok, thanks for letting me get all that off my chest.
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Please Step Away from the Route 95 Corridor
Today, Day 9 of my 70-day xUS bike tour, was tough, but ultimately beautiful, and a relief.
I camped out last night in Lorton, VA, south of DC.
Departure this morning was later than I’d prefer, about 10 a.m. Headed northwest toward Manassas, happy to be going inland. I got on a busy Highway 28 with no shoulder and lots of wind, of course. And of course, the wind was easterly so blowing right in my face, clocking 15 mph. Often I’d get a gust that would drop me down two gears.
It’s been three days of the wind, today the worst. Sometimes I think I’m making peace with it. Then it rears up and smacks me down on the way up a tough hill, and the fighting starts all over again.
But. I was relieved, because for the first time on this trip, I escaped the I-95/Route 1 corridor. For eight days I crisscrossed I-95, precariously navigating those interstate entrances/exits, and often traveling right on shoulder-less Route 1.
Now, for the first time I was free of that crazy traffic.
Top 3 Cycling Enemies
1. Wind
2. Hills
3. Cars
Then. THEN, after a couple hours of fighting the heavy headwind and threading the needle of the tiny shoulder on this busy little rural highway, I was steered by my nav lady onto tiny little county roads.
And I stopped. And breathed. Finally, finally, there were no cars. I could hear birds, and insects, and my bike whirring. I could see open fields, and flowers, and smell nature instead of fuel exhaust. It was finally the endorphin shot I badly needed.
The wind continued to howl, but I didn’t mind nearly so much anymore. It was a hard day but not a bad one.
I’m finally heading west.