We are in Virginia.

About to head off to sleep at the close of the first day on the east coast - Newport News, VA. All participants gathered yesterday evening at Jordan's house before a series of tearful goodbyes and then airport boardings. I took my bike pump carry on, jutting out wildly from one of my panniers, thankfully without issue.

We are being hosted by a wonderful woman named Jessica who was kind enough to pick up the first group of four from the airport, and then Adam on a later flight. She was also kind enough to prepare a spaghetti dinner and has been ceaseless in making sure we cast off with a high opinion of Virginia. The bikes were all here when we arrived and were in relatively good shape.

We spent the better part of the morning and early afternoon putting everything together, then organizing the contents of the bags, and having a quick spin around the block to ensure no essential components dropped totally off the bicycles.

They are no longer bikes. They are water buffalo. Unwieldy. Cantankerous. Hairy. Burdened by who knows how many pounds of gear. Nah, they're OK. They just take a bit longer to push up to speed. Tomorrow will be the real shakedown. We finally got fenders on Jordan's bike. This was the third brand he's tried. It took all evening and a fair amount of cursing, and some outrageously thin clearances to the tire, but they're finally on.

Speaking of tomorrow - the weather calls for thunderstorms. We'll wake up in the morning and evalutate.

I'm having a pretty difficult time wrapping my head around two months of bicycling, but it's been all smiles so far.

The Backyard/Hobo Encampment

Putting it all together.

Business Time.

Michelin Man.

Jordan is unconscious.