...And I said what the hell, and kept going south toward the island. It was a detour, no doubt. But as I biked over the separation bicycle/pedestrian bridge to the island, I had a sense of wonder that forgot all the miles I would be doing today. I figured I would get a quick look at the island, but there was no way I would actually see any of these wild horses...only to be proven wrong immediately, as there were two right off the bike trail, the moment I got onto the island. I stopped to take a couple pictures of them up close, and then biked on along the trail. I would see a few more in the distance, but nothing like those two. I biked on along the trail paralleling the road through lovely scenery, until I reached the beach. I took a little time to soak it in, then decided I best be hightailing it back off the island, having now made the day somewhere around a 95 miler with this diversion, another 80some miles ahead. I got to see those same two horses who greeted my arrival to the island now off in the distance on the other side of the road. Then I biked back over the bridge, back up the road to the fork, and turned the proper direction this time, able to now say that at the least, I had glimpsed Assateague.
I was only briefly on the busier 113, before turning off, at the suggestion of both my host of last night and Google, onto meandering side roads. They were wonderful, scenic and rural, surprisingly maintained, hardly a car on them, all the traffic on the more main roads. Eventually I got back onto the slightly more used highway 12, taking me through some tiny towns. Up to the Virginia, where it turned to 679 and also completely lost shoulder. I had to pay more attention, but the traffic still wasn't too heavy, so it was fine. Then I was on busy highway 13 for about 20 miles, but had mostly good shoulder for all of it. I was able to stop at a convenience store, finally, and refill on water as well as get a little food (chilled candy bar? Hell yeah). From 13, I got off and navigated some more side roads.
I got increasingly nervous the further out I went, away from any town or main road, through woods with no trespassing signs posted on trees every ten feet. Google had me take a rough dirt road that appeared to be right through someone's farm (and I would learn that indeed it was). Then it told me I had arrived...with nothing in sight. I wandered about, utterly unsure where to go, with barely any cell signal, and no response to the call I had made to my host. Right when I was wondering what I was going to do, someone in a truck came up beside me and asked if I was looking for the very people I happened to be looking for. I said yes, and he told me I actually had to turn around, and let me know right where I needed to go.
I arrived at the property and was rather instantly overwhelmed. I waited for awhile on the front steps of the large house with workers going about their business. My hosts run an oyster farm, as at least part of their business, as I had it explained their money had been made in realestate. One of their workers talked to me awhile, then my host himself greeted me and showed me where to take my bike into the side garage, where I noticed the charging port for a Tesla, and he explained that his wife would be showing up in it soon. Then we rode an elevator, yes, elevator, up to the third floor, where I was shown to the guest bedroom with its own private bathroom. Before taking my shower, I grabbed a beer from one of the two built-in mini fridges, the one for alcohol, and the other for other drinks. It is easily the fanciest modern house I have ever been in. It's even rigged up as a smart house...though somewhat humorously, thanks to those complications, as a result of some internet work that had been done, they were temporarily unable to watch television, thanks to the way it was rigged up.
While the husband was busy with projects he needed to have done before their upcoming trip around Europe, I was able to spend some time talking to the wife and learn about some of their touring, primarily on trails, about their other adventures, family, and the house. And we were all able to get together for dinner, where I would hear about his past time owning a bike shop, and about their new extremely nice custom built titanium touring bikes with Pinion (similar to Rohloff, but the gearbox up front in the bottom bracket instead of rear hub, 18 speed, and a much newer technology, one I hadn't been familiar with), to replace their old similarly set up LHTs that they planned to now keep in Europe as their Europe touring bikes... Not to mention some stuff about the smart house and their other toys. I marvel at it all, but he made mention of how quickly your possessions can start to own you, and that I can understand. While meanwhile he marveled at the couple who had come through yesterday with completely jury-rigged set ups, cheap bikes with plastic buckets bungied on as panniers and even a milk crate in place of a handle bar bag, nearly finished in a tour they started in Seattle, down the coast, across the southern tier, and now up this coast to New York (where their sail boat is at, having done this trip as way to get back to their own boat after getting paid to deliver someone else's). All the nice gear and fancy stuff is good, my host was saying, but it was good being reminded it can all be done without. I've gotten to have some experience on both sides of that fence, from my cheap mountain bike and repurposed Walmart kid trailer to my sleek 920 with quality panniers, and I am very glad for that gift in perspective. For all that I drool over a Ti frame and Rohloff hub...would I have any more fun for it or any better stories to tell? I don't think I would. I can wish for no greater luxury than to have exactly what I do in this moment and live exactly the life that I have.
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