Americana - day 1

Setting out on the Washington Old Dominion Railroad trail - scenerey is gobsmacking - ferocious beauty.  Here on a bridge crossing a river, name unknown.

       

Didn't see a Joshua or Evan, but did find an Adie - I think this town is called Leesburg

In Purcelville in a diner for a late breakfast - fantastic - exactly what my whole soul was craving.

Meeting and talking to serious cycling people - a divine part of the journey - this is a carbon fibre Quest recumbent trailing wheel tricycle, built by a Dutch company called Velomobile.  This is serious hardware - much more efficient than a bicycle.  Yours for 6600 Euros.

Among my dearest friends at school were Jon Stewart and Graeme Wilson, and some of the things we had in common and lived around were bicycles and Americana, particularly music.  The cult status E-W road, Route 66 featured in many places, so it was cool to see it in the flesh, crossing over it on the A50, with a bicycle.

The area is rich with civil war history - and it's pretty dramatic stuff.  On these fields in front, also in July, but of 1863, 6000 cavalry supported by artillary clashed.  Like so much of the rest of it, it must have been carnage.

Rolling along the Shenandoah river, communities of people living with and around the river.  This photo out back of a river-side diner, ubiquitous bakkie, "tradie" box, flag.

The other side of the diner - insanely fantastic green, grass, trees, water.

The end of the day's ride, the Twi-Lite Motel in the town of Front Royal - itself a fantastic piece of Americana in every sense - visually, functionally, and as it happens run by an Indian family from Gujarat.  Perfect.