Greg & Camille Go Bike

Today we set out on part 2 of our great bicycle touring adventure. Around 8:30 am, we were loaded up and ready to depart. Jason snapped a quick picture and said good bye. Just before pulling away, Eric shouted well wishes from the second floor window.

It was an absolutely beautiful day. Warm but not too hot, mildly breezy and wonderful fall colors everywhere. We followed the Jack Markell (JAM) trail to old New Castle and then Route 9 most of the way to Dover. We swung by the post office in Delaware City to pick up stamps, and the guy behind the counter was very impressed with our trip. Our conversation went something like this:

Him: "What's with the safety vest?"

Camille: "Oh, just for visibility. We're biking to Florida."

Him: "Wow, you do this a lot?"

Camille: "Actually this is our first trip, we were just in Canada and came back down to Delaware."

Him: "You wanna sit down?"

Travelling roads on a random weekday rewards you with all the concrete real estate a bike could want; our favorite Reedy Point bridge was completely empty, offering us a beautiful and undisturbed view of the Delaware canal and marshes. We took care of any elevation early in the day and saddled up for a mostly flat yet windy ride (the farms we often bike near are gorgeous but provide little tree coverage). Leaving Dover, we were excited to retread areas we'd explored last year as part of the Amish Country Bike Tour.

Setting out, our goal for the day was originally Milton with Lewes as a potential stretch goal. We realized pretty early in the day that Lewes was completely unreasonable. Last year, we rode from Wilmington to Lewes in a single day and made it just before dark. That was setting out just after dawn, carrying minimal gear and with the benefit of a full summer's day.

We ended up reserving a campsite at Killen's Pond State Park. We arrived maybe 30 minutes after dark (~5:30pm) and biked to our campsite in the walk-in/primitive camping area. There were a few RVs elsewhere in the park, but we appeared to be the only tent campers. There was a very thick carpet of leaves and solid tree coverage everywhere. We set up camp in the dark, ate dinner at the picnic table and spent some time chatting before bed.