Okay so we're done with the ride. Here's a recap.
Day 1: Philadelphia ---> Bear, DE: Getting out of the city was fine. Unfortunately, there were a lot cars parked in the bike lanes and the traffic lane paralleling the bike lanes have train tracks as well so going around cars can be dangerous, especially through U Penn's campus. We avoided the section through campus and stayed on the road paralleling the route. You have to walk your bike through campus and didn't care to push a loaded touring bike on my first day. We stayed at Lums Pond SP, a short distance off route. Nice park.
Day 2: Bear ---> Felton: I got onto US 13 after Leipsic. The road, while containing high speed traffic, had a wide shoulder and/or a bike lane. Had our first and only flat near Dover. Highly recommend going into Dover and walking around.The receptionist at the State Archives Visitor Center watched our bikes for us while we did some sightseeing. We stayed at Killens Pond SP for two nights. We originally had a tent site booked but because of the Nor'easter we switched to a cabin. Delaware SP's were really cool about it and just let us pay the difference. Cabins here have full bathrooms and kitchens but no towels, bedding etc provided.
Day 3: Felton --> Milford & Fenwick --> Chincoteague, VA: Rode 10 miles to Milford to attend church and still had 110 miles to ride in a bad storm so we accepted a ride to Fenwick and rode the remaining 65. We drove the ACA route though and looked good. Had a 35mph tailwind that pushed us effortlessly down the MD and VA coast. The bridge from Ocean City to West Ocean City has a pedestrian path across it but if you're going south, it's on the opposite side of the road, going against traffic. It was super windy and I actually got blown off my bike on the bridge about haldway across and ended up walking the rest of the way. The ACA maps warn about the causeway between Wattsville and Chincoteague for good reason. It's narrow with no shoulder and, at high tide, the water is splashing up onto the road. I would not ride this at high tide or when it's windy
Day 4: Chincoteague ---> Cape Charles: I rode the ACA route as far as Modest Town and then headed over to US 13 at Nelsonia which I rode the rest of the way to Cape Charles. Again, high speed traffic with a shoulder and/or bike lane. It was too windy to tent camp so the folks at the KOA put us up in a cabin at no charge. The KOA is 1/4th mile or less from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel offices. We called the day before and set up a ride over the bay. The number is listed on the map.
Day 5: Cape Charles ---> Knotts Island ---> Virginia Beach: When catching the shuttle head into the admin offices near the tollgates and go into the police station to let them know you're there. Our shuttle was scheduled at 8 but we arrived at 7 and they accommodated us. It's $14 per car, not per person. You pay as the shuttle goes through the toll gate. Cash, debit/credit or Apple pay. From there we followed the ACA route to Knotts Island escept for a small section in Virginia Beach due to flooding. Locals said a lot of streets flood daily at high tide. When we arrived in Knotts Island to catch the ferry to Currituck, the end of Delmarva, we were told the ferries were canceled for the day due to high winds. They don't run when the winds are over 35mph and/or the water is too high. They said it'd be Thursday before the ferries were running again. You can check the ferry conidtions on their Twitter. Google "NCDOT Ferry Division." The only way around the ferry closure is to go 26 miles back to VB and take US 168 through Moyock, NC 54 miles. The additional 80 miles didn't seem worth it to us so we went back to VB and called it a trip. Make sure you check to see if the Knotts Island/Currituck ferries are running!
All in all the trip was okay. The weather was terrible but such is life. Tomorrow we're riding to Norfolk and catching Amtrak to Charlotte where we'll be until Monday. Hoping to get a ride in this weekend into SC from the metro area.
