Taking advantage of the lower temperatures, I headed over to the Eastern Shore and celebrated July 4th with a long bike ride. Knowing that a swim and a shower were going to be a welcomed conclusion to the ride, I parked at Kiptopeke State Park. Located on the Chesapeake Bay, Kiptopeke is a great park with camping, swimming, nice facilities, and plenty of parking. It’s also the site of the concrete Liberty Ships that were sunk in 1948 as a breakwater for the former Cape Charles ferry terminal.

Thinking that more traffic would be heading south early in the day, I decided to begin the ride on Route 13 and head up to Exmore. Although I’d driven this road numerous times, I was pleasantly surprised to find a nice wide and smooth shoulder all the way to Exmore. It was almost like having a designated bike lane. After wandering around Exmore and taking a little side-trip down to Willis Wharf, I topped off my water bottles and began heading south on Route 600 (Seaside Road). This road parallels Route 13 running through quiet farmland with little traffic and no commercial facilities whatsoever–so make sure your water bottles are full.

The wide shoulder on Route 13 combined with the quiet solitude of Seaside Road makes for a nice cycling loop.  Continuing further north to Accomac, it would be quite easy to put together a 90 to 100 mile ride.  And if you need a bit of motivation near the end of the ride, there’s a classic Crab Cake Sandwich waiting for you at Sting Ray’s just a couple of miles north of the park!