{"id":37559,"date":"2017-05-22T12:29:23","date_gmt":"2017-05-22T19:29:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soulofamerica.com\/?page_id=37559"},"modified":"2023-02-06T20:14:29","modified_gmt":"2023-02-07T04:14:29","slug":"tour-de-east-coast","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.soulofamerica.com\/sports-travel\/tour-de-east-coast\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour de East Coast"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Roy

Roy Taylor modeling his cyclist gear<\/p><\/div>\n

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Tour de East Coast<\/h2>\n
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Tour de East Coast comes easy for me. I grew up in New York City and during my college days partied up and down the east coast from Florida to Maine. Though living in sports-minded California for the last 25 years, I only became an avid cyclist 4 years ago. I also started designing African American-centric cycling jerseys, including a jersey featuring major cycling venues from my memories, jogging along the Charles River, Greek Picnics in Fairmount Park, loft parties in Brooklyn, and walking along the Potomac River. – Roy Taylor<\/em><\/p>\n

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Before leaving, I stopped at my bike shop. I found a bike box, removed the pedals, seat, and handlebars, packed my bike carefully, and shipped it as luggage on my flight. I flew out of San Francisco, Friday and landed during a thunderstorm at Dulles, VA at 1 am Saturday morning. <\/p>\n

The next morning, I unloaded my bike, reassembled it, and went to Rock Creek Springs Trail in Silver Springs, MD. I was supposed to meet the Black Ski Cycling Club but was late due to flight delays and my resulting lack of sleep. Hence, I did the cycling trail on my own. The Rock Creek Springs Trail is nestled behind Silver Springs, MD with wooden bridges traversing shallow streams, thick foliage, wooded areas, historic barn, and horse stables. It had lots of changing venues that seemed far from the noisy congested streets of nearby DC.<\/p>\n

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Roy Taylor on Tour de East Coast<\/p><\/div>Sunday, I went out to watch the start of the Reston Century in beautiful Virginia. I met a buddy of mine, who was doing the \u201ccentury\u201d, that’s biker speak for 100 miles. <\/p>\n

I went to Rosslyn, VA to ride the Valley Forge Trails. Valley Forge Trail presents wide trails and great vistas of DC monuments while snaking along the Potomac River. I followed the trail past the National Airport down to Alexandra, Virginia, and back. Crossing the Potomac River on the 14th Street Bridge into DC, I rode past many monuments then doubled back across the river via Arlington Memorial Bridge for a stirring ride through Arlington Cemetery, and then gazing over my shoulder at vistas of our nation\u2019s Capitol as I headed back to Rosslyn.<\/p>\n

The next day, I drove to Baltimore and sailed with a member of the Universal Sailing Club, an African American sailing club based out of Baltimore. We sailed from Baltimore\u2019s Inner Harbor past the historic Domino Sugar Wharf, past Fort McHenry National Monument, and under the magnificent Francis Scott Key Bridge to Fort Carroll. Sailing further until Baltimore\u2019s Patapsco River meets the Chesapeake Bay, I was surprised to find the waters calmer than the San Francisco Bay, the winds well-behaved and the sunset breathtaking.<\/p>\n

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