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| Date | Starting Place | Ending Place | Author | Last Update |
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| 10-05-15 |
Richmond, Virginia, United States |
Thornburg, Virginia, United States |
ray | 08-30-16 17:13:11 |
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Before I could leave Richmond, I had to send my bike box to my ending location near Philadelphia. I normally do this on the day that I assemble my bicycle. But, no UPS store in Richmond was open on Sunday, so this had to wait until Monday, the day I was to leave. I was up and ready to take the box to UPS by 8:15 (the store opened at 8:30). For the first time, I used Uber to take me and the box the mile to the store. I was picked up Mr. Williams, a large, garrulous ex-loan broker who told me about driving for Uber and his recent business failure experience. It sounded to me that he had, essentially, struck it rich during the housing bubble but couldn't control his spending and when things got bad he lost everything. Keep in mind, I got this story in a 1 mile car ride! He waited while I shipped my box to take me back to Scott's place. On this ride, I heard about his plans to start a manufactured (mobile) home business, if he can only gather a few thousand dollars more to get funded. In the meantime, he drives for Uber. It was an enjoyable interaction and proof, again, that we all have a story a share when our lives briefly intersect. When I got back to Scott's, I started packing up (which seemed to take longer than I thought) and wrote Scott a note of thanks, as he was still sleeping. As I was preparing to leave for a local diner, he stirred awake and said he'd like to go with me. When he was dressed, we walked over for some breakfast and talked further, which I found interesting. I packed up and left when we returned, about 10:30. I rode in the opposite direction to find the nearest food store (Scott had given me directions), where I bought apples and some cookies. On my way back to the route (which ran right by Scott's place), I passed Monument Boulevard and got this photo of Matthew Maury, a Confederate navel officer.  I got some Subways and then was off, well after 11am, which concerned me a bit, as I still had 50 miles of bike riding to do before it got dark. The ride out of Richmond was on major roads that were busy but safe enough. Once out of the main town area, I rolled through suburbs for a long while. The homes went from normal to huge  to normal to rundown. I rarely had to look at the map as my route was marked with bicycle route 1 signs at virtually every turn, which helped greatly.  The housing tracts, whether outskirts of Richmond or suburban towns, continued for many miles. This was my view for much of the day.  Eventually, the homes thinned and there were more trees between them. At a crossroads where I stopped in the shade of a real estate office and ate some cookies, I got this photo of an old Gulf station, now an antiques store, across the street.  Now that I was in the countryside, though always in sight of homes, the combination of some headwind and undulating road made me start to feel the strain in my thighs and to spend time pedaling in the small front ring, though there was nothing steep. Just outside the tiny hamlet of Elmont, I passed my first Civil War informational sign.  About 20 miles in, I met Rene,  a German bike tourist who lived near Cologne and had ridden across North America starting from Vancouver in early July and going via the Icefields Parkway (his trip blog). He was ending his tour in Jamestown, 2 days hence. We talked bike touring and the Icefields Parkway (he had missed the wood-fired saunas) for about 20 minutes by the side of the road and exchanged both photos and cards. Post-tour side note: Rene sent me this statement in response to an email I sent him after both of our tours: "Thank you for your mail. One nice aspect about exchanging contact data with people you met on the road is the fact than when and if they get back to you by mail or in any other way you have proof for yourself that what you did was not just a dream but reality. It really happened!" I got to Ashland, the only large town I'd pass all day, about 2pm and decided to stop for a sandwich. For some reason I was never able to ascertain, there were decorated bicycles in front of businesses all over town.  I stopped in front of the library to eat, watching this huge rock globe slowly spin and wondering who the statue represented.  According to the plaque, he was the respected local newspaper editor. There is a rail line that goes from Richmond to Fredericksburg (and beyond) that goes through the middle of Ashland. The train rumbled by while I was eating lunch.  Past Ashland, I was again out in the countryside. Though still not away from houses, they were farther from the road.  This part of Virginia is well-watered and I rode past innumerable streams, creeks, and runs. But, due to all the rain, they were all an unattractive, opaque brown. I generally took photos of them anyway!  About 5 miles past Ashland, I came across Jacques,  a Canadian rider going all the way down to Key West who had started in Kennebunk, Maine. Jacques and I talked for about 10 minutes. It was fun to recall places he'd seen that I'd ridden through in the past. We exchanged photos. Oddly, a police car stopped while we were talking to ask if we needed any help and to remind us to stay on the road. Incidentally, even though this looks like an uninhabited area, if you look closely, you can see mailboxes on the side of the road. While riding, I could clearly see homes through the trees. At a turn about 5 miles past Jacques, I met Rob.  Another cross-country rider who had started in San Francisco, done the Western Express, and then the TransAm and was looking to finish up in a day or two at Yorktown. He was riding without panniers as his brother was driving a support vehicle with a trailer that he slept in every night. He said his family felt he'd be safer that way. We talked briefly and exchanged photos. I was surprised to see so many bike tourists so early in my ride, but given that two ACA routes (Atlantic Coast and Transamerica) go through this area, I shouldn't have been. I was now in farming country with wide fields separated by braces of trees with a few just starting to change color. I came upon this old-looking cabin set back in the trees and stopped to take a photo.  I saw this sign just past the cabin, which explains something about the Civil War mentality that pervades this part of Virginia.  I wonder how many places that Stonewall Jackson stopped on the way from one battle to another have been preserved? Not far from Stonewall Jackson's water break, I came to Little River,  a skirmish in Grant's bloody march toward Richmond.  I continued undulating, against the wind, on lightly used 2 lane roads through wooded farming areas.  This is a common farm view I had.  Trees behind, what I've been told are, brown soybean plants, with a fringe of shrubs next to the road. My stop for the night was a Holiday Inn next to the Interstate 95 in a place called Thornburg that isn't on the ACA route. I left the guidance of the ACA map west of Cedon. After a couple miles on similar 2 lane roads, I had a 2 mile blast up on (automobile) Highway 1, a 4 lane, high-speed run into Thornburg. I had checked this road (Jefferson Davis Highway) on Google street view and knew there was a narrow bit of shoulder all the way. Luckily, all the traffic was going in the other direction and the ride was without incident. Thornburg is little more than an intersection on Highway 1. There is a strip mall there with a Food Lion supermarket, a Subway shop and a Chinese restaurant. Everything I needed! The Holiday Inn was about a mile up a narrow road under development that lead to a freeway on-ramp. The very nice motel had a lukewarm hot pool that I briefly soaked in and the local Chinese place delivered. Unfortunately, the food wasn't very good. I choked it down, hoping the fiber in the broccoli would provide some benefit. I watched a bit of Monday night football and went to bed before the surprise ending to the game, feeling good to have day one behind me. |
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