Day 1
Starting off in the afternoon, we opted to take it rather easy on the first day. We rode 30 miles to a nice campground near Charles City. The route starts off with beautiful roads, some nice bike paths, and goes through some historic towns known for the Revolutionary War. I wonder what the colonials would think about having a lululemon in downtown Williamsburg?
Day 2
Today, we intended to get back on schedule so we biked 66 miles to go through Richmond and stayed at a busy RV park on the northside. The 30 miles leading into downtown Richmond were on very nice bike path which allowed us to actually have a chat while biking. Topics included the state of the economy, student loans, politics, etc... Typically when on a road, we aren't riding next to each other so it isn't possible to have much of a discussion. In downtown Richmond, we took a wrong turn and road along the river front which was nice but to get back on track we had to short-cut through some cobblestone streets. Not the most pleasant riding experience when on skinny tired bikes!
Day 3
The longest day yet at 74 miles with 2400 ft of climbing. Finally got the GoPro setup on the bike, thanks to Jessica for the gift! The first half of the ride was rolling hills through horse country which turned into agricultural country and eventually into “Let’s Go Brandon” country. Met some nice folks along the way, saved a turtle crossing the road, and ended up at church to stay the night. The church has been hosting cross-country riders since 2015. Really cool! The Trans America bike route is popular for those cycling across the country for the past 35 years, so there are a number of places like churches and town parks that volunteer to host riders for tenting or, in our case, parking an RV!
Day 4
It was a doozy, 71 miles with over 6000 feet of climbing. We entered the Blue Ridge mountains in the 2nd half of the ride. Also road through downtown Charlottesville and stopped by a bike shop for some cable adjustments. The weather was very nice and the forecast for the next 3 days looked cold and rainy so we decided to ride an extra 20 miles. Originally we had planned to stay at the "Cookie Lady House" but instead took a quick tour of the house and made our way up the mountain. Of course, the extra 20 miles had much of the climbing.
During the day, we passed two other fellow TransAm riders. A guy named Mike (aka RockDoc as he is a geologist at Penn State) and another rider. They had lots of gear, ready to camp at each spot! When we arrived at the "campsite" for the night we realized it used to be a small resort that allowed cyclists to pitch their tents and also had a small store and restaurant. However, the resort changed ownership and the was under remodeling. They still let Anita park the RV for the night. However, four other riders also arrived after Anita setup the RV. The cycling maps that we all use has a food symbol on it so they were expecting something to be available. Unfortunately for them, nothing was there! So Anita fed them all some sandwiches. And they also convinced a pizza shop 20 miles away to deliver 6 pizzas up the mountain in the dark:)
Our bodies are now revolting as they are obviously not used to our new way of life. Butt hurts, legs are very tired…
A bit shorter day with 53 miles and 3k ft of climbing due to rain throughout the day and thunderstorms in the forecast in the evening. We descended out of the Blue Ridge mountains today. Started with a cool misty morning. We missed a turn today, we were supposed to go down something called "suicide hill" but instead accidentally stayed on the Blue Ridge parkway. By the time we realized it, we had gone too far. So looked at the maps and took a dirt "path" to meet back up with the route. We met my Mom in Lexington for nice lunch. Then pedaled 10 more miles to the campground, arriving just in time to avoid the incoming rainstorm.
The weather forecast was full of rain storms coming through and our bodies needed a break, so we took a rest day today. Stayed another night in the campsite and drove to Natural Bridge state park for a small hike. Then went to a local winery/brewery and met some talkative folks who we chatted with much of the afternoon. (I was supposed to get this blog started then but that didn't happen :)
