3/20 Happy Spring! We had a good rest today, walking around town and enjoying the spring weather. It was cold this morning and will be cold again tonight. But this afternoon was sunny and warm and the spring flowers were brilliant.
2023-03-21 3/20 We found some interesting art in Ashland, including a unique little library where Paul found some Vonnegut to read.
2023-03-21 3/20 More art we enjoyed:
3/20 This picture includes some performance art by a well-dressed bicyclist with music.
2023-03-21 I noticed that the picture I posted of the monument in Yorktown where we started this adventure didn’t have us in it, so I’m going to try again.
2023-03-21 And just a few more pictures from last week that I should have posted:
These are from Williamsburg
And these are from Jamestown:
And these are from the Capital Trail.
3/21 For those of you wondering where Stig rides, he’s in my handlebar bag next to the glasses case and on top of my shopping bag. You will notice the pocket to the left with my handy hanky and the one on the right with a Clif bar.
2023-03-21 3/21 45.9 miles today. That’s a new record! Had to go from Ashland to Mineral, VA, to find a place to camp tonight. It started out cold, but by the end of the day it got up to almost 60 degrees! We spent most of our stops shedding clothes.
2023-03-21
3/21 We first said goodbye to the town triangle in Ashland. My friends and I thought we had a town triangle where I grew up in Olive Branch, Mississippi. But Ashland KNOWS how to do a town triangle! The Town Hall is behind the trees.
2023-03-21 3/21 The terrain just screamed “horses” to me, but we didn’t see any until today. We passed a thoroughbred training center, then an Arabian racehorse breeding farm. I didn’t know we raced Arabians in the USA!
3/21 We went over three bridges crossing different arms of Lake Anna.
Traffic was light on most roads and drivers mostly courteous. Only one driver got really close to us because s/he was impatient. There are no shoulders on these roads, so no place to move over. This is not a great picture of the road, but you really should notice the street sign.
2023-03-21 3/21 We set up camp on the grounds of the fire department in Mineral. We had a lovely lawn to spread out on, but we had to stay consolidated so we wouldn’t interfere with the helicopter landing area or the trucks charging for it. No helicopters tonight, thank goodness!
3/22 It got down into the 30’s last night and Paul is unhappy with his sleeping bag. He got cold and gave up on sleep at 6 am before the sun came up. Rhe was snug and slept until 7:30. But life goes on and Stig was happy once he had his cup of coffee. Now off to the bakery!
3/22 Paul’s bike has developed a wobble. When he is riding downhill at a brisk pace, both wheels start to wobble wildly. It’s scary to watch and scarier to ride. We plan to go to a Surly dealer in Charlottesville tomorrow.
2023-03-23
3/22. We rode 32.6 miles through much more rural country today. Left the big mansions and fancy horse farms for smaller homes and lots of woods and agricultural fields. The terrain is getting hillier as we approach the Appalachians. Our legs are getting stronger, but not fast enough.
2023-03-23
3/22 Stig tells me it’s time to explain the maps we are using. They are from Adventure Cycling and are amazing. On one side they have the entire trail divided into small maps that take about a day a map. This is the map to Palmyra.
2023-03-23 3/22 On the back of the maps is information, including emergency phone numbers, contact people for places to stay, and historical facts about the places we are cycling through. It also shows an elevation profile. I think you can see my concern about the Appalachians coming up!
2023-03-23 3/23 Last night we stayed at the United Methodist Church in Palmyra. The minister met us and gave us a tour of the building and explained their “bicycle ministry.” What a great way for the community to help travelers! I’m amazed and humbled at their generosity.
3/23 We had three rooms to ourselves, plus a bathroom with a shower nozzle on the sink and a homemade clothes washer. We were the first cyclists of the year, so Fred had to run to Walmart and get some some food and sports drinks to stock the bicycle pantry.
3/23 We had 25 miles to get to Charlottesville, so we took our time. Had the last two and best ever ham and cheese biscuits at the EW Thomas grocery just outside Palmyra. Stopped at Jake’s for lunch and he fired up the grill to make Paul a hamburger. We had company for lunch.
3/23 By the time we got to Charlottesville, Paul’s wobble was pronounced. We found the Surly dealership and Ronnie did some diagnostics. He finally decided the back wheel was out of round. Meanwhile Paul and I had a beer and dinner nearby.
3/23 Then our real adventure began! As the sun started to set, we cycled through the UVA campus with hundreds of students milling about. Then we found a trail on the map that took us to our motel the back way. The REALLY BACK WAY.
3/23 Now it’s dark and we have to ride a busy road to our motel. We stayed on the sidewalk. Turned out Rhe had made the reservation for the night before and there was no room at the Inn. Two doors down the Days Inn had a smoking king room. We took it with a can of Febreeze from the front desk.
2023-03-24 3/24 With an early start, we had hopes of reaching Afton - the first real climb of the trip. But 5 miles out of Charlottesville, Paul’s bicycle wobble returned. Back to the shop and more head-shaking and moaning about what could be wrong. Even a call to the Surly rep.
2023-03-24 3/24 Another guy came to the shop and turned to You Tube. A guy from Australia posted a video suggesting he had the same issue with a similar bicycle and solved it by redistributing the weight on his bike. So Paul is trying it. Shop dog “Sammy” supervised.
2023-03-24 3/25 The weight distribution helped. Paul is also going to lower his handlebars. With these changes, he is ready to continue the ride. It’s a bit damp out today-a Seattle mist-but should clear up soon.
2023-03-25
3/25 We get asked what we do when it rains. We pedal. If it’s a hard rain, we put on our rain jackets. To prevent getting too wet and cold, we have rain pants. Our bikes have fenders, keeping water from squirting off the front rider’s back wheel and into the back rider’s face.
2023-03-25
3/25 Riding in the rain is a Zen thing. Unless traffic is heavy, it’s just you, the bike, the road, and keep on spinning those wheels.
2023-03-25
3/25 Of course, that sounds pretty good, and here we sit in our Super 8 waiting for the rain to stop….
2023-03-25 3/25 The rain stopped and we started riding. Went down the smae big hill as yesterday and the wobble returned. Stuck in Charlottesville at Mode’s BBQ.
2023-03-25 3/25 After lots of hand wringing and talking about options, Paul and I have decided to stay in Charlottesville at least until Tuesday. I took a vdeo of the problem and we’ll see what Surly says on Monday.
3/26 Back to the Super8. Watched Arnie and Jamie Lee in “True Lies”. Had a salad from Trader Joe’s for dinner and worked on readjusting the attitude. Woke up on Sunday and decided to go see Monticello. Wow!
3/26 In the entrance rotunda is a tribute to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Be sure to look closely at the plaque below the elk horns. Jeffers felt the Louisiana Purchase and the surveying party he sent to map it was one of his greatest achievements as president.
3/26 Today was an excellent reminder that bumps in the road of a great adventure are really opportunities. The trick is to not let your focus on “the goal” get in the way of the journey.
2023-03-27 3-26 One last thought about Thomas Jefferson. He asked to be remembered on his tombstone for the three accomplishments he was most proud of. Here they are. I wonder how he would feel about how we have protected or not protected his legacy.
2023-03-27 3/26 Total miles this week: 166.7. Total miles for the trip: 325.8. Woo-hoo! 🚴♀️
2023-03-27
3/27 Paul found an article online about some Italian researchers who were studying bicycle oscillations like what he is experiencing. They suggested it could be stopped by squeezing the top tube with his knees. Huh?!? They also said, “resist as far as possible the temptation to jump off the bicycle, which may appear to be the lesser evil…, try not to fall, and not to hit other vehicles or go off-road” until you can stop the oscillations. Helpful advice, to be sure.
2023-03-27
