Happy Memorial Day! Though it would’ve been awesome to celebrate down the jersey shore, riding through the battlefields of VA was definitely a humbling way to appreciate the holiday. One of the highlights of the day was riding past a man running with a stroller full of American flags as well as the uniform of a fallen soldier. Unfortunately, because we passed him after we realized what he was doing, we were unable to ask him about his story.
Today was a rainy Monday with intermittent downpours. Of course the rain started the minute I woke up and had the thought “well, time to break down camp”. Luckily, it cleared up before dinner (pizza!). We started in Jamestown and ended in Ashland, a little less than 70 miles. We continued on the Virginia Capitol Trail until right before Richmond and it was a beautiful traffic free ride. We had lunch at Mama Lonnie’s, a little mom and pop convenience store whose owners were extremely accommodating. We encountered many rolling hills that took a toll on us by the end of the ride. Thank god for rest breaks and pop tarts. Luckily the trial was well marked with TransAm 76 signs that came in handy, so much so that we only had to resort to GPS a handful of times. Plus my map skills are definitely starting to improve (woo!).
My aunt Carol and uncle Fred came to visit after dinner and it was great seeing them. They offered for us to stay at their house tomorrow night at Lake Anna, unfortunately, we are riding further west 😦 They saved us and took us to CVS for some essentials and warned us about the upcoming doom of Blue Ridge. We were going to visit a brewery conveniently located right next to the campsite, but we were too beat from today’s ride.
Also, fun fact of the day, we are sharing camp with a couple from New Zealand who are doing the TransAm bike race. Essentially, it is a group of crazies who race across the country on the same trail as us. They are departing from Yorktown June 2nd. Because they are planning on finishing the whole trail in 35 days, they will definitely pass us later on. A group is also departing from Oregon that same day. Can’t wait to see them speed past us. If you have an hour and a half to kill, there is a documentary on Netflix about the race called Inspired to Ride. It is absolutely insane.
Sheena’s Corner: Today Sheena had the brilliant idea of plugging her phone into an outlet that housed a hornets nest. And somehow she convinced me to get it. I achieved the target unstung!
Spending Memorial Day riding through battlefields was incredibly special
So happy I bought fenders
“Em, possum… possum… You’re going to run over that possum….POSSUM” *screams (Emilie, not Sheena)*
Stupid knees (Sheena has been having issues with her TFL, luckily she has a licensed physical therapist as a good friend)
Sheena had a very enlightening explanation of the 7 Days Battle. “Oh, I actually know this one! I know this part of history! It was a short battle in the civil war. No revolutionary war, well one of those. And it only lasted 7 days”. Of note, Sheena is an engineer, not a historian.
Distance: 68.57 miles
Time on bike: 5 hours 35min
Avg speed: 12.2 MPH
max speed: 27.9 MPH
Total odometer: 100 miles
Emilie Bikes and Hikes 