What a beautiful ride

Waking up

We hit the sack around 10 PM last night. I was pretty exhausted, so falling asleep wasn’t too difficult. I slept on the floor of the kid’s toy room in the church, so even if I woke up I had plenty of fun stuff to play with. I woke up a couple times throughout the night, but falling back asleep wasn’t bad either. Then 4:39 AM came around, and I couldn’t seem to keep my eyes closed. I was up by 5 AM, putting together a list of things I wanted to do before leaving. It’s not everyday we’ll have indoors to sort our bags. Brian started the coffee pot at 5:25 AM; he’s an early riser too. For those of you, and you know who you are, who are interested in what went into today’s oatmeal, it was three packages of Quaker Oats apples and cinnamon. After waking up hungry, it hit the damn spot. We were out of there by 6:45 AM, and into the brisk cool morning we went.

Virginia Roads

The morning ride was freakin’ beautiful. Sun was rising just over the trees highlighting the fields of wheat. I felt better than expected, so the riding was enjoyable. Most of the day was little to no shoulder, so most of the time it’s fine for cars to just past in the opposite lane. Brian pointed out that I tend to hug the white line too close to the shoulder drop off, which could end up worse than just being a tad bit more into the street. I took his advice, and focused on staying on the left of the shoulder line (when no shoulder exisited).

Our first stop

Mechanicsville was our first stop. After unsuccessfully looking for a diner close to the trail for Brian to grab breakfast, we settled for a fast mart. Fortunately, there were tables, food, and restrooms to take advantage of and chill at for a bit. I’m sure people had a good laugh when they see us in all tights and my shoes that tap loudly walking into the store. Yolo. Took another couple chugs of granola, made some Gatorade, and we were off again.

Ken’s land, not Ashland

We stopped for lunch at Walmart just outside of Ashland. We purchased some supplies, including two donuts. My donut counter starts today. Just one of many stats I will keep along the way. We chose to recharge and dine at Subway within Walmart. All was great, until the manager came over and explained eating outside meals wasn’t allowed. Meanwhile I’m literally eating luke warm pasta, a blueberry glazed donut, and peanut butter out of the jar. Brian, using his people skills, got us out of the situation by saying we would never do it again. She OKed our meal. We continued to devour some food, and discussed our love for it. We returned to our bikes, hopped on a road to the trail, and that’s when we saw ‘her’. Up ahead was a gorgeous, flashy woman biking with pom poms on the handlebars. Brian was speeding up to chat, and we all pulled into a lot. Well, she turned out to be a he, Ken Hale to be exact. He was a baller, and was definitely known in Ashland. He was blasting U2 from a badass radio, with red fingernails and shiny memorabilia. Ken was a hoot, and we both said how that was easily the best part of our day. Rock on Ken Hale!

A small taste for hills to come

We started back on some very quiet roads, but they’re the best. We hit some short, but steep hills. They were a little taste of what’s to come. Luckily we had zero humidity and a slight breeze to keep us cool. Around 50 miles in, we rode past this amazing church with a gazebo-like picnic area around 150 yards away from the building. We figured why not sleep here instead of going another 10 miles and wishing we didn’t pass up this temporary home . We rolled in around 3 pm and had plenty of time to relax, make coffee, sunbathe, organize, eat, and recharge. Dinner was once again, pasta (finally finished), tuna, peanut butter, and a donut. I’m currently leaning up against the church charging my devices in a peaceful area, thinking about how fun today has been. Tonight will be my first night camping, just before we get some pretty heavy rain tomorrow evening.

Stats

Start: Glendale, VA Finish: Not Sure, VA

Today’s Mileage: 50.1 Total Mileage: 110.9 roughly

Donuts: 2

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