June 4, 2006
Day 3: Louisa, VA to Charlottesville, VA
62.47 miles, 4:57:47 Ride Time, 13.01 Average Speed, 34.4 Maximum Speed
After I finally got everything together this morning (Note to self: don't take the bike computer off of the bike and put it on the nightstand where it might fall off and roll under the bed), I headed back the six or so miles to Mineral to get back on the TransAm route. I spent most of the morning riding on quiet back roads - there wasn't much traffic, since it was Sunday morning.
When I got to Kents Store (basically just a crossroads), I was suprised to find that the store there was open. Both the Adventure Cycling maps and my "Bicycling the TransAm" book say that the store is no longer open, but the lady there told me that "we haven't closed yet." I asked her if any cyclists had stopped there recently, and she told me about a woman from Wales who had major bike problems, and had stayed with some local people while a part was shipped (from Wales, presumably).
The countryside for most of today was very much like back home in central Kentucky, so I didn't take too many pictures.
When I was about 15 miles from Charlottesville I saw a group of cyclists sitting under a tree near one of the "76" Bikecentennial signs (these signs mark the TransAm route, but apparently end after Virginia). I pulled up and talked to them for a while. They were all locals out for a Sunday ride. They told me that they had just been looking at the sign and discussing the TransAm (aka Bikecentennial) when I pulled up. We talked for a while, then they headed back towards Charlottesville; I rode along for a few minutes, but I wasn't able to keep up for very long.
It was early afternoon by now, and had gotten pretty hot, so I stopped at a country store a few miles outside of Charlottesville to get some Gatorade. The woman working there, Liza Griebenauw, was interested in my trip, and we talked for a while. She is an instructor at the University of Virginia, and only helps out at the store, owned by some friends, occasionally. She is from South Africa, and was impressed (or, more likely, kindly pretended to be impressed) that I knew the names of a couple of previous Presidents of her country. Before I left, she gave me some directions to find a motel in Charlottesville. Her directions ended up being more useful than my Adventure Cycling map of downtown Charlottesville.
It was looking increasingly stormy, so I rode on past Jefferson's Monticello and into Charlottesville. Coming into Charlottesville I rode up the steepest hill of the day. By now, the sun was out, and I regretted not stopping at Monticello... but not enough to go back to Monticello and then later climb that last hill again...
The first hotel I came to in Charlottesville was a Hampton Inn. I was ready to stop for the day, so I decided to splurge and stay there. I felt kind of sheepish walking my bike through the plush, upscale-looking lobby. The woman at the front desk didn't seem too surprised, although she did chuckle when she told me I could ignore the section on the check-in form that asked for my car's license plate number.
After I got into my room and cleaned up, I walked to the historic downtown section of Charlottesville, which as been turned into a pedestrian mall (creatively called "The Downtown Mall"). There are lots of shops and restaurants, many with outdoor cafes. I wandered around for a while, and then ate a pizza outside at Sal's Caffe Italia.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Today's ride: 62 miles (100 km)
Total: 235 miles (378 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 0 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |