Halloween in Charlottesville, VA

Miles Today 40; This Section 190 (7 days); Trans-Am Miles 1032.1 (30 days)

We passed the thousand-mile mark today. We have now pedaled a little less than 1/3 of the way across the nation. I’m very pleased.

We drove back to the I-64 crossing and started pedaling at 8:05 AM. The temperature was 45 degrees and the sky blue. I wore the long johns, the long john top, the windbreaker, and the winter cycling gloves. Alton had warned that there were hills now all the way to the Blue Ridge. For the first 5 miles or so it was relatively flat with a little rolling of 50-foot hills. I like that. Soon, however, the hills got a little steeper and I needed my lowest 3 gears (of 27) and some serious hard pedaling. But I liked that too, as it was nice to pedal some hills and have functioning gears. I worked up quite a sweat and changed from the winter gloves to the summer and from the windbreaker to the nylon vest. We got to Kent’s Store the post office for the Martin’s some 5 miles from their home. There was a post office and three houses, and no store at all! I expected more.

It was all beautiful backcountry roads and little traffic and fun riding. At 30 miles or so I came to an historic marker indicating Ash Lawn the plantation of President Monroe just 3 miles or so outside of Charlottesville. His next-door neighbor was Thomas Jefferson at Monticello some 1 mile further along the trail. We’re going to visit these places on the way home next week also. It’s of interest that Monroe first owned the property of the University of Virginia and he and Jefferson were founding fathers of the university.

Soon after passing Ash Lawn and before Monticello I turned onto State Route 53 from County Route 795. Suddenly we had traffic. SR 53 switchbacks up over the mountain to the Monticello entry road. At places the road is just two lanes wide with no berm, no shoulder, and a tight guardrail. That is, there is no room for a biker, a bike, or a person; and the cars are zooming along. The grade was so steep I couldn’t pedal, and the lower my gears the less straight line the steering. So I walked facing the traffic. As they came around the turns I’d look directly into the center of the grill! I got to the top safely and was standing by the side road to Monticello when a young woman in a sport car and wearing a witch’s black cone hat shouted out the window, “This road is not safe for bikes. Go up on the parkway.” She was certainly right as to the safety issue, but I didn’t know of any parkway around here. So when the traffic seemed to slack, I started down the other side of the mountain away from Monticello toward Charlottesville. I got up to 32 MPH on the winding road and one car came up behind me after about half a mile and I “took the lane” as my expert Dr. Dick Weaver taught me so he could not pass. These Virginia drivers are the most patient I have seen so far and he (she) staid back as we cruised down at 30 mph another half mile to some famous tavern formerly frequented by Jefferson and Monroe and I pulled off to allow my benefactor to pass. It was then just another half mile of safe road to the I-64 crossing and my awaiting TB. We loaded up and proceeded to the “coupon motel” he had found.

At the motel we found a real Oriental Laundry (was it Chinese?) next door and for $9.50 they washed and folded our laundry while we showered and got off to the U of VA kids Halloween at the commons ground. Like all major Universities the traffic near the Rotunda was significant (the TB said horrible!); but, like always, I found a parking space only a block away. It bothered the TB since the sign said, “permit only parking 7-5” and it was 4 o’clock. So we parked.

We entered the commons grounds (they don’t say campus here, it’s grounds) and there were hundreds of kids walking along the sidewalk as the students handed out candy from the doors of their rooms. It was a wonderful sight. If these kids aren’t all liberal, our country is in good hands.

The buildings around the commons grounds are dorm rooms. I would say the grounds are 100 feet wide and 300 feet long with rectangular buildings all around. The buildings are only about 20 feet deep and the length of the field along the sides. There’s a room every twenty feet. We peeked in the front door and could see the back door opposite just 15-20 feet away. Some of the rooms were 3 beds, a desk, a laptop computer, a TV, and nothing else we could see. The TB said if they open both doors at once everything blows out. The Martin’s said these kids are all seniors of distinction who earned these choice and prestigious rooms. The TB said when he went to college in 1941 if they offered him such a room he would have turned it down! There was also a juggler, better than me. It looks like a wonderful tradition.

Staying With Friends at Kent’s Store, VA

Miles Today 42.5; This Section 150 (6 days); Trans-Am Miles 992.1 (29 days)

We awoke at 6 AM with frost on the truck and the bike thermometer reading 34 degrees. The TB had been awake and needed in the Truck so I pushed the unlock button and handed him the keys. He went over and only the driver’s door was unlocked so he put the keys in the ignition and flipped the lock button and closed the doors. However, he had locked the doors not unlocked and we were now locked out of the truck with the keys in the ignition.

We looked over the situation and found that there was no way of getting in. The doors and trim bend in such a way that a coat hanger was not even going to work although we did waken a neighbor and bum a phone book (to call a locksmith) and a coat hanger. I quickly saw that the coat hanger was going to fail me, even though I have experience of opening at least a half dozen car doors by that method. There was no cell reception. So I flagged down a car on the road and the driver’s son was a locksmith; can you believe that? Our phones wouldn’t work, but the dad contacted the son and within the hour the Eastern Locksmith was here and the door open and we $89 poorer. It was great service.

By now the TB needed breakfast so we had cereal with powdered milk (he hates powdered milk). I heated some water so he had warm powdered milk and said it was better than cold. Finally at 11 AM I started pedaling with the goal of 40 some miles to the I-64 crossing near the home of Alton and Jamie Martin. Alton is a noted local marathon and ultramarathon runner and has been buying my sports drink Conquest for many years. Alton had heard about our bike trek and had invited us for the night.

Nancy Vaughn and Anne Reed docents from Scotchtown soon showed up for work and we learned some of the history of the area and Patrick Henry from these wonderfully dedicated women. Patrick Henry’s father was a graduate of Edinborough University and schooled young Patrick. The plantation is called Scotchtown because the original owner had planned to bring in Scottish workers and establish a Scottish community. However, this plan never materialized and the Henry family later purchased the property. About a dozen years ago a private corporation dedicated to preserving historical property took over the management of Scotchtown.

On the way today we passed the Verbeeck Country Store. This store is mentioned on the back of our Adventure Cycling Maps as a good stop in the country and a place that allows camping outback. We had planned to be here for the night; however, the Adventure Cycling Map printed the wrong phone number to the store and when there was no answer we feared it was not open. What a mistake that was. The proprietors John and Susan Verbeeck are originally from Long Island. She was an interior decorator and he a FedEx driver on Long Island. They have seven natural born children. Susan birthed them all and looks about 24 years old herself. John looks about 35. We only met the baby with her but the oldest is 16. Susan is full of enthusiasm and in particular is very excited about all the cyclists she meets. She showed us pictures of herself on a bike in Iran at age 13. She pulled out a logbook she maintains for us cyclists to sign. But most importantly she is overwhelmingly excited about receiving postcards from the cyclists, and essentially begged us to send her a postcard! We had a quart of chocolate milk and a delicious turkey sub sandwich. This was one time I was not the one to continue all the talking; Susan took care of that until John said, “Susan, you’ve got to let them go.” They were both delightful and we hope they can make a go of this business.

About 6 or 8 miles down the road we came to Lake Anna. This lake was built to cool the Lake Anna Nuclear Power Plant. There are signs for a side road to the Nuclear Power Learning Center and plant that features a movie and exhibits explaining nuclear power. The TB was nowhere to be found at that time so I couldn’t go off route. We will see the nuclear energy exhibit when we drive back to Fredericksburg next week.

Ten miles later I arrived at I-64 just at dark. The TB passed me once and tried to get me to end for the day as it was approaching dusk. However, it was light enough for me to do the final 3 miles to I-64 our day’s destination. He was waiting at a pull off and we loaded up and arrived at the Martin home at 5:40 with them expected home at 6 PM.

At exactly 6 PM Jamie Martin pulled in from her round trip commute 70 miles to Richmond where she is a hospital law attorney (one of the really good guys). Five minutes behind Alton Martin pulled in from his 80-mile commute from Charlottesville where he is lawyer for the University of Virginia. Alton had 3-year-old Thaddeus and 6-month-old Eleanor in the back seat. The children attend nursery school in Charlottesville and commute with Alton each day.

Alton and Jamie are both athletes and they order my sports drink Conquest frequently. Alton ran the Marine Corps Marathon 2 days ago with a very respectable time—better than my personal best after 39 marathons!

They have a beautiful house half way between their jobs with her commuting east and him to the west for a total of 170 miles per day! Then as Alton helped with the children more in one night than I did in a lifetime, Jamie made a magnificent meal of salad, sweet potato-peanut butter soup, a chicken dish, and multiple vegetables. They told us we would stay in the basement! It was another home on a lower level!

Thaddeus was very proud to tell us about his scarecrow on the porch and his lobster hat costume he would be wearing for Halloween. Alton explained that the University of Virginia has a commons area of grounds surrounded by historical one story housing where students must earn occupancy. Each year the students host the children of the area with candy and the Martin’s would be there. We knew we’d never see them in the crowd, but I decided then we were going to see this spectacle and to make a memorable Halloween for the TB and me. We just had the little problem of a 40-mile bike ride over increasingly mountainous terrain to get there.

Encircling Richmond and Sleeping With Patrick Henry

Miles Today 38.5; This Section 107.5 (5 days); Trans-Am Miles 949.6 (28 days)

We drove back to Grapevine Road, our quitting spot in the rain 2 days ago. We got going about 11 AM. It was a beautiful day. Three days ago on Route 5 we were south and east of Richmond, two days ago we were east of Richmond going due north, and now we are curving west on the north side of Richmond. We’ve done a better job of encircling Richmond than Stonewall Jackson did in the civil war! We are now going past the Richmond Battlefields and more of the Seven Days War that included Malvern Hill near the Willis Methodist Church. I read on one historic marker that General Hill said years after the war, “We thought it proper in those days to directly attack artillery positions and earthen entrenchments filled with troops. We were lavish with spilling of blood.”

We entered Ashland, VA, and rode up Central Avenue along 2 miles of railroad track that runs right through town. The stores are open for a mile on both sides of the tracks, and 50 trains per day come through. That’s about 2 trains per hour; however, we were lucky to see three trains during our 20 minutes ride through town. As I sat at the red light (the only one in town) a young mother named Kathryn (same name and spelling as my mother) carried her two-year-old son over to see my bicycle. They had driven 30 miles up from Richmond to the “Train Town” for Nathaniel to see the trains on Sunday afternoon. Apparently many little boys come to Ashland to see trains; I was pretty excited myself. But the TB said, “How the Hell can they stand all those trains!”

We left town and had about a half dozen quick turns onto county roads with 4-inch number signs and some with no numbers, just names. Our maps show numbers not names. For some reason the TB lingered behind, and I knew we were in trouble. I exited into the country and the road got down to about 10 feet wide and winding up and down into stream bottoms. There was a car rally going on and every 10 minutes a BMW Mini Cooper would come by with a man driving and a girl in the passenger seat with all types of electronic equipment and a clipboard. The road was very curvy and the cell phone wouldn’t work. After about 10 miles I knew that one of us was lost. I had some areas with a cell signal and called but got no answer. I could only hope he’d move to an area with a signal. Once the phone rang and I make a quick stop and answer only to hear the incessant “Can you hear me, can you hear me?” Finally I came to an area with a decent signal so I sat still and soon he called. Somehow he got back on route about 8 miles ahead at Scotchtown, the plantation of Patrick Henry, the first Governor of Virginia. Scotchtown is now an historical park and has a docent on duty everyday. The TB got permission of us to camp on the grounds so he stayed put and I pedaled on over.

About 4 miles from Scotchtown at an intersection in the boondocks, I heard a loud speaker ahead. I could see down the road ahead (not my route) a sign that said “Ashland Berry Farm.” I could see folks with pumpkins so I thought maybe they’d sell food. I pedaled on over and came to a large pumpkin festival at the Berry Farm. Folks were buying pumpkins, and flowers and taking hayrides. I parked the bike near the entrance and asked the ticket lady to watch the bike and “break anybody’s arm who touched it.” She said she would, and I had no doubts. I went in and bought a great hotdog ($2), a 16 oz. Spiced cider ($1), and 3 homemade cake donuts ($1). They said they’d be open later for a “spook night” so I decided to bring the TB back for dinner and rode on to Patrick Henry’s Place. As I rode I passed a house were the historic sign said General Jackson and his staff stopped in for water and when the woman of the house found out who she served she saved the water pitcher forever unused again.

I got to Scotchtown and met up with the TB just half an hour before sunset. We hurriedly set up our two tents and headed back by truck for his dinner at the Berry Farm. When we arrived at the Ashland Berry Farm it was dark and the place looked closed. I saw the lady bike guard. She said, “You came back.” When I suggested my partner was hungry she opened the food booth and he got a hotdog and spiced cider for free. There were about 50 workers milling about and we soon learned that “spook night” was a VERY big deal around here. One of the male workers was telling the others about his time in the penitentiary. One of the female workers walked off to the side and holding one nostril blew an ounce of snot into the bushes. Our benefactor said at least a thousand people would be here soon and pay $30 a head for the 3 “scares” awaiting them. There were two barns set up as haunted houses and then there was a hay ride half a mile to a trail in the woods where 28 different scare scenes were set up with monsters of every type, hangings, chain saw massacres, and run away vehicles headed at the hay riders!

When the TB had finished his hotdog we got up to leave and couldn’t get off the property. It was worse than Disney World with the parking lot full of at least 500 cars, several buses, and more than a thousand people in line. There were 5 police cars on duty and the traffic director said people came from Charlottesville (60 miles), Norfolk 90 miles, Richmond, and even Washington, DC (100 miles). This was going to be a $50,000 night at the old pumpkin patch. Unbelievable, and this went on for every weekend for a month before Halloween and for the 4 days in a row preceding Halloween.

Rainey Day in Fredericksburg, VA,

Miles Today 0.0; This Section 69.0 (4 days); Trans-Am Miles 911.1 (27 days)

We arrived at Jody’s and were greeted magnificently by the grandchildren ages 7, 4, and 5 weeks. Jordan had a tooth hanging by a thread, but just like her cousin, Gary, III, wouldn’t allow me to pull it; but we had great fun teasing about it. I don’t recall seeing a tooth hang so loose and even spin in its socket but not fall out!

We went to a big sale in the rain at Gander Outdoors and bought a bunch of clothing stuff we didn’t need. We had a great meal of pizza. We slept well while it poured rain all night. In the morning we went to see Daniel, age 4, at hockey practice on the ice. They learned a snowplow stop, took dives onto the ice and practiced getting up quickly, and then skated up to and jumped over hockey sticks on the ice. It was fun to watch, and the kids liked it. There were several very expert teen skaters doing figures and spins—all girls. Jordan takes figure lessons on Wednesdays so we didn’t get to see her skate this time; however, they were selling skating skirts so we grandparents bought her one for Christmas. Millie says she has to wait until Christmas to wear it, but I cut Jordan a deal. She can wear it every Wednesday and then put it back into the Christmas box. Jordan liked the deal, and Grandma just shrugged!

We got Cimarron the Trail Boss’s car parked safely in the driveway, and in the morning Jody’s family and Grandma Millie left for California while the TB and I stayed one more night.

For some reason Jody’s family could not go to California without Grandma’s help. So Millie flew from Pensacola to Richmond and stayed three days. Then they all flew from Baltimore to Monterrey for 6 days then back to Baltimore. Then Grandma Millie will stay a few more days to baby-sit for the Marine Ball that will take place in Washington on the weekend. Dan being a Marine Officer, they will stay at his Alma Mater the Naval Academy officer housing after the big shindig. Then three days later Grandma will fly back to Pensacola. Boy, what we do for our children/grandchildren! I said to Millie, “so this babysitting job is going to cost me $1000,” and she replied, “No, I think more!”

Rain Drives Us Off the Road

Miles Today 10.0; This Section 69.0 (3 days); Trans-Am Miles 911.1 (26 days)

We awakened refreshed from our first time on the sleeping pads in more than a month. It rained a little at 9 PM so we were glad to be indoors. We ate some cereal and got going rather late after packing up all the gear. I made a mile to the gas station and had a cup of coffee. I should not have wasted the time, as we knew rain was coming and I needed the mileage. A fellow at the station said it was raining in Richmond some 20 miles west and I was soon going to be wet. I knew the TB would not be far behind, so I took off up route 156 to see how far I could get. The road was nice and rolling. The rolling road seems easier than a perfectly flat road and the gears are shifting perfectly now even the lowest ones. This is making the climbs much easier and would have helped a lot out west in Montana and Idaho.

I began to get closer to the bedroom communities around Richmond. The route comes into the southeast of Richmond and then goes nearly straight north to pass north of the city headed west making about a 2/3 circle somewhat along I-295 the Richmond Beltway. But most of the route is still quite countrified. Finally near the junction of I-295 and I-64 at Grapevine Road the rain came in earnest and the TB loaded me into the pickup after just 10 miles for the day.

We were now just 53 miles from daughter Jody’s house and tomorrow would be rain all day so we decided to take our zero day at her place. We drove some 20 miles down to Ft. Lee and picked up the TB’s car and took it up to Jody’s for storage.

A Night at the Willis Methodist Church, Glendale, VA

Mileage Today 37.0; This Section 59.0 (2 days); Total Trans-Am Mileage 901.1 (25 days)

We wakened at 6:30 and had the motel coffee, toast, cereal, and bagel breakfast. The TB would have preferred eggs. We were riding the bike at 8:04 AM. It was an early start for us. The thermometer read 38 degrees. After a half mile I changed to my Seal Skin Gloves that perhaps are a little more wind blocking than the Performance Biking gloves. I was comfortable. Within a mile a work crew was building a new bike lane along the road that will go about 80 miles or so all the way to Richmond. At one stream crossing the road dips down some 30 feet into a stream crossing and a new million-dollar bike bridge goes straight across. This state is serious about this bike path!

Route 5 is a beautiful two-lane road with no shoulder, but also little or no traffic. It is somewhat of a bedroom area, but most of the traffic was headed east as I went west. The road is within a mile of the James River for 30 or 40 miles and has dozens of historic plantations along the way. One is the home of President Tyler who built a 300-foot addition onto the house after his presidency. Many of these are open for touring during the summer, but not now.

During the day we stopped and loaded up and drove some 50 miles to the Richmond Airport and met Millie as she flew in to visit Jody. We were able to see Jody and the new baby (now 5 weeks old) Andrew. He is cute and has grown a couple of pounds since we saw him at birth. We went to lunch with the family and then drove back and finished about 15 miles to the church. There were ups and downs, but I think I pedaled my best 15 miles of the whole trip on this section. There was a good climb up Malvern Hill to the church just one mile beyond. I pedaled through The Malvern Hill Battlefield of the Civil War where Union General McClellan was on the run south towards the James River and Confederate General Lee was in pursuit on June 1, 1862. On the Malvern Hill Battlefield they met in hand-to-hand combat. The TB informs me that General McClellan was later relieved of duties as he was “always in retreat.” The confederates used the Willis Methodist Church as a field hospital after the battle.

I pulled into the church at dusk having gone 37 miles for the day along with a three-hour break to the airport. Willis road is a narrow two lane for about 10 miles. The church community includes two or three houses and a visitor center for the Malvern Hill Battlefield. At the visitor center is a confederate cemetery where hundreds of casualties from the battle are interred.

As I pulled into the church a young woman, Ashley Royster, came out of the house next door with the church key. Ashley rents the house and greets the bikers. She said for the first half of summer she had cyclists every night stay at the church and she did BBQ for most of them. For the past month the traffic has slacked and she is seeing about one per week now. The church is 59 miles from the Atlantic so she is often the first or last night for many of the cyclists, but not us! We are here in two days! She has seen bicycles built for two, and one built for three. Last week she saw a tricycle. I don’t know how the tricycle would fit on these narrow roads. She has seen cyclists from England, Japan, Netherlands, and Germany. The church and phone number is mentioned on the back of our Trans-Am maps. The church has carpeted floors for sleeping inside or allows tenting in the yard. The cyclists have preferred inside for heat (now) or air conditioning (earlier in the summer). There was soda pop in the refrigerator, some packs of noodle soup, bathrooms, but no showers. But Ashley invited us to shower at her house. Then I learned she is not even a member of the church, she just lives the closest.

Rain is forecast for the next day. We’ll see what the morning brings. We set up our sleeping pads and bags and went to sleep with the TB in the fellowship room and me in the nursery room.

We Begin Again at the Other End: Yorktown, VA

Mileage Today 22.0; This Section 22.0 ( 1 day): Total Trans-Am Mileage 864.1 (24 days)

The TB called me at home in Florida after he came back from a trip to the Azores to visit relatives--flying space available as a retired military benefit. He was in New Jersey and anxious to resume the bike ride as we had discussed on our Pensacola morning walks since giving up the ride last month. Millie was going to Virginia to baby-sit while our daughter Jody made a trip back to California for a week. Actually Grandma went along to California to watch the three kids.

Well, since I would be alone and bored in Florida, I jumped in the truck and drove 1000 miles over two days to Richmond, VA and met the Trail Boss at a motel along Route 95. We took his car to Fort Lee near Petersburg, VA, and dropped it off for storage, and drove to the Atlantic Ocean at Yorktown, VA, the Eastern Terminus of the Trans-America Bike Ride. Our crew vehicle this time will be my 2003 Dodge Ram Quad Cab Pickup. We have less stuff, no spare bike, and a usable bike rack on the back.

It was about 39 degrees and the wind from the West gusting to 15 mph made for a cold and blustery start. It was noon. So we went into a restaurant on the York River overlooking the boats and ate a bowl of Chili just ahead of a busload of tourists from West Virginia. We then proceeded several blocks to the Memorial Statue that commemorates Cornwallis' surrender to George Washington. The Memorial is the official start or finish of the Trans-AM route on this end of the country. I wore a balaclava under the helmet, a mid-weight polyester undershirt, a nylon wind breaker, thin polyester long johns under bike shorts, covered with my trusty hunter orange nylon shorts. I also wore my safety orange vest and a pair of polyester winter biking gloves. It was colder than any other day so far, but I felt comfortable.

I had thought I might have to do this trip alone so I bought new panniers (four bags that fit on the sides of each wheel to hold camping gear, food and clothing). Last week my good friend Art Harrison, a machinist and farrior (shoes horses), helped me install the racks to hold the bags. So for practice I decided to carry two of the packs one on each side of the rear wheel. I had all my clothing and some snacks along with tools and spare tube. The bike road beautifully with the extra stuff and it gave me a feeling of confidence to have full North Pole gear (as I call it) available should I need it or breakdown and have to wait along the road.

The initial several miles along the York River gave beautiful views of the water front and a few Navy Ships as the route follows the Colonial Parkway some twelve miles from Yorktown to Williamsburg. The parkway is a limited access road maintained as a park by the department of interior. It’s three lanes wide with no paint markings, no commercial vehicles, and mostly through wilderness—very nice. At Williamsburg there is a tunnel forbidden to bikes so we exited onto Route 5 through the old downtown (after directions from the locals as the map was impossible) and past the William and Mary College campus. The town was bustling and the main street was roped off to allow for pedestrian traffic. I liked this part and after many turns and two wrong turns, as I was leaving town there was the Trail Boss parked along the road. I had thought he’d be lost, but he never missed a turn. Soon as we got to the edge of town along Route 5 at about 22 miles darkness halted us. The TB had found a Ramada Inn at a coupon rate and we drove 10 miles there, eating a fine sandwich at the New York Deli across the street.

The plan for tomorrow is to go the Willis Road Methodist Church, which houses cyclists. We have spoken to the pastor Rev. Hugh Harris and he advised we are welcome to sleep inside on the carpeted floor. It sounds great to us. The church is just 40 more miles down the road.