Richmond and the James River

Monday, May 15, 2006. From near Central Hill, VA, to Ashland, VA. A quick check of the weather maps while at the Richmond library indicates a good chance of showers, temps in the low 50's, and very, very little wind - which means, effectively, that our laundry might not dry if we have to hang it up outside. This pushes the needle on the hotel-o-meter over towards the "get a room" setting.

Today, I neglected to include the almost 10 miles it took to get us back to the route, and so we ended up about an hour behind where I thought we'd be. We will probably be in Ashland about 5 or so, and if the weather report is accurate, we'll just dodge the rain again.

We got in a good 65 miles yesterday, including hitting the 1000 milestone, as we made good time to Hopewell, VA, across the river from Richmond. Although the day cleared up for us nicely and the majority of the ride after Dendron was a joy, by the time we reached Hopewell (and to be completely accurate, Petersburg), it was clouding up again, and we got inside before the rain fell again. We made it there on just breakfast and a few Gu packets apiece (the only store stops on the route yesterday were closed, it being Sunday); we were also aided, perhaps not surprisingly, by our respective supplies of stored fat. We are starting to tap in to that supply, little by little.

Also yesterday, we crossed the Blackwater River a total of four times; the last time, as we crossed on an empty rural road, we saw the quintessential swamp scene - a single white wading bird, standing in the slow-flowing water amongst cypress trees and boggy marsh - to our left as we crossed the bridge. We tried to stop to get a picture, but by the time we got back to the point where we had seen it, it had flown away into the depths of the swamp. Good image, though.

This morning, we passed by the historic Richmond Battlefield, part of the Civil War trail here near the former Confederate Capitol. We stopped near one site and walked around a bit (OK, it was because Nancy thought she had another flat, but she didn't really). We took some pictures of a crop that is pretty widespread around here, but are not able to identify it; Nancy will post a picture, and if anyone can tell us what it is we'd be most appreciative. We also had our first (really, the very first) bad encounter with a trucker. It was a tanker, and he blasted his horn as he passed us at speed, and not very far from us. There was no traffic coming from the other direction, and he had plenty of sight distance (like half a mile) to pass us safely. There was a "How am I Driving?" sticker, but I could not read the truck number, and the license plate had been removed. Nancy waved and yelled "God Bless You!"; I gave him the one-finger salute. I need to learn to be more like Nancy in that respect.

We also passed over the Benjamin Harrison Memorial Bridge this morning, over the James River. It is a drawbridge, and at the top we rode across steel grate, so we could look down and see the river below. That's an eeeeerie feeling. All the roads we have been on today, until we got into Richmond proper, have been smooth, generally quiet, and surrrounded by lush vegetation. It has been cool and mild, very nice riding. There have been lots of horses, and we even saw a turkey fly across the road in front of us as we neared Richmond. That was a first. We are emerging from the coastal lowlands and are entering the coastal plains, which means some rolling terrain and fewer swamps. The constant pedaling will change to occasional hard pedaling followed by very satisfying downhills - yay!

We have to be getting on our way - it is now 4pm and we want to get to Ashland before dark. Later!