Today's Mileage: 63
Cumulative Elevation Gain: 1315 feet! Actual Hills!
Weather: 80-95, sunny
Attitude: Blissful to Awful
The first 50 miles today were heavenly. FINALLY some nice little rolling hills, more winding back roads through the pretty countryside. Then a short ferry ride across the James River.
Once off the ferry, most chose to stop at the big Jamestown Museum. I instead opted to ride the extra 5 mile loop out to the island, where the original settlement was. I rode this loop once about 40 years ago and remember it being very pleasant, and I enjoyed seeing the ruins of the old settlement. Well, this time, not so much. I could not find any ruins, the road was very rough, and one could not stop at all or even slow down without being swarmed by biting flies. What we Michiganders call deer flies.
I cannot imagine why the settlers opted to settle in this awful, swampy, bug infested place. If I remember my history correctly, most of them died from malaria. Not surprising.
So back I went to the museum to meet up with Nancy for the final 10 mile stretch to Williamsburg. This was hellish. Possibly the worst road surface I've ever endured, something about halfway between very rough chipseal and cobblestones. 95 degrees, very litttle shade, and the damn deer files followed us the whole way. By the time we got there I could barely remember the blissful part of the ride. Glad I have these pictures to remind me.
 |
| Tiny little roads like this most of the day |
 |
| Ferry over the James River |
 |
| More of those little roads and pretty green fields |
 |
| My riding buddies for the day: Nancy, Nancy, Dolly |
 |
| On the ferry |
 |
| Kathy Q demonstrating her impressive balance |
No comments:
Post a Comment