Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Day 2 - June 5, 2013 - Charles City, VA to Mechanicsville, VA

Total miles today: 48
Total trip miles: 92.5
Time in saddle: 4h 30m
Wildlife spotted: Deer, snakes, turtles, vulture, wild turkey, dogs

Today's weather was just as good as yesterday, which made for great cycling. We started off today where we ended, at Sherwood Forest, the home of President John Tyler, who happens to be Erica's 6th great-grandfather. The traffic this morning was much lighter than what we experienced at the end of our day yesterday. Not long after entering Charles City, we found a great bike path that ran along the road. We decided to take advantage of it and really enjoyed getting to take in more of the Virginia countryside this way. Before we knew it, our first 10 miles was already behind us. 


When we hit 20 miles today, we were far from any places to eat, so we found a gravel path just off the road and had one of our favorite snacks, called a Stinger. It is just a thin waffle with honey in the middle, flavored in chocolate or strawberry. It was so delicious! We both love these little treats and they  really hit the spot when you need some quick energy in a pinch. 

Of course, since we are in such an amazing historical area, we stopped in at a couple of battlefield sites that are a part of the Richmond Battlefield Park. This is a massive span of land and learning about some of the battles that raged on for several days was quite moving. It is so amazing that our country works to preserve these places that are such important reminders of the major sacrifices so many have  made in the name of freedom. 


As we ended the day right around rush-hour, the traffic along our path became pretty overwhelming. We are both used to riding in traffic along heavily traveled roads, but today we encountered riding on a road with no shoulder, and drivers who were taking risks that could have been disastrous. Luckily, Erica and I are both pretty aware of our surroundings and we ride with quite a bit of safety gear, so we were fine. However, we wondered if maybe Adventure Cycling should consider re-routing this section of the TransAm. 


Finally, we just had enough of the traffic and ended our day a few miles earlier than we had planned. We had a delicious dinner with Erica's parents at Moe's (Erica's favorite). Now we are relaxing and having some beers...hoping tomorrow we can get an earlier start so we can avoid crazy traffic. Here's to blue skies and awesome roads!

1 comment:

  1. Quite the tan spots on your feet!

    I think it's great you're taking the opportunity to check out historical/tourist spots along the way.

    Glad the weather has cleared up for you.

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