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Day 3 Tuesday May 24, 2005, 36 miles (59 km) – Total so far: 152 miles (245 km)
3:10 pedal time and 36.4 Miles
I woke up around 7:30am, the weather didn’t look too promising but at least it wasn’t raining. I cooked some oatmeal and did everything I had to do to get packed up and riding. I started riding about 8:30. I left a small donation for the Willis Church and I helped myself to the overabundance of candy in the kitchen that the pastor told me to take.
The hills weren’t that bad today. I got chased by a German Sheppard early in the morning. My pepper spray wasn’t in a reachable location in my handlebar bag, but luckily I didn’t need it. I promised that sonofabitch that I’ll never ride past his house ever again.
I was a little shaky riding for most of the morning. I hung out at this gas station for a while and chatted with a State Trooper, while I drank my morning coffee. He was cool. After I had my coffee I felt a lot better and took off like a rocket, trying to get as far as I could before it started raining.
The route is beautifully marked with ‘Bike route 76’ signs at every turn. The terrain was a lot like yesterday, riding through farms and woods. There are historical markers all over the place. This is Civil War territory. While I was riding I was thinking about how weird it would be if I accidentally rode through a space time continuum and suddenly got warped back in time and was suddenly riding through a Civil War battle.
The rain caught up with me around 12:30. I put on all my rain gear, covered all my bags, bought some Gatorade and ate a chicken filet sandwich. I rode about another 10 miles and the chicken sandwich erupted inside of my stomach. I can’t eat any more food that’s been fried. My digestion justcan’t handle it.
I didn’t want to just ride 30 miles today, I felt like riding 60 miles but the rain starting to come down pretty hard. I bought some food and just head over to the campsite in Ashland. I spent a little extra money and got the small cabin instead sleeping in the tent. It’s pretty cold out and ground is soaked.
I cooked up some beef stew for lunch. The campsite has ‘Free modem usage’ so I hooked up to the landline and tried to do some stuff on the internet. But it was so slow I just got frustrated and gave up. It felt like 1996, waiting for webpages to load. But at least I got the weather. I think the rain will be gone tomorrow. The weather man says different. Weather.com reports are always wrong, I’ve learned you have to look at the map and make your own prediction.
I cooked up the rest of the spaghetti for dinner tonight, and then popped some jiffy pop for dessert. I’m eating all day long. The minute I stop eating I get hungry.
Tomorrow is supposed to be a 52 mile day out to Lake Anna, one of Virginia’s most popular lakes. I’m really excited to go to Monticello (Thomas Jefferson’s house) that’s probably going to happen Thursday. I hope I can catch a tour. I’ve always been a big fan of Mr. Jefferson. He describes his house as an ‘Essay in Architecture’. He was obsessed with the famous Italian architect Andrea Palladio and I spent a lot of time studying Palladio’s architecture last summer when I was touring around Italy.
The hills are about to get steep. Apparently they are steeper in Virginia then they are in the Rocky Mountains. I have to figure out how to use my altimeter.
No pictures today. The camera was packed away tight because it was raining.
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