Counting Down the Miles
When I stood up after dinner on Sunday night my lower back was really, really stiff. It continued this morning. The 88 mile ride on Sunday was full of hills and very difficult, so maybe that had something to do with it. It wasn’t a huge issue but of all the days on the road it was the biggest of the entire trip. Interesting that it happened with just a few days to go. I wasn’t bothered by it while riding, but when I would get off the bike it took a long time for it to loosen up.
I left Charlottesville late in the morning from the Excel Inn with a little over 200 miles to go in three days. It would be a 59 mile day into the small town of Mineral where there was another volunteer fire station I could stay at.
Charlottesville is where the University of Virginia is located and the campus and history of the area make it a nice place to visit. It was another city I wouldn’t have minded staying in for an extra day, but by now I had my mind set on a Wednesday finish.
After a look around downtown Charlottesville I was off. Throughout the day I noticed that traffic, even on the backroads, was more than what I was used to dealing with. There’s only so much you can do to avoid it as you go further east and get closer to the coast.
As far as the hills, they still wouldn’t go away. Even though I was out of the mountains, there seemed to be another one after every turn. Not as bad overall as in the Appalachians, but they still had to be dealt with.
Along the way I passed near Montecello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, and also by the home of James Monroe. It was a tough call, but if I stopped at either one or both I would have wanted to spend a fair amount of time. As it was, I was going to be getting in late in the day so I kept moving and will have to visit another time.
After arriving in Mineral, I pulled up to the fire station. Unlike the last one I stayed at in Utica, they told me I couldn’t stay inside, but they were nice and said I could use the pavilion area. It was small but as I’ve said, anytime you have a table along with a roof it’s a bonus when there’s no other place to stay,
After dinner, the guy who ran an ice cream store near the restaurant told me that his son asked him why he doesn’t ride a bicycle. His answer was “Because God allowed me to get a motorcycle.” This was followed by listening to some rather long stories about his motorcycling past.
I was asleep before 8:00 intending to get an early start Tuesday morning.