End of May (May 30-31,2015)

Another two days of riding as I went to The Greek Festival on Malvern Avenue. They have been having that for the last 40 years, I have been going for something like five of them. It is a great event as I love Greek Food and big crowds, plus that is a good area to ride in. I enjoyed the meal and had a good time running around that area. I also took a short ride though downtown and through Church Hill and on Route 5. Did not get in a great many miles but it was a lot of fun.
Sunday went to Chester, VA where I did some exploring seeing some old things and also a few new ones...as there is a lot of development down in that area. For the two days got in some 80 miles total, and even made a stop at the Chesterfield Airport. Both days were really hot and humid with temperatures well into the 90s.

Post Mountain Rides (May 24-25,2015)

Took a ride to Hardywood Park which is a brewery in Richmond. We have a few of them here, and this is one of the better ones (though all are pretty good).
Stopped in there on Sunday and it was a pretty hot day so a beer (never too many) sounded like a good idea.
It was, and so was the ride around that area. It was a hot day and the ride felt good. Nice to be out in the breeze and being a Sunday traffic was not too bad (though it did pick up later on, but never really bad).
Rode around the area for a while...Redskins Training camp in that area also.  

This is crossing Broad Street  heading to Monument Avenue. One of the most interesting streets in Richmond, there is a statue of Stonewall Jackson in the distance. There are a lot of Confederate Generals on that street...and a statue of tennis great (and Richmond native) Arthur Ashe.
At any case, Sunday was a good if short ride.

 Memorial Day took a ride to Powhatan which is a neat city. Lots of country out there, some really neat back roads.
There also are some old historic buildings..such as this one at left. It is a fun area to ride too and had a good visit there and on the backroads.
It was another hot day but a good day for a ride.As noted this ride was a shorter one than the mountain ride. Sure was fun though.  

Finished the ride with a cruise up Riverside Drive along the James River. It is a beautiful river and that was a nice ride. Being Memorial Day though, there were a lot of people there, this was one of the rare photos without a bunch of them in it.
At any case, good two days of riding after a great Saturday ride. For the three days, ended up real close to 400 miles, the bulk of which was the previous ride to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Not a bad four day weekend (could not ride Friday due to rain here). Looking forward to the next ride ahead!

Return to the Blue Ridge Parkway (May 23, 2015)

If I have one favorite ride, the Blue Ridge Parkway is it. I loved it in North Carolina and went there many times in the 14 years I lived there. Now that I am in Virginia the love continues.
Getting here is easy...just get on I-64 West and head up the road to Exit 99. Takes a bit over an hour though I did stop for fuel in the (also interesting) Charlottesville. Once there was rewarded with views such as at left.      

Being the Memorial Day weekend, there were a lot of police pulling over a lot of cars as well as Rangers clocking cars on the Parkway. On the Parkway the speed limit is 45. Actually not bad though cause you don't want to miss the views. I believe that is Spy Mountain in the distance. I was at 99 miles from the apartment to the start of the Parkway, I rode on it for some some 50 miles. Was actually sort of cool, which was wonderful with temperatures in the low 70s and low humidity. Being a holiday weekend there was quite a crowd there and on the highway getting there but it was not all that bad for the most part.

This was one of the last photos I took up there, There are lots of pulloffs and a lot of special things to see and do. As I noted saw a turnoff to VA60 which I knew runs to Richmond, so got off and headed on that. For the first few miles that mountain road was quite a twisty challenge and a lot of fun. Was from where I started at the Parkway to Richmond a total of 122 miles. So the total ride was some 261 miles to Richmond and then another few to the apartment. At the end the trip meter said 276 which I think was a pretty good days ride. I could not have asked for a better day, or a better place to ride. Looking forward to my next visit there.

Rides in March 2015 (March 2 and 8)

 Got in a good ride on March 2; rode out on VA 5 to Malvern Hill, a very historic battlefield in Richmond, VA (actually just outside of it). Here Union Forces retreating from the first effort to take the city of Richmond engaged forces under Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The Confederate forces were repelled and the Union Army retreated.
It was one of the many battles in the Richmond area which was one of the major centers of the Civil War.
I am very impressed how these sites have been preserved for over 150 years since the war ended.   Made a short stop the same day to the Virginia Aviation Museum to see the SR-71 Blackbird. They have a nice collection of aircraft at the museum, and fun to see these amazing machines.

Took a ride also to Short Pump love this area with both shops and apartments...had lunch there. Prior to that went to Hanover, Virginia (the Hanover ride and the Short Pump visit were both on March 8. The Hanover Courthouse dates to the pre-Revolutionary War period...Patrick Henry argued cases in this court house. Photos from these rides and others can be found on my Richmond and Me page as well.
Been lucky to have some very good rides this month, weather has been sunny for the most part and temperatures have been very nice. Spring is one of the favorite times to ride!