Jamestown and Yorktown Battlefield (April 16, 2016)

Took one of my favorite rides yesterday. Headed down Route 5 to the City of Jamestown. A bonus for me was the week ahead the admission charges at Yorktown Battlefield and Jamestown were waved. I got to Jamestown which I had seen a few years before. This is the monument to the founding of the colony. Considering that the colony was founded over 400 years ago its an interesting places. Through excavations many items from the period have been found. Since my last visit three (well most of three) bodies have been dug up and are on display. One killed by a shotgun, one believed to be a ships captain (due to items found with him) and a girl who was believed to have been....eaten. They had a period of starvation in which the vast majority of colonists died. It is truly an amazing and remarkable place. There is also a restaurant there which was not before as I remember, and I have to say it is well worth a visit. I really enjoyed seeing this again, and the additions they have made since my last visit are really something to see.

Second stop was Yorktown Battlefield, which again had some remarkable items. There was for instance the tent actually used by General George Washington (which is according to the sign near it a "National Treasure" and many of the weapons. Of course the field itself is well preserved. Of note is that during the Civil War many of the fortifications were used by the Confederate Army (there were also Confederate forts at Jamestown). This photo is of the surrender field where The British Army under General Cornwallis surrendered to the American/French Army under General George Washington.  
 I had a good time touring this again, and saw a lot of interesting items and places. Very pleased that so much has been preserved and kept up for once again what is a long time ago.

I made a quick stop at Yorktown Beach. Made a quick stop in to the Yorktown Pub there, and after that was quickly back on the road again. Went back to Richmond via VA60 which is sort of a different route. Saw some new sights and visited some fun places.on the way back. All in all the day of riding and exploring was some 6 hours long, and covered a total of 154 miles. I had a fantastic time on a very beautiful day.

Food Court Ride (April 3, 2016)

Sunday was a nice day after a Saturday...that was not (weather wise anyhow). Got out for a bit in search of a ride.
I did not get out for a great many miles, it was still rather cool out and did not plan to go far this day anyhow. I did head out to the Food Truck Rodeo at the Chesterfield Town Center (which is a mall) that sounded like fun.
The only problem was I think the entire region had the exact same idea. The place was totally slammed. I did wander around a bit, first to find a parking place and then to see just what was going on. Long lines though soon had me moving on.

 I headed up the road a little bit. Went to Buffalo Wild Wings further up Midlothian Turnpike and enjoyed that. Got to see some of the NASCAR race, some baseball as it was Opening Day and which was pretty neat some of the MotoGP race which I don't get to see very often.
It was pretty neat...I like motorcycle racing. I used to go to a few. Went to some flat track races both when I lived in Louisville and also in Concord, NC. Neither place though hosts that anymore. Damn shame, was a lot of fun. In fact a few days ago read some on the decline of the Daytona 200 motorcycle race...which is also in a decline. Was a good article on Cycle World site.  

Anyhow rode around a bit around the city and ended up at Legend. Always a nice stop and got me a beer before heading back to the house. I always enjoy this view of the city from their deck and this day was no exception.
As I noted did not get a lot of miles in, and did not get to go very fast as wind chill is a factor of speed. I was well dressed for it but still was a day to keep the speed down. Actually the weather looks even cooler for the upcoming weekend with a chance of snow flurries for Saturday! That is not happy news but better weather is just around the corner.