Ride to Sunday Park (June 28, 2015)

Got in a Sunday ride...and the first stop I made was Sunday Park. There is a small lake there (used for water) and there were some sailboats and a pontoon boat on it. There is also a restaurant there called The Boathouse which is very good (also very pricey) with two other locations in Richmond. Good place to eat though. Ride was real nice, temperature was around 78 and humidity was not a concern. Yesterday was a full day of storms and showers so this was really nice to get out and enjoy the road a bit. I was glad to have the one day to ride. There are times that it is impossible to get even that.

Stopped at Steel House Harley Davidson on what was an out and back ride. Down Rt 360 and back. This was on the way back. Nice dealer and they have some good motorcycles. Problem I have with Harley-Davidson is reliability and the cost is amazingly high. Looked at that survey at Consumer Reports...Harley reliability was about in the middle...way worse than the Japanese bikes, but better than Triumph, Ducati, BMW and especially Can-Am. I want to ride my motorcycle not work on it, or have it spend time in the shop.
Anyhow, did that riding today, and it was a wonderful day on two wheels. Got quite a few more rides coming up -will be on vacation in four days. My plan is to explore Virginia, for a change not going out of the state to Carolina, or Kentucky. No plans to even go to other places...going to see some of the sights in this amazing state.

End of Spring/Start of Summer (June 20-21,2015)

 Went riding on June 20, the last official day of Spring. Was a good day though the heat was in the upper 90's so went for an early ride along the James River. Beautiful ride and had a great time being out in the "cool" of the day.
I also rode to Goochland, VA for the first time..not much there; an old courthouse and an old Stone Jail (seems to be a lot of that here) and some really nice roads. Some were roads I have been on, some of them were really new.
Got home around noon, had big storms later that night which killed a lot of power in the area, but thankfully not my place.

Went out on Sunday which was Father's Day; I am a Dad but one son lives in Louisville and the other in North Carolina. Went to Galley (its the old Navy man in me, like the food and the theme of the place) and road around some after a very good brunch.
A lot of streets had lights out (no power) and were four ways stops, a lot of trees were down from the storms which were pretty impressive the night before. Once again the temperatures were up even early, and I rode around Richmond before coming in. Before coming back went by Advance and got some SeaFoam (tune up in a can) and added some of that with fuel. Bike running great but that stuff really cleans fuel injectors. All the Vulcan riders swear by it, and have used it for the past few years. That and a quality motorcycle have made the past 10 years with it wonderful. One funny story - salesman at the auto parts store told me he had a Harley Sportster (new one) and in the first year it broke down 3 times. Told him (knock on wood) in ten years mine has never left me sitting. Part luck (could always pick up a nail, etc) but she has sure been one reliable ride.      

Yorktown Ride ( June 13, 2015)

Good Saturday ride again, this time went to Yorktown Beach...cause it seemed like a really good idea..and it was. Have a great time there everytime I go.
This monument in Yorktown is very cool....is for the victory of the Colonials under George Washington over the British Forces under Lord Cornwallis. This battle effectively ended the Revolutionary War. The battlefield is right before the town of Yorktown, and I have been to it on a past visit (and pretty sure I have photos here).
To get to Yorktown Beach I took Route 5 and then got in the Colonial Parkway and basically followed the signs. Colonial Parkway is a fun road to ride.

This is a view of the beach, on the bank of the York River. There are a number of stores and restaurants there, and its a great place to cool off and get something to eat and even explore some of the old places in the town (all of which is in walking distance).
Did make one mistake...tried to get back to Richmond via I-64. In the summer that is Not the way to travel to either this area (which included near by Williamsburg, Jamestown and not too far away Virginia Beach. If you want to go in the summer, explore some alternate routes. I will be doing so on my next visit to Virginia Beach. Other than the stop and go highway traffic, it was a fantastic trip.

Saturday Ride (June 6, 2015)

 Interesting ride on a Saturday. Rode out in what is the Northside of Richmond..went down some interesting rides in this city, and this covered some new roads.
I liked this area though think some of these places had seen better days. Still it was fun to run around the area.
Was a real nice day, was not real warm either which was nice. This was an early sort of ride, took off in the late morning and was back in the early afternoon.
This time of year nice to beat the late afternoon heat,

This restaurant is the Dog and Pig Show in Church Hill (a section of Richmond that is very cool). First time I have eaten there and it was very, very good. Had a Pork Poorboy which was really different and melt in your mouth good.
They don't have places to sit in there but there is a park right across from St. John's Church which is almost next door (that is where Patrick Henry gave his famous "Give me Liberty or Give me Death Speech") that was a fine place to enjoy the food.
As for this ride was not huge but was a great time.

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.