August 23 - Short Pump, VA to Charles City, VA

Written by Craig Shapiro, Guest Blogger

Today was an early start!  We gathered at the “Michael and Linda B&B” at 5:30 am, because the weather called for afternoon thunderstorms that we were hoping to miss.  The day began with an excellent breakfast topped off by a delicious crumb cake (a Keegan tradition, we were told) made by Michael and Linda’s son, David.   Steve Wassilak had joined us the afternoon before (along with his wife, Barbra, who was driving), so our complement of riders today was five: Michael, Eric, Steve, Craig and Gloria (Linda rode with us for the first little bit!).

The first part of the ride traced Michael’s usual ride to work (or rather, former ride to work, since he is now officially retired--congratulations!), along pleasant residential streets and a path by the beautiful James River. 

A view of the James River

Gloria by the river

We then approached the city of Richmond, crossing over the James on a newly constructed pedestrian bridge.  Michael pointed out to us one of the SunTrust buildings where he used to work.

Approaching Richmond

The group on the bridge

 After a weaving our way through several Richmond waterfront landmarks, we reached the trailhead of the Capital Trail, a wonderful biking trail extending for 52 miles between Richmond and Williamsburg.  Being on the trail allowed us to converse and focus more on surroundings and less on traffic.

Michael on the Capital Trail, in one of his common riding positions--ably leading the way!  (Throughout our ride, I appreciated his leadership, with his emphasis on safety and concern for the comfort of all riders in the group—in addition to making sure we were staying on the correct route!)  The Capital Trail was only completed a year or two ago. Michael said that 10 years ago, he and Bob had to ride on the VA State Route 5 instead, which can be seen on the left of the photo--much less pleasant, and no shoulder.

In the mid-afternoon after riding 50 miles, we arrived at Charles City, about 10 miles before our day’s destination (the River’s Rest Marina & Resort), just as rain started to fall.  Barbra was waiting for us in her car.  After some snacks in a charming roadside café, it was still lightly raining and we could hear distant thunder, so Steve, Gloria and Craig decided to avoid any lightning and took advantage of Barbra shuttling us to the River’s Rest.  Michael and Eric rode on, and ultimately it was a safe decision—they got wet, but there was no lightning.  

Outside of Charles City

At the River’s Rest, the manager (and fishing guide and river taxi captain), who really is named Charlie Brown (and a character to boot), checked us into our rooms, and regaled us with stories about the local county.  He also explained, for reasons we did not fully understand, that the River’s Rest had no WiFi, but that was OK—it was nice to be electronically one further step away from the rest of the world.  Rachel, Gloria’s friend from Barcelona (now living in Maine), joined us at the River’s Rest restaurant just in time for dinner.  The food was excellent, which was fortunate, since there were no other dining options anywhere nearby!

Charlie Brown’s office at the River’s Rest Marina & Resort, on the Chickahominy River

 All in all, another great day of riding!

Additional words by Guest Bloggers Steve Wassilak and Barbra Fite

Steve Wassilak

Having joined Bob 10 years ago on the ride from Breckenridge to Eads, Colorado, I
was eager to join Gloria, Michael and Eric somewhere for at least a few days. I was
pleased to see that Craig Shapiro had joined them in Charlottesville. I joined for the
last two days—it was supposed to be the last three days but the crowd on I-85
exiting the zone of eclipse totality prevented Barbra and I from reaching Louisa on
Monday evening (so I joined for the last 5 miles to Short Pump on Tuesday).

Barbra Fite
I’ve never been a morning person, so after dropping Steven off at Michael and
Linda’s to meet the other riders and collect the bags I went back to the hotel. The
alarm was set for 8:30 so I could meet the riders at Pony Pasture Park but some
how I slept through waking up to see a message from my husband saying they
would (20 min. away) be at Great Ship Lock Park (stop 2) in a few minutes. OK I
missed 2 out of 2. Michael suggested I meet them a Dairy Queen later in the ride and
I made that one! They had lunch there and I tried bribing them with brownies as a show if
good will.

The rest of the trip was a beautiful wooded drive, and I waited in a shady picnic area
until they arrived, but then it started to rain and threaten to storm. I finally got to actually do
some SAG duty and ferry the riders who wanted to get out of the weather.