Update 4/19
Day #58
Today: Glenn Allen, VA, to Fredericksburg, VA (67 miles)
Total miles: 3216
Tomorrow (plan): Alexandria, VA
The weather forecast last night and this morning called for the possibility of rain (it didn't happen), so we weren't surprised at the overcast sky. The weather was great for cycling. Irv demonstrated his outstanding culinary skills while preparing an excellent dish for breakfast, and we were on our way by 9:00 AM. Our route took us through the winding back roads north and east of Richmond, and we were definitely seeing some of the beautiful horse country in the area. It's a part of the country which has seen so much of America's history, and we can understand why people love it so much. There were no restaurants along the route, and we considered ourselves lucky to find a convenience store in Cedon, VA. We tried some barbeque sandwiches for lunch and were pleasantly surprised at the quality, since we're not sure this area is noted for that particular food. I had heard that US 1 is not a recommended bicycle route in this area, so shortly after leaving Glenn Allen we joined a route prepared by Adventure Cycling Association (ACA), an organization that promotes touring by bicycle and designs bike routes. Part of the time we also found ourselves on US Bike Route 1, a route I was not able to find out much about when I was researching for the trip. We had arranged to meet Bob Weekley, a classmate who is cycling to West Point from his home in Virginia as a fund raiser for a non-profit boys and girls club in his area. Bob's wife Elaine had driven over in their van prepared to take us to the nearby home of another classmate, Carl Groth, and his wife Chris. The Groths were out of town, but they had opened up their home to us for the evening. We met Bob and Elaine at a coffee shop in the center of Fredericksburg at about 5:30 PM, and I had doubts about being able to put the tandem, Bob's single bike, and the four of us in the van. Not to worry; we were even able to close the rear door, and off we went. After nice warm showers we went to a local restaurant, then returned to the beautiful and comfortable Groth home for a very restful evening.