It Was That Kind of Day

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA

A chill in the air greeted us outside the Best Western hotel in Zion Crossroads, Virginia. Like yesterday, it would be a day for leg warmers and long-fingered gloves. After breakfast, we got our group assignments, and mine was Jimmy Kondisko and Jae Slye, along with our drivers, Liz Kaplan and Vince Schiano.

At our dedication circle, I dedicated my ride to Joe Petrucelli.

We drove south on U.S. 15 and then to a very remote location out in the country. We didn’t know much about our route except that our mileage today was supposed to be 60, and Liz had said we would end about five miles north of Farmville. Shortly before we turned off toward our country start location, I saw a sign that said Farmville 21 miles. Seemed to me we had 60 miles to go 16. We could do this!

Even though we had cue sheets, we weren’t sure which direction we were to head. A local drove up in his pickup truck. While Liz was asking directions, I saw the gun. Well, guns, handguns, on the floor in his truck. Welcome to rural Virginia.

Once oriented, we pushed off with confidence. In the first couple of miles, we were greeted by a three-legged dog chasing us. Then a four-legged one. Then two four-legged ones. Repeat (except for the 3-legged dog). It was that kind of day.

Early on Liz, at least figuratively, went off cue and directed us down a gravel logging road. Two miles on gravel. It was that kind of day.

Liz decided to go ahead and “chalk” the turns. Well, one turn. A very nice smiley with a left arrow. It would be the only turn she chalked.

When we came to US 460, the turn wasn’t far, but it was a major highway, fast traffic, and no shoulders. We all discussed how best to ride “protected” from the traffic. As we discussed our plan, a convoy of at least 50 Army vehicles came by. We were wearing “camo” jerseys, and many vehicles saluted us with a friendly horn tap as they passed by.

At one intersection, Liz and Vince were waiting and directed us to turn right and informed us of a trail ahead. The trail was the High Bridge Trail. We rode for a few miles on the gravel rail bed, which was quite enjoyable, although the wheels didn’t roll as freely as on pavement.

We reached the end and saw we were getting closer to Appomattox and farther from Farmville. We turned around and headed towards Farmville, just enjoying a day on the bike. As we approached Farmville, we noticed an upside-down smiley chalked on the road. Jimmy pointed out that we had passed this way before. We laughed. And laughed some more. We had just ridden a figure eight. It was that kind of day.

Liz wasn’t happy. She knew we were way off course and was quite worried that she would be in trouble. Why? I don’t know. We were having an enjoyable day on the bike, even if pointed in the wrong direction. But we enjoyed the ride no matter where we were headed.

We rolled into Farmville and met Liz and Vince. Aware that we were under time constraints to get to Durham, we still wanted to ride our assigned distance to “do our part for the team.” At that point, we had given up on actually finding our way to the real route. Jimmy and I wanted to push forward on the rail trail, just for fun, and go over High Bridge, a high trestle on the old Southside Railroad (later Norfolk Southern).

We urged Vince to grab Jae’s bike, even though it had a women ‘s-specific seat. We had fun with him as he struggled to control it and its areobars but he loved riding eight miles with us.

Normally a “roadie” I was glad that we found this rail trail. I doubt that I would travel here to ride it and it was definitely worth doing.

High Bridge could have been called Long Bridge. It was high. And long.¹ At the west end, we found some reenactors, presumably Confederate, and stopped and talked with them.

It was also very windy. But it was a beautiful sunny day and a great day on the bike. In all we had ridden 20 miles on gravel.

We followed the trail and met Liz and Jae in Rice, Va., and then drove to Durham. Running late all day, after a quick shower, we went to Raleigh Times restaurant for a group dinner. We were the last ones to arrive. And really hoped that Liz wasn’t in trouble. It was that kind of day.

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1. High Bridge is 2,418 feet (737 m) long and 125 feet (38 m) high ↩︎

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