RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
So tired of winter and the forecast for this week was in the 60s. I wanted a nice place to ride and thought of Richmond. The ride is from Williamsburg to Richmond but to get there one needs to take the train from Richmond to Williamsburg.
I’ve done this ride four times previously. My routine is to park at Great Shiplock Park which is one mile from the train station. Bike over to the station, board the train, then relax for the one-hour ride to Williamsburg.
Today was different. It was a warm winter day but the temperature was still 54 degrees when I was leaving the car. I noticed a young man, homeless-looking, walking around in bare feet. He wasn’t begging but rather was just wandering.
I asked him if he wanted some food. I didn’t have much. I had the gels that I would carry in my pocket for the ride back. But I had a back of potato chips from Chick-fil-A and I offered him those. He took them. I had an extra bottle of water – I was planning to carry one in my pocket in addition to the two bottles on the bike – so I offered him a bottle. Then I looked at the brownie I bought for a treat for after my ride. I gave him my brownie tool.
As he sat on the curb, bare feet and all, I kicked off my Adida flip-flops and gave those to him as well. He was a bit reluctant but then I noticed his feet. He said they were 12 1/2, and I think they could have been bigger. My sandals would be too small. So he gave those back to me.
I wished him well and a good day as I pedaled off to the train station.
The train looked relatively empty. I know the process and found a conductor near the rear who told me that coach car had a rack in the back. All the cars had a rack in the back. When I got to the rack it was in luggage mode. There was a large open area in front of the seats and I chose not to rearrange the rack. I leaned the bike against the bulkhead and expected I would get no pushback. That was especially true when no conductor came through the car and checked my ticket during the one-hour ride to Williamsburg.
For today’s ride I mapped out some sight-seeing in Colonial Williamsburg and a slightly different way to Jamestown. Note to self: The Colonial Parkway is very rough.
The ride was uneventful. I stopped at the S at MP 13.5 on the trail. Called the BreezIn, this convenience store/gas station has only been open one year. One advantage over Haupt’s Country Store which is 6.5 miles farther is indoor seating for eating. I ordered a corndog and while it was made fresh, the hotdog inside was cold, almost frozen. The man who deep-fried it was very apologetic and made me another one. It too was cold inside. When he asked me about it I was honest but told him not to make a third. In all, I spent 20 minutes at the store. He was surprised that I was biking “all the way” to Richmond. He may not have worked there long because this sits on the trail that goes from Jamestown to Williamsburg.
