Kate and I have been in Virginia since the middle of December. We came out to spend the holidays with her dad, Bill. Its been nice to spend time together during the pandemic. Also since we are planning to build a house it has been helpful to live in one so we can think more about what we want to build.

Today was the last ride we will do before we head back to Colorado next weekend. The weather was a little warmer than it has been so I did not have to wear as much clothing as prior weekend rides had required. We also needed to ride into town to get some coffee as our supply had run out.

Route

One of my complaints about riding in the east, and US in general, is the lack of bike routes. The lack of any planning for non-car travellers, from cyclists to pedestrians, is only apparent to non-car travellers. If you are in a car then everything seems fine, unless you break down and realize there is little to no shoulder to pull off on.

One of the worst sections of road is just outside Bill’s driveway. There is no shoulder and a blind corner with a blind rise a few hundred yards outside the driveway. Its a short section of road but it only takes one accident with a car travelling 45 miles and hour to ruin your day.

While the highway outside our land in Colorado has a speed limit of 65 mph, there is a 6 foot shoulder on each side of the road. It doesn’t seem like much but its like a 2 lane highway compared to some of the rural roads in Virginia.

Unfortunately as much as I dislike this road I dislike driving my bike so that I can ride on a bike path. Don’t drive your bike, ride your bike. So I put up with the sections of road that are a little scary and we got in a very nice and pleasant ride.