I also learned a little about life at a fire station. When you hear a bell ring, out comes the calvary. All vehicles went out on a call at about 11:45 p.m., and the ambulance went out on a call by itself at about 4:00 a.m. It really makes one appreciate the hard work and dedication of these first responders.
Today we started off by riding about 38 miles on Virginia back roads to connect to U.S. Bicycle Route 76 which runs east and west from the coast of Virginia to the coast of Oregon. U.S. Bicycle Route 1, which we were on most of the day yesterday, runs north and south from Maine to Florida.
Roads such as the one pictured below and the cool, crisp air made for an idyllic bike ride today. For a cyclist, these types of roads are preferred over U.S. highways not only for the lower vehicle traffic, but also for the over the road tree canopy coverage.
Below is a pic of the Ni River with it's water clearly swollen over it's banks. I'm assuming that this flooding is a result of the torrential rainfall from yesterday afternoon and last night.
Below is a photo of a nice barn and surrounding scenery that caught my eye during today's ride.
We rode by Lake Anna (pic below).
I snapped a pic (below) of Bob and Mike sitting in front of a church munching on granola bars that Eric gave us yesterday. They are such "weight wennies" (try to shave every gram from their bicycle weight) that they made me carry those granola bars for them for several miles :) (inside joke)
After we connected with Bicycle Route 76, we had signs like the one pictured below directing our way.
Below are Mike and Bob showing their happiness that we made it to our sleeping spot for the night in Palmyra, Virginia, which is a quaint, quiet Virginian village.
Speaking of our sleeping spot, and coinciding with the random acts of kindness by complete strangers that I mentioned yesterday, I must tell you this story.
As I was sitting on the steps of the Methodist Church in Palmyra, a guy named Overton pulled up next to me in his car and was inquisitive about my trip on my fully loaded bicycle. Since Palmyra is on Bicycle Route 76, and his home, and garden, is right next to the route, he was familiar with long distance bicycle riders. I explained to him that I am riding with 2 others and that we were riding from Maryland to Roanoke. He invited us to pitch our tents at his house, and even offered for us to sleep inside the house. We set up our tents on his front porch. He also allowed us to take a shower, which is a huge perk when on a bicycle trip.
Overton allowed us to use his car to go to the grocery store to buy some hamburger meat, chips, and baked beans, and we cooked supper for him and his wife, Teresa.
Below are pics of Chef Mike and Grill Master Bob preparing the meal.
Below are our fabulous hosts for the night, Overton and Theresa. Overton was born and raised in Palmyra and has a wealth of knowledge about the village's history.
Everyone sitting down for a wonderful Friday night meal on the back deck. A night of great conversation with some wonderful folks.
As a bonus, Theresa has an app on her phone that indicated the International Space Station's location, and we got to watch it flying over our heads while eating our burgers.
The bonuses never seemed to cease tonight... As an additional bonus, Overton had made some delicious apple crisp that he shared with us for dessert. Also, Theresa washed my and Mike's dirty bicycle clothes, therefore, the shirt and shorts I have worn everyday of this trip are now legitimately clean.
Total miles for the day: 66
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