Day 93-Three Months, and Just One More Night in the Tents!

We saw Jim and Kay once more last night. They stayed at the Days Inn right behind us. They’ve got to kill some time now, so we won’t see them again. 

Today was another lengthy mile day, but even flatter than yesterday. Even though we had plenty of time, we still were on the road by 7:00.

Second to last sunrise. 

It was a pretty suburban ride until we got far enough away from Richmond (even though we didn’t go to Richmond). It seemed like we crossed a bazillion highways. Eventually, we had some moments of countryside riding. More soybeans and corn. 

Of course, we are now deep in Civil War history, and original settlements and lots of plantations! We went through the Richmond Battlefield (and some other battlefields too). There were signs everywhere (especially for something called the Seven Days Battle).

The Cold Harbor Battlefield

Garthright House



A little history, and a whole lotta solar panels. 

We spent a chunk of the morning riding to the Virginia Capitol Trail. It runs from Richmond to Jamestown Settlement. We got on it near mile 34 (about 16 miles east of Richmond). 

Fall is coming!

The Shirley Plantation 

One of the info plaques. 

Because it is Saturday, there were a fair number of people on the trail. Lots of road cyclists, but families too. I talked to a few people as we were riding. One guy asked a bunch of questions. No one we talked to seemed to know about the Trans Am (maybe because it’s so close to the start/finish). People couldn’t believe we had ridden all the way across the country. I think some thought we only rode on bike paths. We set them straight. 

With about 14 miles to go, we stopped at the Indian Fields Tavern for some lunch. There wasn’t an access path from the trail, but we saw some people walk their bikes across the grass, so we did the same. Then, right after we did that, a guy on a lawnmower mowed a path! So, at least we had a path back!

It was kind of a fancy-ish place, but there were a lot of cyclists there. We both had the special…chicken with carrots, tomatoes, and Parmesan with a lemon poppy seed dressing in a pita. It was delicious! It was also a good break. 

There was a bit of a headwind for the rest of the way, but it wasn’t terrible. Our destination of Chickahominy County Park was on the east side of Chickahominy Creek. Earlier in the day we crossed this creek. It looked like this…

When we crossed it again, it looked like this…

My how you’ve grown Chickahominy Creek! From here, it dumps into the James River. 

This is the Capitol Trail over the creek. 

We arrived at 3:15 after 70 miles. We got the last tent site. 

It’s fitting that we spend our last night on the Trans Am in our tents…just like we started, and for most of the route! 

Today was 3 months. In this last month we rode from Eureka, Kansas to one short day out of Yorktown, VA. I haven’t added up the miles for the month yet. 

We are cooking one more dinner tonight, and one more breakfast tomorrow, then it’s on to Yorktown!

T-minus 1 day!!!