Ride C2C #4 - Day 25: Williamsburg to Richmond (end of the ride)

Date: 7/17/23
Day: 25
Route: Williamsburg to Richmond via the Capital Trail
Miles: 61.4
Total Miles: 990!
MyZone MEPs: 700 (my MYZone stopped recording, so this is an estimate based on Doug’s MEPS)

It’s our final day of riding on this trip from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic Coast - and finishing feels great and a little sad at the same time.  

We reached Yorktown (Chesapeake Bay - the Atlantic) 2 days ago and now just need to ride from Williamsburg to Richmond where we will ship our bikes home then take the train up to Washington DC for a little sight seeing and visit with our nephew and his wife.

 I wanted to show you the “redrum” factor or our hotel, the Williamsburg Lodge…(insert creepy music here)

We started with a great breakfast of oatmeal - now this oatmeal is how oatmeal should be.  Hearty!  Chewy! Not like our meager packets of instant too sweet oatmeal….

 Our room in the lodge was not creepy at all.  Lots of space!

 It is muggy out and my camera lens is already foggy as we prep for our final ride of the trip.

And off we go!  A few surface streets before we ride the 8 miles on the Colonial Parkway to Jamestown.

Back on the Colonial Parkway where the ride is wide and very little traffic today.  Locals are not supposed to use this road for commuting and so it is mostly very quiet.

 A little reminder to ride single file.  It is tempting to ride side by side since the road is so wide.

 One of the many inlets from the James River

 The first time our entire trip where the morning sun was behind us to make shadows in front!  We are heading generally west.

 Once in Jamestown, we start the Virginia Capital Trail all the way back to Richmond - that’s 50+ miles of riding bliss… no traffic, minimal cross streets, and only other cyclists, runners, and walkers to look out for.

This morning there were many more cyclists on the trail.

 Crossing the Chickahominy River on a section of bridge just for cyclists.  So nice!

Of course, the staples of our travels.  Energy bars that digest easily as we ride.  “88 Acres” was a good find! Gluten and dairy free. :-) and great flavors. 

We rode through the Sherwood Forest!  Sadly, no sightings of Robin Hood or his Merry Men. 

Sometimes the bike trail was on the right side of the road and sometimes the left.
 

 We had to stop again at the Courthouse Grille - it is about half way - and we could not pass up that chicken salad sandwich and multiple glasses of un-sweet tea.  Delicious!

There were so many historical signs along the way that we could not stop and read them all - it would have taken us days to get to Richmond.  But we’d stop and enjoy a sign or two along the way.  Great history of settlement, revolution, and civil war.

 Gatorade break!  Gotta keep up hydration in this heat.  We are simply completely sweaty on all parts of our bodies, all of the time.... so we are careful about drinking plenty of water and getting electrolytes from Gatorade.

The path sometimes has a great buffer from the road.

We love these “bike triangle” signs indicating a steep downhill.  Clearly they have never been to Eastern Kentucky to learn what a steep hill is all about.

 We are getting close to Richmond!  Look closely and you can see the City buildings cloaked in haze - the smoke from the Canadian forest fires has made it this far south.  The air has a little taste of smoke to it, but it is not too bad. 

Riding into the City of Richmond with the James River alongside.

There were about 50 geese trying to get across the bike path… 

The Doors into the City!  These doors are in the flood wall that helps protect the city from James River flooding.

Here it is!  We are finishing up our ride with a little over 60 miles today and a total of 990 miles for Leg #4 of our whole trip from Louisville to Yorktown to Richmond.

 We check back in to the Berkeley Hotel - love this place except that their continental breakfast is a little meager.

 TA-DA!  We did it!  Celebratory cocktails are in order.

Thank you so much for joining us on this trip!  We’ve enjoyed sharing our stories with you.

Riding our bikes across America has been an amazing journey… we’ll do a wrap of the highlights and low points in our next travel post.  Stay tuned! 

~ Robin & Doug Robertson

~Friends~

If you like this travel journal and are glad that you haven’t had to drink gallons of Gatorade and eat dozens of energy bars in the lass few weeks (or if you enjoy doing that), please make a donation for any of these three charities: 

•  Whatcom Community Foundation (local): CLICK HERE
•  Arthritis Foundation (national): CLICK HERE
•  World Bicycle Relief (international): CLICK HERE