With the weather forecast calling for sun and highs in the low 80s for a couple of days in early March, it sounded like a great opportunity for my next little adventure: a 250 mile ride from Norfolk to DC over two days via the Virginia Capital Trail, a 52-mile paved multi-use path that connects the Commonwealth’s current capital of Richmond with its past capital of Jamestown. I also knocked out about 120 more miles of the East Coast Greenway.
Like my last two cycling adventures, this one also started with a short ride to Union Station and an Amtrak train ride to my starting location.
Day 1: 128 miles from Norfolk (really Portsmouth) to Ashland VA.
Pretty routine rural scenery, but a nice ride overall. The heat was a bit much, though — I ended up going through 1.5 gallons of fluids during the 7-hour ride!
Day 2: 122 miles from the "Center of the Universe" (Ashland, VA) to Arlington.
Scenery started out nice, but today’s route wasn’t nearly as scenic as yesterday. I did come to the conclusion that Bud Light is the official beer of choice for litterbugs; so much litter on parts of today’s ride. I don’t think the three landfills or two water treatment plants added much to the ride either.
On the plus side, I had a welcome tailwind and cloud cover for the majority of the ride. I think tomorrow will be a rest day.
