As @
gugie noted, I started in Boston:
I took the overnight Amtrak to DC, and was surprised to see that I didn’t have to put my bike in the baggage car but instead could hang it in the coach a couple of rows from my seat:
That it extended into the passageway by nearly a foot didn’t seem to cause too much disruption, and it was very nice to roll it right off, and then hop on for the six-mile ride to meet Mark and Andrew for breakfast in Crystal City. From there we took the Metro to Springfield, where we met Doc on his beautiful Davidson. It was already hot and humid, a sign of things to come for the next 75 miles to Culpepper. A highlight was a halfway stop at a beer garden in the middle of nowhere:
After a night of blissful A/C in our hotel, we headed out to Charlottesville (Hugh had joined us in Culpepper to lead the way). Lots of VA scenic views along the way:
The next day was for climbing, specifically a couple of thousand feet up to Skyline Dr on a rural gravel road. It was awesome:
Our destination was Big Meadows Lodge, shown in Mark’s first pic. We had a rustic good time (and I must note that really good local beer was available everywhere). The next day was a ridge ride, specifically south on Skyline until it turned into Blue Ridge Parkway. About 11 miles from our accommodations for the night in Nellysford, the skies opened up, and we sought shelter at a ranger station. An hour later, we were on our way and had some amazing views of the clouds down in the valley:
The final riding day was a relatively short jaunt back to Charlottesville for some R&R and swapping tall tales of the trip. Finally, Mark and I headed back to DC on Amtrak where we parted ways.
Once home, my family members seemed glad to see me:
