On Monday, August 22, 2022, I drove the 300 miles from Midlothian to Abingdon where I met up with my Morgantown cousin, David Brown. We spent the night in a Super 8 and the next morning took a $27 (each) shuttle ride from Virginia Creeper Trail Bike Shop to Whitetop station on the top of the second highest peak in Virginia (nearby Mount Rogers is the tallest). Well worth the money as it descends 1,600′ in the 17 miles from…
On Wednesday, April 13, 2022, I had the pleasure of finally riding the Blue Ridge Railway Trail in Piney River, VA. Years ago, when I rode my (then annual) Blue Ridge Parkway motorcycle Fall ride up Route 56, I would pass the trailhead outside of Amherst and think of riding it. It was on my Rail Trail bucket list. At one time, the railroad was the “longest continuously running profitable shortline railroad in the United States”. Initially built to haul…
In the ’50s my parents gave me one-speed Schwinn. Which I still own! In the early ’70s, at the age of 23, I rode a three-speed Dunelt from Midlothian to Williamsburg (about 65 miles) and back over a three day weekend. Since then I have ridden probably 20,000 miles on club rides, day rides, commutes, a bike camping tour around Europe for a month in 1976, thirteen Bike Virginias, several century (100 mile) rides, two one-week bike camping tours around…