Day 18 - Crewe to Richmond, VA - 52 miles, 2100 feet ascent

Heard about the old-time Sailor men
They'd eat the same thing again and again
Warm beer and bread they said could raise the dead
Well it reminds me of the menu at a Holiday Inn

              ~ Jimmy Buffet “Cheeseburger in Paradise”

This journey did not begin as a quest for answers to life’s biggest questions, but sometimes it works out that way:

Where are the winds?  Probably in your face.

What’s for breakfast?  Not sure, but it probably involves powdered eggs.

What are those fuzzy black and brown things on the road?  Wooly Bear caterpillars.  They become Isabella tiger moths.

How are we going to safely get out of the parking lot of the Crewe Boutique Hotel?  

That last one is interesting, because the hotel is on a stretch of busy four-lane highway which we had to cross twice.  Yesterday we mentioned our friend, the honorable Brenda Payne, mayor of Crewe, Virginia.  It’s good to be the queen.  It’s also good to know the queen especially when she arranged for two of Crewe’s finest to provide a police escort for the first four miles of our ride out of the town and into the country.  It’s amazing how passing motorists are suddenly so much more speed conscious when they see those blue rollers.

But there is a little more to this slightly out of order story.  Kelly Gajei re-joined us yesterday on our ride from Raleigh after leaving us in Savannah to compete in an auto race.  He won second overall in a National Auto Sports Association (NASA—no, not that NASA) competition and took first place honors in his classification.  In rushing to rejoin us, he may have been pulled over for speeding.  It turns out the law enforcement officer who let him off with a warning was one of the two police officers escorting us out of town.  Serendipity.  

If yesterday’s ride was great, today was even better.  We checked all the boxes:  visiting dignitaries, light winds, tail winds, rolling hills, downhills, some modest climbing, mostly light traffic, blue skies with few clouds, sheep, and a chance to hang out at a volunteer fire station for lunch.  Bob, a 24-year Army vet, came to our rescue opening the Mattoax Volunteer Fire Station for our use during lunch.  He was a little reluctant to do a favor for a bunch of Navy guys, but he did so with smile on his face.  Bob, thank you so much for your hospitality.  Look us up in Annapolis should you ever find yourself in the neighborhood.  We also had USNA ‘75 classmate Dave Pruitt drive from Virginia Beach to meet us at lunch and urge us onward. He cheered us along the way to Richmond and joined us for a celebratory beer at the finish line. Dave, thanks for making the drive to see us.

We have had such a long run of 60+ mile rides that we are conditioned to expect a third rest stop between lunch and the finish line.  Today at 52-miles we had no such stop.  This is now the new normal for the rest of the ride on our march toward the Washington DC metro area.

Tomorrow we cross the 1000-mile point early in our ride.  We all enjoyed our country roads today knowing we were going to pick our way through suburbia leaving Richmond tomorrow.  This will be our shortest ride to date at a whopping 49 miles.

To date we have logged 996 miles and 23,000 feet.  It’s hard to believe we are already in Richmond with Annapolis just over the horizon.  It’s time to recover, rest, and hit the road all over again.  Let’s ride!  GO NAVY!

PS.  If Jimmy Buffet had taken this trip, he would have mentioned waffles.