Bike Virginia 2006- Day 3, 4 & 5
OK,
Lets get caught up.
The weather did not look too promising on Day 3, so I decided to bag the rides and hang out at Tent City in Roanoke Rapids. We stayed at the T.J. Davis Aquatic Center, a nice facility for a small town with athletic fields, two olympic size pools-one indoor one outdoor, beach volleyball courts and all surrounded by a picturesque park.
The morning was not too bad, I was able to read quite a few chapters of "A Salty Piece of Land", pure summer escapism by Mr. Jimmy Buffet. The showers chased me away from the pool about every hour, and became progressively more intense as the day wore on. In fact they got so bad, that me and Jimmy headed for Ruby Tuesdays for tall Killian's and a check of the Weather Channel. After a few schooners and a nasty looking Doppler radar screen, I decided camping was not an option, so once again I headed to base camp at the lake. Barb was staying there all week and fed me some delicious spaghetti.
Day 4 looked like more of the same, but I had always wanted to visit Halifax, NC, so I was riding rain or not. Being somewhat of a history buff, I wanted to see the town where the idea of independence from England was born. Halifax was quite the place in the late 1700's. Where most towns were lucky to have one tavern, it had as many as thirteen. It was in these taverns that the well-to-do planters and merchants would hoist a few and curse the King. In 1776, North Carolina's Fourth Provincial Congress met there and the result was the Halifax Resolves, a document that led to the Declaration of Independence.
Many of the historic buildings have been restored, and there is a very nice Visitors Center with a short film that tells the story of the town. Halifax remained an important commerce and cultural center until the 1830's when the railroad bypassed the town, choosing Weldon instead. Weldon then had both a navigable river and the railroad and prospered until it was destroyed during the Civil War. The Petersburg-Weldon railroad was a favorite target of Union raiders during the Siege of Petersburg.
All in all, a nice little 50 mile loop, and I beat the rain back to Tent City although I really had to hoof it through Weldon. Others weren't so lucky and had to deal with flash floods. Guess where I spent the night.
Day 5 started with beautiful blue skies for the trip back to South Hill. Since the route was so close to the Lake house, I just took off from there that morning over my much travelled roads up to the Valentines Post Office. This was the first rest stop of the day and had the distinction of hosting a wedding. This was the second wedding I can remember on Bike Virginia, the first being at the Chateau Morrisette winery during the grueling Southwest Virginia Odyssey. It was also the second wedding I have attended at the Valentines Post Office. I was out doing a solo ride at the Lake several years ago and I had a Great Peanut Tour jersey on. Next thing I know a car pulls up along side me and rolls down the window. I figured it was someone lost and needing directions. Then I recognized a familiar face, Bobby Wrenn, the organizer of the Great Peanut Tour and an ordained minister. He asked where I was headed, and if I would be interested in heading up to Valentines as he was marrying a couple of cyclists there. I said "why not?" So this couple rides in from VA Beach on seperate cycles, gets hitched, jumps on a tandem, and heads back to VA Beach. I get back to the house and Lisa wants to know what took me so long. It took some convincing to make her believe that I really had attended a wedding. Which brings us to this one.
On June 28th, 2006, Sandy Criswell tied the knot with Steve Jakubowski at the Valentines Post Office on Day 5 of Bike Virginia. I wish the happy couple well. I rode with the group down to Gasburg, then peeled off to finish the day with my regular Lizzard Creek circuit. Got back to the Lake house and picked up a paint brush. We got the entire front and high side done before I dove into a cooler full of Yuenglings. Thus endeth BVA 2006.
Lets get caught up.
The weather did not look too promising on Day 3, so I decided to bag the rides and hang out at Tent City in Roanoke Rapids. We stayed at the T.J. Davis Aquatic Center, a nice facility for a small town with athletic fields, two olympic size pools-one indoor one outdoor, beach volleyball courts and all surrounded by a picturesque park.
The morning was not too bad, I was able to read quite a few chapters of "A Salty Piece of Land", pure summer escapism by Mr. Jimmy Buffet. The showers chased me away from the pool about every hour, and became progressively more intense as the day wore on. In fact they got so bad, that me and Jimmy headed for Ruby Tuesdays for tall Killian's and a check of the Weather Channel. After a few schooners and a nasty looking Doppler radar screen, I decided camping was not an option, so once again I headed to base camp at the lake. Barb was staying there all week and fed me some delicious spaghetti.Day 4 looked like more of the same, but I had always wanted to visit Halifax, NC, so I was riding rain or not. Being somewhat of a history buff, I wanted to see the town where the idea of independence from England was born. Halifax was quite the place in the late 1700's. Where most towns were lucky to have one tavern, it had as many as thirteen. It was in these taverns that the well-to-do planters and merchants would hoist a few and curse the King. In 1776, North Carolina's Fourth Provincial Congress met there and the result was the Halifax Resolves, a document that led to the Declaration of Independence.
Many of the historic buildings have been restored, and there is a very nice Visitors Center with a short film that tells the story of the town. Halifax remained an important commerce and cultural center until the 1830's when the railroad bypassed the town, choosing Weldon instead. Weldon then had both a navigable river and the railroad and prospered until it was destroyed during the Civil War. The Petersburg-Weldon railroad was a favorite target of Union raiders during the Siege of Petersburg.
All in all, a nice little 50 mile loop, and I beat the rain back to Tent City although I really had to hoof it through Weldon. Others weren't so lucky and had to deal with flash floods. Guess where I spent the night.Day 5 started with beautiful blue skies for the trip back to South Hill. Since the route was so close to the Lake house, I just took off from there that morning over my much travelled roads up to the Valentines Post Office. This was the first rest stop of the day and had the distinction of hosting a wedding. This was the second wedding I can remember on Bike Virginia, the first being at the Chateau Morrisette winery during the grueling Southwest Virginia Odyssey. It was also the second wedding I have attended at the Valentines Post Office. I was out doing a solo ride at the Lake several years ago and I had a Great Peanut Tour jersey on. Next thing I know a car pulls up along side me and rolls down the window. I figured it was someone lost and needing directions. Then I recognized a familiar face, Bobby Wrenn, the organizer of the Great Peanut Tour and an ordained minister. He asked where I was headed, and if I would be interested in heading up to Valentines as he was marrying a couple of cyclists there. I said "why not?" So this couple rides in from VA Beach on seperate cycles, gets hitched, jumps on a tandem, and heads back to VA Beach. I get back to the house and Lisa wants to know what took me so long. It took some convincing to make her believe that I really had attended a wedding. Which brings us to this one.
On June 28th, 2006, Sandy Criswell tied the knot with Steve Jakubowski at the Valentines Post Office on Day 5 of Bike Virginia. I wish the happy couple well. I rode with the group down to Gasburg, then peeled off to finish the day with my regular Lizzard Creek circuit. Got back to the Lake house and picked up a paint brush. We got the entire front and high side done before I dove into a cooler full of Yuenglings. Thus endeth BVA 2006.
posted by Benny at
21:25
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