mid-Virginia overnighter

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Bikie#4646

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Aug 30, 2015, 10:19:21 PM8/30/15
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On August 29-30, 2015, I did this solo overnighter using a modified version of Meade Anderson's "Lee's Retreat" ride, along the lightly-used Civil War motor route. The new 55cm black & cream Sam Hillborne tourer with a new front HAR performed in an exemplarily fashion!

I left Farmville, Va. Saturday morning headed to the High Bridge:


Then, I was headed west to Holliday Lake State Park, near Appomattox Court House Historic Park. 40 miles, total for Day One. One gravel section for the day.

Overnighting there, I woke early, visited the lake briefly for morning light, had breakfast and headed toward Appomattox Court House Park on gravel roads (and one stream ford) where I turned back south east and Pamplin City, a "ghost town", the western end of the High Bridge Rail Trail 20 miles to my van at Farmville. Total: 45 miles for Day Two.

Total mileage was 85 miles, plus about 6 miles for goofing around the park and a couple side trips for sightseeing.

With temps between the low 60's and mid-80's and no chance for rain, who could ask for more in August in Virginia?  This area is very pretty, low  traffic and quickly becoming one of my favorites within striking distance from Richmond, Va. I can recommend the area for anyone within 100 miles of Farmville or Appomattox.


Paul Germain
Midlothian, Va.

Jon Dukeman in the foothills of Colorado

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Aug 31, 2015, 5:38:05 PM8/31/15
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Paul,
Thanks for sharing your trip through VA. Just beautiful. I'm glad you had good weather.
Love that Sam. Beautifully dressed!
Jon


Deacon Patrick

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Aug 31, 2015, 5:45:05 PM8/31/15
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Sweet! Thank you for the photos!

With abandon,
Patrick

Paul Germain

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Aug 31, 2015, 5:53:22 PM8/31/15
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Many thanks Jon!



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Paul Germain

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Aug 31, 2015, 5:53:56 PM8/31/15
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Thanks Patrick!



-----Original Message-----
From: Deacon Patrick <lamon...@mac.com>
To: RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Mon, Aug 31, 2015 5:45 pm
Subject: [RBW] Re: mid-Virginia overnighter

Sweet! Thank you for the photos!

With abandon,
Patrick

On Sunday, August 30, 2015 at 8:19:21 PM UTC-6, Bikie#4646 wrote:
On August 29-30, 2015, I did this solo overnighter using a modified version of Meade Anderson's "Lee's Retreat" ride, along the lightly-used Civil War motor route. The new 55cm black & cream Sam Hillborne tourer with a new front HAR performed in an exemplarily fashion!

I left Farmville, Va. Saturday morning headed to the High Bridge :


Then, I was headed west to Holliday Lake State Park, near Appomattox Court House Historic Park. 40 miles, total for Day One. One gravel section for the day.

Overnighting there, I woke early, visited the lake briefly  for morning light, had breakfast and headed toward Appomattox Court House Park on gravel roads (and one stream ford) where I turned back south east and Pamplin City, a "ghost town", the western end of the High Bridge Rail Trail 20 miles to my van at Farmville. Total: 45 miles for Day Two.

Total  mileage was 85 miles, plus about 6 miles for goofing around the park and a couple side trips for sightseeing.

With temps between the low 60's and mid-80's and no chance for rain, who could ask for more in August in Virginia?    This area is very pretty, low    traffic and quickly becoming one of my favorites within striking distance from Richmond , Va . I can recommend the area for anyone  within 100 miles of Farmville or Appomattox.

Tony DeFilippo

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Aug 31, 2015, 11:38:32 PM8/31/15
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Paul thanks for sharing!

About 3 years ago my wife and I stumbled onto the High Bridge trail for a day trip very early in my 'discovery' of biking.


We found the 'rolling hills' on the surrounding roads to be a bit aggressive for our skills on that day and were happy to find the rail trail and the dramatic bridge crossing.  


Some of your flickr pictures hint at it but I'd love to see a google map or ride w/ gps file of your route for future reference!

Tony



Ryan Thompson

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Sep 1, 2015, 12:19:00 AM9/1/15
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Looks great Paul.  I've always wanted to ride the High Bridge Trail.  Maybe after I finish building up the Sam you sold me my son and will drive down from DC and check it out.

Ryan

Philip Williamson

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Sep 1, 2015, 2:03:33 AM9/1/15
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a) Beautiful pictures, and an inspiring looking ride. 
b) There's a town called FARMVILLE? Awesome. 

Philip

cyclotourist

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Sep 1, 2015, 2:07:07 AM9/1/15
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Looks like it used to be a town, anyway! Great bit of adventure there, Paul.

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David

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"it isn't a contest. Just enjoy the ride." - Seth Vidal



Paul Germain

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Sep 1, 2015, 11:19:00 AM9/1/15
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I recall your trip Tony! You've come a long way! (and many nice bikes)

I wish I was technological enough to furnish you with files from the ride, but alas, I still use (and enjoy) paper maps. The state sells a compete set of county maps for $35, shipped! Where a ride may cross county lines, I make copies, cut & paste, re-copy and mark with a highlighter. Always some surprises, but many of those are happy ones! (Like these two old - ca. 1900 & 1912) one-lane, steel girder, wood-decked bridges on gravel road approaches in nearby Cumberland & Amelia Counties:

The paper maps do have a nice quality of seeing the "overall" route at once, picking alternate roads at will and spotting dirt / gravel roads. Of course, I know this is possible with a GPS, etc. and always enjoy having friends along that can help back me up with route-finding.

Speaking of route-finding, have you heard of the Japanese cyclists' habit of "pass-hunting"? Cool. This is from my good riding buddy, Meade Anderson:

Good to talk to you Tony! I hope to someday meet you up in DC. I love riding Southern MD, but haven't been this year.
-----Original Message-----
From: Tony DeFilippo <vpi...@gmail.com>
To: RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com>
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Paul Germain

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Sep 1, 2015, 11:26:59 AM9/1/15
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Your son would enjoy it Ryan! The bridge is spectacular of course, but is only a 7-mile round trip from Farmville. The rest of the 31-mile trail is only moderately interesting, since it does not follow a river like most rail trails do. But, being new to that kind of thing, he won't care. The trail surface is excellent and I prefer it to asphalt. However, there's not a lot of tree cover like the C&O, etc., so fall temps would be easier for him. Not much water providing on the outer limits, so stay hydrated.

They need to extend it both ways a few miles to take it right into Pamplin (western end) and Burkeville (eastern end) and hopefully that will happen someday.

Other attractions nearby are Appomattox Court House and Sailor's Creek Battlefield Park near Rice, Va., if he's into Civil War history.

Send a picture when you get the Sam built!

-----Original Message-----
From: Ryan Thompson <ryan.f....@gmail.com>
To: RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tue, Sep 1, 2015 12:19 am
Subject: [RBW] Re: mid-Virginia overnighter

Looks great Paul.  I've always wanted to ride the High Bridge Trail.  Maybe after I finish building up the Sam you sold me my son and will drive down from DC and check it out.

Ryan

On Sunday, August 30, 2015 at 10:19:21 PM UTC-4, Bikie#4646 wrote:
On August 29-30, 2015, I did this solo overnighter using a modified version of Meade Anderson's "Lee's Retreat" ride, along the lightly-used Civil War motor route. The new 55cm black & cream Sam Hillborne tourer with a new front HAR performed in an exemplarily fashion!

I left Farmville, Va. Saturday morning headed to the High Bridge :


Then, I was headed west to Holliday Lake State Park, near Appomattox Court House Historic Park. 40 miles, total for Day One. One gravel section for the day.

Overnighting there, I woke early, visited the lake briefly  for morning light, had breakfast and headed toward Appomattox Court House Park on gravel roads (and one stream ford) where I turned back south east and Pamplin City, a "ghost town", the western end of the High Bridge Rail Trail 20 miles to my van at Farmville. Total: 45 miles for Day Two.

Total  mileage was 85 miles, plus about 6 miles for goofing around the park and a couple side trips for sightseeing.

With temps between the low 60's and mid-80's and no chance for rain, who could ask for more in August in Virginia?    This area is very pretty, low    traffic and quickly becoming one of my favorites within striking distance from Richmond , Va . I can recommend the area for anyone  within 100 miles of Farmville or Appomattox.

Tony DeFilippo

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Sep 1, 2015, 11:38:18 AM9/1/15
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Paul,

I didn't know about the VA County map option, that is awesome!  I love paper maps myself, not as handy for sharing things online but very satisfying in the hand. I like that you do the paper print outs for your trips.  I actually did the same for my Harpers Ferry by tandem ride this past July, not that there is alot of navigation to do once you get on the C&O but I wanted to keep aware of my bailouts and what trail services were available regardless of the condition of my phone.  I'm going to order that county set, and WOW the VDOT VA Bike map is spectacular... I'm going to order one of those to.  Talk about a perfect bucket list reminder of the local trails.  Very cool.

Those bridges are fantastic discoveries and thanks for sharing the links to the Japanese 'pass hunters'. I was aware of the term from Bike Quarterly but I hadn't seen an example on such a rough terrain road.  That looks like quite an adventure, and the road looks like it might be older than European settlement in North America to!  :)

We should definitely figure out an opportunity for a joint ride!

Tony

Paul Germain

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Sep 1, 2015, 12:16:27 PM9/1/15
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Tony,

I owe all of my "pathfinding" skills to friend, Meade Anderson, who used to put on an annual "joint" Richmond area - No. Va. I-BOB ride around Guinea Station & Ladysmith, off I-95. (I first met Joan Oppel and Steve Palinscar then.)

Yes, the Va. Bicycling map is nice, but does not hold a candle to Maryland. Also, unfortunately, Va. taxpayers refuse to fund more then 6 inches of shoulder on most roads. That's why I love these out-of-the-way country roads with little traffic. Usually, once I'm away from areas where the "packs" of cyclists create animosity with drivers, it can be nice. But, I do get a case of envy when I'm in So. MD or around Frederick and find good shoulder on most backroads.

Let me know if you're down this way sometime - or if you'd like recommendations on more trails. There's a new one southwest of Petersburg, Va., the Tobacco Heritage Rail Trail, that was funded with Tobacco Settlement money and has a nice look to the infrastructure:


I could be within striking distance for you. (Could be your "Lucky Strike" - oooh, sorry!)

Paul Germain
Midlothain, Va.

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