Lots of History

Day 67, June 7, 2011, Lots of History

122.4 miles, averaging 14.3 mph

Route from Suffolk to Richmond KOA, Richmond, VA

Best Moment – All of the way from Suffolk to just outside of Richmond, I didn’t see a single store and hardly any cars. I was completely on back country roads with names like, Blackwater Road, White Hill Trail, Lake Prince Drive and Five Forks Road – just to name a few.

Worst Moment – Two century rides within two days is brutal – especially in this heat and humidity. I don’t know what the humidity was, but it was 98 degrees at one point.  And in spite of liberal applications of chamois cream, I’ve developed a rather painful case of saddle sores.  Hopefully an evening’s rest and short day tomorrow will improve the condition.

As I mentioned, today, I was on small backcountry roads from the time I left Suffolk until just outside of Richmond.   The flat countryside has been replaced by rolling hills. I went through some very lovely lake areas and saw acre after acre of corn and grain ready for threshing. (It looks like there is more irrigation done here because most of the corn appears very healthy though there is still some that looks water starved.)  But there are still beautiful displays of wildflowers.

Virginia has a lot of history.  There are of course the Revolutionary War sites, buildings and historic areas and then the Civil War battlefields, buildings and historic areas.  This is the area where Jeb Stuart was shot and later died.  I stopped at one National Park for the Seven Days Battles at Malvern Hill. Standing at the Union’s position I got a tremendous sense of awe for the historic significance of the field that is there now. 

As I rode into the nearly deserted parking lot – there was only one green Ford Taurus in the whole area, the Park Ranger got out of that car to come over to talk with me.  I imagine that she sees lots more people on weekends.  She explained a little about the battle that had taken place.  The Union forces were much superior and had the advantage during the July 1, 1862 battle, but for some reason decided to retreat to the James River.  Had they pressed their advantage then, who knows how much the war would have been shortened.  She indicated that Lincoln hadn’t even issued the Emancipation Proclamation yet. (It wasn’t issued until January 1, 1863.)

The photo of the cannons represents only two of the very many more cannons that the Union army had pointed at the Southern forces.  The battle was so fierce and noisy that it could be heard in towns as much as a hundred miles away.  The weather during this battle was fiercely hot (much as today) and very humid (also as today.) 

After riding nearly a 100 miles since the day began, I rode into Richmond.  It is another beautiful and historic southern city.  This is where Patrick Henry gave his “Give me liberty or give me death,” speech at St. John’s Church.  I only wish that I had felt like spending more time enjoying its charms. It is also a hilly city – for moments I thought that I was riding in Tallahassee again. I finally pulled into the campground about 6 pm - exhausted.