May 25, 2002
7 min. read
This post is part of the Trans-Am series.
The jails in Palmyra, VA are pretty nice. The officer arrested me around 2 AM and confiscated all of my gear.
Just kidding! I didn’t have any problems with camping at the boat ramp last night. Traffic on 15 started to slow around 10 PM and I fell asleep shortly after sending out my emails. I woke up just before 6 and started packing up. I left Palmyra at 6:30 and started my race with traffic to Charlottesville.
The route starts along 53, but takes back roads at Cunningham. I hoped to get a snack at the Cunningham Market, as it is always fun to stop in at the small markets. Unfortunately, it was closed for renovations. The sign stated that it was reopening soon, but the ants were there now. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen so many ants in one place. It was impressive.
The route joins back up with 53 about 5 miles out of Charlottesville. I talked with some people last night who described the route and it seems like the worst part of 53 has to be ridden either way, so I decided to stay on 53 all the way in. This cuts off a few miles and many climbs, but more importantly, it gets me to the bad part of roads earlier in the morning.
I was hoping that being a Saturday and holiday weekend would keep the commuting traffic low until later. I’m not sure how much traffic is usually on 53, but I think I made a good choice. The climbs on 53 were more that sufficient to satisfy my need for climbing. It also assured me that I made the right choice of stopping in Palmyra last night. My legs wouldn’t have gotten me into town in yesterday’s heat.
A note for anyone heading Eastbound: You don’t want to ride 53, follow the route. There was a serious drop, with switchbacks, I went down that would be terrible to climb and very unsafe. I blended in with the car traffic at 45+ MPH during the entire section, which indicates the grade of the road. I quickly went back to my typical 4 MPH climbing speed on the uphills.
I stopped at a small lunch shop where 732 runs into 53 (4 - 5 miles out of Charlottesville) to take a look at Carters Mountain. This is one of the two peaks you go between to get into town, the other being Wolfpit Mountain. A couple and their son were there having their typical Saturday morning snack at the store. They live next door. We talked for a while and they gave me their number in case I run into any problems near Charlottesville. Thanks Karen and Mike!
Being Saturday on Memorial Day weekend reduced the commuting time frame traffic, but it was crazy now. The Monticello Visitors Center is the first place I hit coming in on Highway 20. They called a few places and found me a room. All of the cheap motels are out of town on 29 were booked. Highway 29 is a major thru-way to DC, about 120 miles to the North. This road isn’t conducive to cycling and I wanted to be closer to downtown for touring Charlottesville, so no rooms wasn’t too bad of a problem. The room I reserved was at a Red Room Inn, almost in downtown. I really didn’t want to pay that much, but prices are up for the holiday weekend. My lodging expenses just went from $7 a night average up to over $25 per night. That will drop back down a again soon, once I get to town that allow camping in city parks.
I stopped for some lunch a The Chesapeake Bagel Bakery, adjacent to the Red Roof Inn. While I was typing up my ride notes, the Petes cruised by on their Tandem. They saw my bike and stopped. They had reservations at a motel down the road and also felt the need for a rest day. We both are wondering how we are getting our bikes into our rooms. I’m hoping to use a freight elevator in my hotel. They came up on 53 just after noon and said that it was really bad. This makes me much happier that I chose to ride in as early as I did. Check in time for the hotel was 2 PM, so I killed another half hour looking at the next few day’s routes. While relaxing, I thought about the changes in my surroundings. Charlottesville is definitely a hilly city.
I checked in a little after 2. The bike fit into the elevator with about 2” to spare, after orienting it corner to corner. The best part was seeing the faces of the people waiting for the elevator when the doors opened. I was able to get a room right next to the elevator, which is really nice. The staff offered use of a fitness center for free. This made me chuckle. If I wanted to do that, I wouldn’t be taking a rest day today.
After getting in my room, my bike exploded. Somehow all the contents got scattered all around the room. I have read people’s accounts of this, but it is really kinda funny to do it yourself. I started sorting stuff and remembered that the tent was wet from breaking down covered in dew. The twin beds are good to hold a tent and still leave a bed to sleep. Then I sniff tested some laundry. Anything I have worn for anytime during riding the bike failed and hit the tub for laundry. I hand washed everything, then jumped into the shower, because I failed the sniff test too.
After hanging everything to dry, I headed out to downtown Charlottesville. The walking mall in downtown was nice. Unfortunately the places are typical tourist trap fare with little practical value and high prices. I did go in a CVS and get some Potassium and Magnesium. I think these will be needed in the climbing days to come.
There was a cool book shop with rare books. I’ve heard of people collecting them, but never really saw a book worth 100’s of dollars. Many very old first editions. There were also displays with various old bonds or confederate currency and coins. I took some pictures, but this camera doesn’t do well with macro, natural light photos when it is this dark, so they are blurry.
I had dinner at Baja Rapido, a decent chicken burrito and chips. While I ate, I had a good time playing around with the children of the owners. Then I went to see a movie and walked back to my room.
I confirmed my check-out time is noon. That is bad. It means I’ll be staying here till noon tomorrow. I’ll have to cut tomorrow shorter than my planned route. I guess it is fine though. I needed a rest day and I didn’t stop riding today till almost 12. So if I don’t start riding until 12 tomorrow, then I’ve had a rest day, right?
My thoughts were interesting as I tried to go to sleep tonight. The first one made me laugh out loud. I just caught myself thinking how few bugs there are around. Then I remembered that I was inside a hotel room. I thought about how I probably should have stocked up with stuff today, being that tomorrow is Sunday. I know many places might be closed on Sunday. It is a holiday weekend, so maybe not.
Soon I was too tired to care anymore.
Part 9 of 48 in the Trans-Am series.
Series Start | Day 5 - Lake Anna to Palmyra, VA | Day 7 - Charlottesville to Afton, VA