Dispatches day 38

 Dispatches from the road by Bill Poindexter

Day 37 and 38

Yesterday I left the Dunnlora Inn in Mineral, Va after a breakfast fruit, yogurt, blueberry pancakes, sausage, and scrambled eggs, and juice. Also had a great conversation with one of the owners, Tony Wong. Tony and his partner have a horse farm and run the Inn but Tony is actually a captain of a fishing boat out of New Bedford Massachusetts, which is not far from Martha’s Vineyard. So he lives in mineral but has to travel back to work to captain the boat. He and I had a great conversation- he told me lots of stories about being a fishing boat captain his philosophy of leadership and what it takes to be a fisherman this day and age. He was able to give me a lot of particulars as well like for instance when crabbing for a certain kind of crab up around Canada area to get the male crabs they were just over 100 fathoms down but the female crabs were 300 to 400 fathoms down. No I’m not even saying I know what a fathom is -but sounded cool. Tony’s one of the leaders that works alongside his men and if you don’t pull your way you’ll just get a check and a pat on the back and A thank you. Anyway it was fun to hear his stories of the sea. I love that. After breakfast I rolled out heading towards a Warmshowers host on the east side of Richmond off the Capitol Trail. The day was cloudy and there was rain in the forecast all day so I put on all my rain gear and just headed forward, The route I’m taking on the Trans Am trail is not a direct route it goes through countryside which is great because you get to see lotta beautiful country and it’s usually lower traffic. Put on a 50° rainy day makes it a little bit hard to enjoy the ride but I did, and it was beautiful. Although I do have to admit I’m pining for the sun to come back out. :-) Yesterday was a little bit rough like the day before I think I bruised my right side bone a little bit it’s a little bit swollen so it made the ride a little bit rough. And so I had to take it pretty slow. At this point on day 37 yesterday if you don’t give yourself enough rest your body starts to tell you in different ways it needs rest. It’s like my friend Kaytee said, even God took a day off. I’m met Kaytee two years ago in Nederland Colorado and we just had a conversation at a restaurant and have stayed in touch since -she lives in Colorado she’s a nurse getting ready to have her first child now. I bring this up because of all of my relationships with people over the years from the road all have much meaning including the ones from this trip and I can’t wait to go back through my dispatches sometime this summer and write about this trip. So I got to Ashland yesterday -is just above Richmond and is a beautiful town, and I was either going to camp in Ashland or head to a warm showers host 22 miles through downtown Richmond and on the capital River Trail, but that depended on what my bottom felt like after riding all day. And in all my trips are I seem to get a second wind after two or 3 o’clock in the afternoon as long as I’ve had enough food to eat. I got into Ashland around four and headed to Nate and  Elaine’s. The last 22 miles they are always the roughest I think. Especially if you’re a little bit tired. But it is fun meandering through a city and navigating with maps really gives you a cool perspective of a city and I do like cities. I’m very comfortable riding in traffic and never once feel lost. I did get to downtown Richmond which is really extraordinarily beautiful there are some sections of it that still have cobblestone streets and just really cool old architecture and cool looks like cool restaurants and hotels and shops like to spend some time there, and I was right on route but then I hit some construction and it turned me around a little bit I ended up right at the capital building which was fine and then had to pull out my GPS, and ask various people for directions which allows me to engage in the local population and one thing I found from the road is that people generally want to help you but you have to ask for that help. I soon got back on track to the Capitol River Trail so I took kind of a little side trip but again it took me through some cool areas. And then made my way to the capital River Trail which is really beautiful as well I think it takes one all the way to Williamsburg. And then I was only a couple miles to Nate and Elaine‘s home which is really beautiful I’m staying in their screened in porch as they’re doing remodeling inside and I prefer staying in screened in porches as well they have an acre and lots of woods and chicken coop place to sit outside and raised beds for growing vegetables, they had wonderful chicken salad ready for me and shower and laundry and we had a nice conversation about spirituality and about writing and art about themselves and where they’re from. So it was a lot of fun to learn about them Elaine is originally from Hong Kong. Which and going back to Tony Wong earlier in the day he’s part Chinese. I was reminded of my friend Fred in Kansas City who is Chinese as well and it just with that and all of my travels I’m always reminded about how from a world standpoint we’re all just the same and connected and how the planets such a small planet. And how important it is for us to take care of the planet. No I’m not gonna go into a lecture about environmental sustainability. It’s 45-ish right now little bit breezy and drizzly. Nate offered I could stay here today if I wanted to go to church with them this morning just have a nice off day and this seems like a really good location for that. Need to do a little bike maintenance and go through my gear for the last few days on the road. YorkTown‘s only 60-ish miles away so I really am at the end of this expedition. Been on the road a total of 38 days and I feel so fortunate I’m able to do this and I’m trying to slow down a little bit to soak up these last few days in Virginia which It will probably be three  or so days -I’ll stay here in Richmond then head to Yorktown tomorrow and then come back to Williamsburg stay in Williamsburg day and explore and then head out to the Martha’s Vineyard area Cape Cod area by train on the 11th or the 12th haven’t decided yet. I think tomorrow is the suns gonna start coming out so they’ll be nice to have three days of sun to finish up here and Virginia. What a beautiful state this is. And I’m very cognizant of the sacrifices made during the American revolution by rolling through this area rolling past Thomas Jeffersons home Patrick Henry’s, various different Civil War battles and also the American revolution. All the sacrifices made for this great country we live in I have a lot of hope for the future and I think we need to all work towards a healthy country healthy in terms of peoples bodies and minds in the environment and healthy communities and I think there’s a lot of ways to do that. I do know and see that humanity is alive and well as I’ve talked about many Dispatches. Starting in 1781 a group of French soldiers left Left Newport Rhode Island, after wintering there, with the objective of heading towards New York to meet up with George Washington and the continental army and then at some point a decision was made to advance to Yorktown Virginia were basically three different threads to on land of soldiers walking and horseback and then some ships in the ocean. And they made it down to Yorktown and defeated Cornwallis and I believe 1783 and that was basically the end of the American revolution. The trials and tribulations of those soldiers just walking down marching down to Yorktown is extraordinary they had to go through various villages and hamlets and people had to help supply this army with food and shelter and there were groups of crooks that were with the soldiers who every night would make meals for them from game that was hunted cured meats crops secured from various farmers and even baking hearths that were built and  bread was baked for the soldiers. And the soldiers were carrying basically 80 pounds of equipment on their backs as well as a 12 pound musket. Can you even imagine? These were French and American soldiers working side-by-side to fight for our freedom and our liberty which we so enjoy now. America is a great country and still is no matter what people say I personally believe that our leader ship has been somewhat compromised with greed and lack of integrity but that’s my opinion personally and America was founded on having freedom of speech and freedom of thought. I think a lot of work needs to be done to make this country even better but I think it all starts with us the people the people that really just want the basics which is food and shelter and clothing and warmth and good education and good health and a decent job with a fair wage. Keeping our values and integrity intact is very important as well we must not forget that. I’ve seen over the last 38 days a lot of poverty a lot of instances of drug use but I’ve seen a lot of good as well. But I will tell you that nothing happens simply for us to make this country great again it’s gonna take all the people not just some of the people but all the people to come together and work towards living together in harmony. And that in itself is work and work itself is a noble thing. Well those are my thoughts from the road it’s a time to get a little coffee and breakfast. And once again if you like my writing or if you don’t but are still reading it and want to support me in my endeavors on the road and soon to be my cheese making endeavors on Martha’s Vineyard at Mermaid Farm and want to buy me a cup of coffee and a sandwich I would greatly appreciate that. I plan to keep this way of telling you about my experiences on the road going throughout the summer and into the fall. Soon to switch from dispatches from the road to diary of a novice cheese maker, you can find me on Venmo or just connect me directly and I’ll direct you to a way to get that sandwich to me. I do appreciate your patronage and reading my post my dispatches and listening to my words. At some point probably the summer I’ll be doing some videos as well. And planning to even do another bike trip late in the fall and into the winter so stay tune for that information. Peace and love from the road,  Bill Poindexter