Capital Trail Bike & Swim 8/28/2012

The weather was perfect for our excursion this day as we all met at Chickahominy Riverfront Park for our bike and swim. We had a huge crowd: Ellis, Marti, Corbin, Bailey, Bruce and Margaret J, Bruce M, Bob A, Rhiannon, Jean, Ken, Bill B, Laurie, Kama, Van, Bob S, Carl, Christine, Bob H, Bill R, John, Richard, Steve, Stephanie, Dottie, Phyllis and newbies Mark B, Tricia, Dawn and Margaret. We left the Park en masse heading for Jamestown Settlement along the Capital Trail. Thirty riders on thirty bicycles all ablaze in a rainbow assortment of lycra and spandex. A quick eight miles brought us to Jamestown Settlement for a short bathroom and snack break. The heat and humidity had some heading for lunch or home at this point with the rest opting to take a spin around the island. The group spread out along the gravelly road with three of us bringing up the rear when a young buck came meandering down the road towards our tail end group. Ellis and the buck got closer and closer and closer to one another. Were they playing chicken? Finally, Ellis broke left and circled behind the buck. Looking a bit superior and smug, the buck continued nonchalantly across the road giving me a big brown eyed stare as he ambled by. We caught up with the rest of the group and possessing no pictures of the encounter were unable to convince the group of our curious buck. We continued on our way, completing our tour of the island and heading for our lunch stop. Some of us took a short detour on the recently completed Powhatan Creek Trail which is NOT a loop but an “in-and-out”. The first group through decided they didn’t want to do the “out” part and instead opted to take their chances on Route 5. (This was not part of the ride plan and the Tuesday Group disavows any and all responsibility for these rogue riders). The rest of us completed the new bike trail as planned and joined the rest of the lunch crowd at the Williamsburg Community Center. It’s a good thing that the group was as spread out as it was as this is a small cafe and they make sandwiches and salads to order (ie not fast). But it was all very good and served with a smile. It was a great break. Tummies full, we hopped back on our two-wheeled steeds and headed back down the trail to the watering hole (pool). Somehow, the ride back seemed longer but before long we were splashing in the cool, refreshing water of the Chickahominy Pool. A few tried the slide (some ignoring the rules and going head first), some did laps and some dodged giant mutant horseflies (Bill B. had two confirmed kills). There were no ice cream sandwiches this time but they did have ice cream cups. Another great day for the Tuesday Group!

View Bill B's pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/b.billings/TuesdayChickahominyJamestownAugust282012?authkey=Gv1sRgCOOg56rDiNmwhQE&feat=email