Newport News to Yorktown 6-4-13

What a perfect day it was! Sunny! 70 degrees! Mild breezes and low humidity! Of course, only the best for the Tuesday Group's ride today! We met at Newport News Park and gathered for our welcomes and safety briefing. Bill B. kept tooting his horn letting us know we were close to ride departure time. Bikers today were: Steve and Stephanie, Ellis and Marti, Judy, Jae, Katrina, Carl, Bob Saff, Brian, Bill B, John F, Mark, Ken, Bill M and Phyllis. Clad in bright colors we mounted our bicycles and headed down the trail. We met two horses and their riders along the way and we gallantly dismounted our two wheeled steeds so as not to spook the four legged ones. We entered the battlefield and made our first stop at the famous spring..."George Washington drank water here". Then through the flooded road and on to the Visitor Center. We took a short break there to get our NPS stickers. We continued our ride to the Victory Monument for our requisite photo and then on down to the river front. It was still early so we continued on to the cannon. This was the site of the siege of "Cannonball Margaret" as well as something else involving the French Fusiliers. (Of note: The fusiliers were regiments that used fusils. A fusil is a light flintlock musket). We saw two bald eagles circling high in the sky. That made us hungry so we pedaled back down to the York River Pub where we ate and ate and ate. After lunch we biked a little bit more along the waterfront (Bill was photographing the lifeguards) and then made the treacherous gravity defying ride up the HILL. Everybody made it and nobody lost their lunch along the way! We continued our ride through the Park, stopping at Surrender Field to relive the moment when Cornwallis dashed the hopes and dreams of the British Empire by giving up his sword to the Colonial Army. Hooray (Huzzah?) for the Americans! Despite the ghosts on the field before us, our gazes were directed upward to the ceiling of the monument. The crisscrossed beams of the ceiling formed a honeycomb of cubbyholes in which swallows had constructed dozens of nests! Babies peeked their tiny heads out as mama birds birds swooped back and forth. And there was surprisingly little bird poop on the floor! Bidding farewell to the baby birds, we continued our ride on through fields of green-spotting at least 1 deer and several turtles-and back to Newport News Park. A few traditionalists finished the day with frozen yogurt creations at Sweet Frogs. Yes, another great day for the Tuesday Group!

Phyllis

Enjoy Bill B's pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/b.billings/Tues130604NewportNewsYorktownBikePhyllis192Miles?authkey=Gv1sRgCKCr5YKmlYKx5QE&feat=email