VA Gravel Biking - Day 2

I have heard some cyclist say, “There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear.” I disagree. Good gear can mitigate a lot of bad weather, but to me, 65 degrees and sunny is simply more pleasant to ride in than 45 degrees and raining no matter what gear I have. Today was not the former, but fortunately was only the latter for about 30 minutes in the middle of the ride. The rest of the time, it was between 45 and 50 degrees, raw, and cloudy.

We started the day driving to Staunton. Jesse, Ruth and I rode out of Staunton one day on our 2019 VA Trip to Shenandoah National Park. In that case, we bicycled north out of town, but today, we biked southwest. As usual, we started the day with a ride talk.

After a couple of miles riding out of town, we got to our first gravel stretch. One of the central appeals to riding gravel roads is the comparative solitude and surrounding beauty.

While I often take photos with a small camera while riding, taking photos with a cell phone as most riders do is more challenging. It is significantly more difficult on gravel, consequently, there were definitely photo stops along the way.

Most of today was bicycling in farmland with hay and corn as the most frequent crops.

It was in the second half of the ride when the rain came.

Fortunately, the rain did not last too long.

We did see many cows on our trip. At one point, there were cows on our right. As we came up to a right turn, Jesse pointed to the right to signal the turn. A cow saw him point, stood up, and ran away in the direction Jesse was pointing. It was quite funny to watch.

As is frequently the case, we saw a number of dilapidated buildings. However, according to Ruth who is an expert, there is a difference between dilapidated and haunted. As we rode up to this one, Ruth called out “Definitely haunted!” The curtain hanging out of the second floor window was clearly a haunted touch.

Despite the overcast skies, it was still a beautiful ride.

Towards the end of the ride, we finally started to see some blue skies.