Patrick Henry

Give me liberty or give me death! Those were the words of Patrick Henry, who shouted them in a 1775 speech. We were at one of his homes today, on the way to Ashland. The road from Fork Union follows the James river towards Richmond, Va, and Ashland is basically a suburb now. Leaving the motel and passing by the military school that Fork Union is famous for, we had to travel 25 miles to get to some breakfast. They were great miles on the bike, with long stretches of straight level road between curves. At 7am when we left, the mist was rising from the fields, and the moon was still visible even though it was light. It was about 9 when we pulled into Goochland, in Goochland county, to eat. Lo and behold, there was a table full of geezers reading the paper and talking NASCAR and politics. Haven't seen that since Nebraska. In Kentucky they are already at the stills by 9, by themselves. Blueberry pancakes and a newspaper reminded me of home.

We finally left the restaurant and rode down the historic route. The revolutionary war was fought in this country, and there are markers all around telling of what happened where. It's a little eerie to stand at a place and realize events happened one day long ago in the exact spot. The road follows the route that Lord Cornwallis, with his mighty British army, used to chase the army of the colonies, led by Nathaniel Greene. The strategy used by Washington and Greene was to run away until Cornwallis tired of the chase, In fact it worked, and Cornwallis eventually retreated back down the same road to Yorktown and his fleet. About 10 miles from Ashland is the Patrick Henry home, also the home of Dolly Madison, who was a cousin. We talked to the guides, but didn't want to pay the $7 each to get in. So we took a long, winding road 10 miles into Ashland, seeing some deer and fields of peanuts along the way.

Ashland is notorious for being a part of the beltway shootings in Oct. 2002. A 37 year old man was picked off as he left a Ponderosa steak house here in Ashland. Now the downtown is a sleepy town with a library right on the railroad tracks. We visited it, asked for local advice, and found a motel next to a mexican restaurant with some great margaritas. The road through town is the old stage route from Richmond to Washington DC, now a busy train track. The weather has been great, warm and calm, and with the evening so nice we went to a Starbucks and sat outside to drink our decaf. Tomorrow we hope to get to Tappahannock, on the Rappahannock river. It is about fifty miles. The 65 we rode today were nice riding, but my legs are trashed. Putting them in an upright position is getting tiring. We haven't had a full day off since we descended into the cave, and that was awhile ago. Talking to Tim and Dora has got us amped up to get to Baltimore. As it stands now we will ride to Ocean City, Maryland where they will pick us up on Saturday. I want to say hello to all the folks at the tracon, you have my sympathy.