Biking to Richmond

Time
to
bike
to...

Richmond,
Virginia....

where

my

Mother

was born

90 years ago!

But
I'm a
really
slow
biker....

so
again
I need
Shelley....

to
bump
me
up...

But...

the

scenery

is so

scenic....

we
get
carried
away!

and
we run
into
some
trouble....

Ouch!

Goatheads!

(Shelley calls
them
hitchhikers)

Heading out
we
run
into
construction....

Actually
it's
storm
damage
from
Hurricane
Irene.

Thanks,
Tree-worker-men...

...and
women.

and now
we run
into
a
snow-white
field...

What
could
it
be?










Puffy
cotton balls
under
puffy
cotton
clouds.

Now
we're
way behind
the
bikers...

Hurry!

Follow
that
pumpkin
truck!

Finally
a
biker!

These
guys
may
be
tired....

but

they

still

have

some energy!

Go for it!

Here's
the
SAG!

at last!

We
made
it!

Dave
limps
in...

He's
done
for
the day.

Tendonitis
has knocked
him out.

But he
still
smiles.

We admire
his
tattoo.

He explains
his wife was
once gone
for a week.

When she
came
back....

Oh, no!
cries Shelley.

We've left
our husbands
alone
for a week!

What kind of
tattoos
might
our husbands
get?

Would
John
get
a tattoo
of Mel?

and
Tom
one
of
Dusty?

We
shudder
to think
of it!

But it's time
for me
to
get
on bike!

Here
I
go!

All
alone
on
the
empty
road...

It
could
be
scary...

But
it
isn't
long....

before
the fast guys
begin
to pass
me.

We're
together
briefly...

at
the
SAG...












and
then
I'm alone
again...



with
the
trees.

That's
okay.

I like
trees.

That's why
I came on
the
annual
STIHL
Tour des Trees.

As I bike
along
slowly

bikers pass me.

Kevin
pauses
for a while
to help me
with a headwind.

Thank
you,
Kevin.

and finally,
Yes!

There's
Richmond
peeking
through
the
trees!

We
sneak in
through
the
back way....


That's
something
I like
about
biking....

We
see
cities...

and
the
world....

from
a
different
perspective.

Paul
flags
us
down...

for
a
staging
maneuver.

He
wants
us to enter
Richmond...

en
masse.

We
made
it!

At the statehouse
just in time
to
plant
a
tree...

A 

Lee 

Tree....

descended
from
an acorn
of a grand
old oak
under which
General Robert E Lee
had stood
so many years ago.

And
speaking
of
descendants...

I have
another
mission...

Across
the James River
lies a
small
neighborhood...

with the
church
where my
Mom and Dad
were married
60
years
ago...


and
around
the
corner

the small
house
where
my Mom
grew up.

My Mom
who in the 1930s
was a
champion archer
and
a field hockey
player.

And who
swam
in a
two-piece
swimsuit!


Shocking!

They say
the 
acorn
doesn't fall
very far
from the tree.



Apropos, eh?