That’s just how I roll

Day 1: Norfolk – Natural Bridge (505 km)

Ah, autumn. A crispness in the air, wood fires, early sunsets and the fall colors make this my favourite season. And with the Blue Ridge Parkway close by, what could be better than spending a week admiring the incredible beauty of autumn.

So, we decided to hop on our bikes for an east coast fall tour from VA to TN along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Today was day one. We knew it was going to happen, but starting the trip in the rain was not very pleasant. It rained for the first three hours, and long before we arrived in Richmond we were soaked, in spite of the waterproof gear. We made do the best we could, and actually stopped at Dick’s so Michael could buy a pair of waterproof shell pants to replace the now-failed waterproof liner for his riding pants.

It took us until almost 5:30 to get to the start of the BRP, in part due to a later start and in part to the 3 hr lunch and shopping break, waiting for the rain to abate. The rain finally stopped, but as we started on the BRP we hit the fog.

The fog came and went, but when it came, it was at times “first gear” fog. In fact, there was one point, shortly after sunset, that the fog was so thick that we couldn’t see either of the road edges, and had only 2 or 3 dashed segments of the yellow centre line as a point of reference. That was disorienting and a little spooky.

We did, however, see lots of deer on and near the road, and also narrowly missed hitting a skunk.

Eleven hours after our day started, we pulled into our first night’s destination, with Angela shaking her head. “Do you do this to me on purpose, or is this just you?” she asked.

“That’s just how I roll,” Michael replied, “and that’s what you signed up for!”

“Oh brother!” was all she could say.