June 2, 2008

First of all there is a lot I left out in my first post... we were pretty short on time. Most importantly, I need to say thanks to James Cheek, who let borrow te bike I'm using for this little shindig. You rock buddy! Next thanks to my sponsor, Phat Tire Bike Shop on the Bentonville square and Brish Brosh and not Stoner Matt. They hooked up all my gear at a great price and got me ready to travel, and Stoner Matt did not, ass. Anyway I really appreciate the help and I will see you guys soon. Saucy, play frisbee so we can kick it in Colorado and Ohio this summer!

So, After leaving Williamsburg we went into Jamestown, which is nothing but a tourist attraction these days. We thought it was a town with camping and food such, but that's false as hell. The camping site closed down and so we were basically stuck at sundown with about another 10 miles to go to civilization. We figured we could ask around and find a yard to throw a tent up in or somthing but the closest houses were pretty suburban and the people weren't to helpful, but did point us to a 4-H down the road. We rolled over there and talked to the camp counselors for a second, to no avail, when a car pulled up and a guy and his wife asked us if we needed a place to crash for the night. He happened to see us bike past him earlier when he and his wife were walking on the trail. I remembered waving to him a little earlier. We all figured a guy with his wife and dog couldn't be too shady and so we went back to their place for the night.

And what a sweet little spot... The guy, Marco, and his wife, Jessica, were big Christians and they had an apartment around the back of their house they used for hosting missionaries and bible groups and whatnot. Marco is actually a pastor at Living Proof Baptist Church in Williamsburg that he founded a couple of years back. Anyway, the apartment was fully equipped with a shower and beds and pretty much everything we needed. He even brewed us some coffee in the morning, which is becoming quite a regular pattern. The next morning before he sent us off he gave us the watchmaker speech, which any good pastor would do, so we didn't mind, and we set off for Mechanicsville.

It was a pretty ride, and a lot of this ride was trail so we didn't have to worry about traffic. We made it about 33 miles or so and stopped to snack at a gas station that was still about 35 miles out of mechanicsville. There was a lady at the gas station we talked to for a while who recently found out she had cancer and how it changed her to a more natural way of life. We talked about a bunch of natural soaps they made locally and sold at the gas station and I bought a really good bar called Dragon's Blood that smells like Patchoulli and other natural herbs and stuff. Am I a hippie??? So she leaves and we are all rested up and ready to go.

So we left the gas station and about a mile down the road my chain gets stuck in the gears and like an ass I try to force it out break my only chain. Mechanicsville had the closest bike shop that was worth a damn so I planned on getting my spare stuff there, but I probably should have planned that a little better... Anyway I was stuck and the girls kept going because there was a storm coming and we were in BFE with no place to stay. So I walked the bike back to shop and sat on a rock and tried to hitch a ride. The woman happened to have returned a little earlier and comes up to me on the rock and asks what happened so I tell her the story and that I'm trying to hitch a ride to anywhere down the road with a bike shop. She tells me that's too dangerous and that she can get me to Mechanicsville, which is a suprisngly short ride in a car, so we take off. That was the best bar of soap I've ever bought.

The lady, Dee, was really sweet and we talk about her owning a cable company in the past with a bunch of Jamacains under her (figuratively) but she was in a car accident that put her down for a while so she had to give up that job. She had been drafting for the city for a while but then got laid off because of the economy, and was currently unemployed and does a ton of kayaking, which is what brought her along our path that day. So we get to Mechanicsville and there is an awesome little bike shop called Pedal Power (www.pedalpowerbicycles.com) where Dee drops me off after I buy her a tank of gas. The mechanic there, Travis, is a really cool guy and shows me how to fix everything up and replaces a cable and bunch of other stuff that he doesn't charge me for because again, he's a really cool guy. We end up talking about the music scene around Richmond and Fayetteville and both are really in to Yonder and other jammy type bands from the Northeast who stop in both places. I ended up kicking it at the bike shop for a couple of hours waiting on Iris and Heather to show up and it was my job to find us a place to stay in Mechanicsville. I had asked Travis earlier if there was a campground around town or some other reasonable place to stay and the closest one was about 20 miles away, so we were pretty screwed. The next logical question, then, was where the closest bar was to meet some friendlies. Apparently all the bars in Mechanicsville suck and are full of rednecks who we probably didn't want to stay with... screwed again.

So while I was outside putting my bags back on my bike, ole Trav comes out and tells me that he called his parents and they have a pace for us stay in a little room behind his garage. Fuck yeah, and this is right before the girls get in town. It's only the second day of riding and they pulled out 67 miles so were tired as hell. So Trav gets off work and we go find the girls and ride to his house and chill out for a little bit. We meet the fam, Bob, Donna, and Barkley, the dog, and Bob gives us some good beer and we all get to shower again which is pretty lucky considering that accomodation comes few and far between, and we got it the first two nights in a row. His dad was rebuilding a Landrover from I think the 70's and we helped him put on the windshield and the hood and bullshitted with him for a little longer and proceeded to chill out in the garage.

It turns out that Travis is a huge Grateful Dead fan, moreso than myself. Am I hippie??? It was funny because we were talking about the Dead and I mentioned how much more I liked to hear different live shows, for various reasons, and as I'm saying that he pulls out a cd case choc full of live Dead shows from over the years so I get to rip a ton of them onto the laptops we have. Very sweet find in Mechanicsville. So we all go out with Travis that night to a place in Richmond that has about twice the amount of beer as Brewski's and play some pool and drink some beers but eventually call it an early night. It was a hard ride for two of us... The whole night we are trying to convince Travis to hop on a bike and come with us to Oregon, or at least for a week or two. He's only 21 and doesn't have shit to do but be a mechanic at a shop and mentioned he was looking for a change, so we figured this was the perfect oppurtunity. His parents were even down like a clown! His dad left for the store and said, "When I get back I want Barkley to be here and Travis to be gone." I think he actually thought about it for a while, but ended up not coming with us that night. We did exchange info, though, so his parents might drop him off with us in a couple of days; we're just waiting for the word.

Next post, Mechanicsville to camping in a carport at a gas station in the middle of nowhere and getting harrassed by the cops!!! Stay tuned!