Long Haul - Day 25 (9/10/21) Stafford VA to Ruther Glen VA - 50 miles
We had a lovely day. Our first 20 miles took us through some beautiful countryside. We were headed to Fredericksburg a city of about 25,000 for a visit to a coffee shop owned by a friend of mine. Backstory: four years ago I attended an espresso machine technical training in Ferndale, Washington. It is a small city/town in the far north west part of Washington state. During the training I got to know MJ Stone who was also taking the training. We had a number of conversations during the training and it seemed we connected easily. Over the past years we have communicated regularly about coffee shop owners issues. We connected because we have a lot of the same values and approach to owning and managing a coffee shop. When she heard we were riding the East Coast she said we had to stop in on our way since the trail ran within a block of her coffee shop. It seemed a bit “coincidental” that we would be so close to the shop and we just had to stop in. We were about 20 miles out when we started this morning and we arrived around 9:00 AM. We ordered several mochas and baked goods and had an absolutely wonderful time catching up with MJ and her fiancé. We swapped coffee shop stories and sometimes laughed at unfinished stories because our coffee shops have similar tales to tell. We picked each other‘s brains and had a lovely time with them. Our time ended too soon (more than two hours) and we needed to keep moving. We felt refreshed and left around 11:15 knowing we had about 31 miles left to go.
We made short work of the miles as the weather was very pleasant and best of all we had a nice breeze on our back. The remaining miles were mostly on quiet remote rural roads that took us past a lot of bears we never got a chance to see or at least that is what I’m telling myself. We were thankful for the breeze and cooler weather.
I am reminded today of all the wonderful friends I/we have in our lives. There are so many of you in Goshen that mean so much to us and then there are so many more scattered around the country and around the world. I’m reminded that we must be some of the most fortunate people in the world. If friendship/relationships are priceless (and I believe they are) than we are certainly some of the most blessed people in the world. I too often take that for granted. Today was a reminder that I shouldn’t. I’m also reminded of friends that are going through heartache and loss. I wish for them a bit of the peace and refreshment we enjoyed today. It takes a village.
@agoradowntown
https://www.treesforgoshen.org/biking-for-bucks-expand-goshens-tree-canopy/
Today’s Ride Ratings
Weather 10 (the temp was great with a tailwind)
Temperature 60 at start and 77 at finish
Scenery 9
Riding Surface 9
Terrain 8
You and your unseen bears . . . 😎