Day 017 – Fredericksburg, VA to Ashland, VA

On my way to Bruce and Vikki’s house I some how missed actually seeing Fredericksburg so I decided to ride 8 miles north to have coffee in town and update days 15 and 16. It’s a cute little town with lots of Civil War history that probably would of been great to see if I had time. I’m not much of Civil War History buff so it wasn’t the end of the world. I did get some pictures of a battlefield though (pic). Looks like a picturesque field – the perfect place to kill a lot of people 🙁

On my way to Ashland I stopped by Partridge Ridge Products (topsoil and mulch) to see Bruce and Vikki and their adults children Ian and Cory. I wanted to see how much dirt Bruce had piled up and 200K+ yards is a lot of dirt. The bus and tricked out support trailer Bruce put together for the Boy Scout Ride was also there so I got a chance to film him explaining the trip and getting shots of everything (see Day 092). I also got some video of automated mulch bagging that will knock your socks off.

In Bruce’s office is his snake collection so of course I had to handle one of them. He had a bunch of Black Rat Snakes (native to Virginia and grow up to 8 feed long) that he has caught over the years and another one that he bought or rescued that I forget the name of.

Since I got a late start I decided to take US 1 (also called the Jefferson Davis Highway in Virginia). I was the most direct way to get from Fredericksburg to Ashland without getting run over. Two lanes with a small shoulder and gentle rolling hills. All the cars treated me well so I can’t complain, but it is nowhere near as fun as taking the back roads.

Bruce and Eve responded to my Warmshowers request from earlier in the morning so I got to stay on their big screened in porch – like camping, but without having to set-up a tent. They are both mathematics professors at Randolph-Macon College so they didn’t look at me funny when I told them about how much I enjoyed a youtube video demonstrating how it’s possible to turn a sphere inside out without creasing or tearing it. It’s mathematically provable, but I don’t have a mind for the actual mathematics, but enjoyed the visual explanation.

I’m envious of Bruce’s bicycle room. He actually put an addition on the house just for it! There is even an outdoor shower so you don’t need to bring all that bicycle funk inside to your significant other. I have always wanted a ground floor bicycle room where I could store and work on them without having them in the way. Some day. I did use their outdoor shower which was fantastic – nothing like looking at the neighbors while your naked. There was a wall, but still a different experience from the privacy of ones own bath.

Their daughter made a yummy tofu, veggie dish for dinner complete with salad that had strawberries from their garden! Yum, yum and thanks.

We spoke some about my quest to talk to souther conservatives (they weren’t) and they mentioned that David Brat, an economics professor from their college, is running against Eric Cantor for his seat in the House. He has some traction, but is getting outspent 40:1 so probably won’t amount to a real challenge against Cantor. I decided to pass on getting hooked up with him due to wanting to get farther south, but I will need to start planning multi day stops to realize this part of the project.