Modoc County

Modoc riding

Riding in Modoc video from a few years back.

Loaded Bike

Put panniers on the bike and rode up Old Tunnel. Wanted to see if my legs still have what it takes to do a self contained tour. The legs still have it!! If the warm weather continues I’m thinking of taking Amtrak to Monterey, camping there for the night and then continuing on to Big Sur to camp and do some hiking.

Ready to do a little touring

Spotted these goats riding up Old Tunnel, they’re brought in to eat brush that can cause wild fires. This is just up the road from ground zero for the 1991 Oakland Firestorm that destroyed 3,000 homes.

Back In Oakland

After two weeks of riding with rain or threat of rain on the Civil War ride, I’m back in Oakland. Jean and I had planned to camp/bike the Blue Ridge Parkway after completing the CWR. But sleeping on the ground in 40 degrees lost it’s appeal after 2 weeks of riding in wet conditions. We both decided we could “tough out” the cold conditions, but we had been doing that for 2 weeks and said “enough was enough”! After the tour we had a nice visit with Jean’s relatives. We stayed with her niece in Rockville MD and took public transit into Washington. On a walk down the Washington mall we saw the Capitol, White House, and Washington monument. The stroll down the mall was our first sunny day of the trip and so very welcome. Even though the weather wasn’t the best for cycling I enjoyed the ride and beautiful countryside. I saved my cue sheets from the ride and hope to someday come back and do the ride again.

A Rainy Day Along the Potomoc

Shenandoah Valley

The past two days our ride has taken us through the Shenandoah Valley. As a child I remember movie scenes showing pioneers settling the Shenandoah valley. Riding today I felt as if I was in those days except I had a bicycle instead of a horse. Our route traveled along the “high road” and offered views of the valley below. While riding this road we happened upon a local woman who had lived in the valley her entire life. She was walking along the shoulder snapping the seed heads from a plant she considered a weed, she was hoping to keep it from spreading into her sons hay field.

The weather for the trip has been cloudy, misty, and rainy. Today we were treated with a great cloudburst, the roads became small streams within moments. Jean and I were caught on the “high road” when the downpour began. There was no place to take shelter, we finally came upon a lone tree and ducked under it and waited out the rain.

For the past two days the local advertising has claimed we were in Jonny Appleseed country, but everyone was asking where are the apple trees? This morning we finally began seeing apple orchards. Off and on through out the day we would see apple trees…red apples, green apples, and yellow apples.

The title of this ride is the Civil War, the upcoming days Harpers Ferry and Antitiem are on the itinerary, let the history lesson begin!

Shenandoah Valley

Virginia woman weeding along the roadside

A Misty Morning

Waiting out the rain

Johnny Appleseed was here

Rolling Through Virginia

Free tomatoes, a covered bridge, and misty mountains were some of today’s sights. I set off on a wet foggy morning, my bike rolling up and down all day long. I felt right at home riding through the mist…so many days like this in the bay area. Today we left horse country and started seeing corn fields…hilltop mansions were replaced with barns and silos. There has been very little about the Civil War (the title of this ride), but I’m not disappointed because the area is so scenic! Tomorrow we’re off to West Virginia where we will be spending the night at Middletown.

Free Tomatoes

Horse Country residents

Horse Country Home

Shenandoah Valley Covered Bridge

This cutie watched as we rolled by

Leaving Leesburg

Jean & I set off on a misty morning on our first day of riding the Civil War Ride. The first 10 miles were along a bike path. The trail was converted from the old Washington & Old Dominion railroad line. Shortly after we left the bike trail it started raining. We didn’t mind because it was warm and we were traveling through Virginia horse farm country. Old stone fences lined the road and every half mile we could see a large estate perched on a distant hill. Most of the day we were on quiet backroads that rolled along. We climbed 2700 feet, but we would fly down the hill and our momentum slingshotted us far up the next hill! A short bakery stop for coffee halfway through our 50 mile day perked us up for the rest of the ride. We were 1 mile from the Hampton Inn our motel for the night when it started to pour. Entering the Hampton we dripped puddles of water to the front desk and were happy to learn our rooms were ready. We had pizza delivered to the hotel and settled in until the 5 o’clock map meeting and happy hour.

Cedar Pass Deer

I see these deer almost every evening when I’m out on my evening walk. There are two does and two fawns. Hunting season is coming up in a few weeks. Only the bucks are designated for hunting, but I don’t trust some of the guys I see driving around with their guns looking for something to shoot. I’ll be bicycling in Virginia during hunting season and I’m glad to miss it all.