Prior to leaving this morning, we had a nice coffee with Cory and shared some more stories before setting out on the trail. Folker and I rode together until we got through Colonial Williamsburg. I then stayed on the Colonial National Historic Parkway and Folker took a more direct route to the upcoming Virginia Capital Trail.

It was not too long after I made it onto the Virginia Capital Trail that I found Folker and gave him a high five as I continued on up the trail towards Richmond. There were plenty of riders out and about on the trail on this Sunday morning. It is always a nice distraction to have like minded people around during the ride.

Later on down the trail I met a nice gentleman and noticed he has the same exact bike. It is a rare find out in the wild and created an instant bond. Jim Popp was an absolute joy to ride with as we made it close to the Virginia Capital Trail terminus together.

Jim seems very interested in getting out on some rail trails and potentially some multi-day rides in the future. It was nice to provide some positive motivation and show him that if I can do this, anyone can do these adventures.

Jim became an instant trail angel as we said our goodbyes when he gave me some cashews, a protein bar and several electrolyte drink mix packets. These all will definitely help out during these hot and humid days.

The only climbing that has been done thus far has been on some of the bridges crossing major waterways. It was nice today to get a little bit of climbing in and I look forward to continuing to climb in the days to come.

The route took me into downtown Richmond and it was nice to see the unique houses and to experience the city vibes on a Sunday. I pushed on through Richmond and made it to our destination north of the city. It felt great to get a long ride in today and I look forward to continuing the push further north tomorrow.