Week 43 - October 21-27

Willis Mountain

This week, Jen and I wanted to get, what we thought/think, may be one last ride for the season.  Already venturing to Goochland and Louisa, we wanted to go further.  We only had the afternoon, so we couldn't go as far west as the mountains, although we did catch our first glimpse of them. 

We picked a small smokehouse call Two J's in Palmyra, VA to head to.  It was located just southeast of Charlottesville, sort of in the near vacinity of Montecello.  We had a great ride there on a long winding road, but when we got there, it was closed for renovations.  So, punt. 

We were north of the James River, so we found a route to take us back south of the mighty James and catch 60 back to Midlo. 

After we got accross the river, we were going to catch up to Route 60 at Ditlwyn, a small town.  Coming into town we saw a mountain in the distance, in the direction we were heading.  Eager to experience the Virginia Mountains, we headed off to find and hopefully drive up the mountain.  We were two up, so I drove and Jen kept here eye on the mountain.  As we got closer, it got smaller.  We drove until we found a road called Mountain View, or something the that affect, surely a road that had to go to our mountain.  Turns out, out Mountain is more of a hill.  A granite mine in fact, called Willis Mountain.  It was definately a stretch to be called mountain, but it was our destination non the less.

I quess, not all adventures can be winners.  So if your ever west of Richmond looking for something to do and sights to see, don't bother with Willis Mountain.  In fact, I bet the locals would look at you funny if you asked for directions.

The good part about the trip, other than it is always fun to ride, is we made it home before the hurricane.