Not willing to let an extra day off go to waste Sarah and I decided to go for a bike ride together this past Monday.  Next month we are going on vacation with our dog Buster so we figured we should hook up the trailer and bring him along for a “training ride”.  After a bit of searching around online for a nice calm place to ride that we had both never been before we decided on the Colonial Parkway near historic Williamsburg.

We packed up the bikes, bob trailer, and Buster and set out on 64 east.

What we found when we got there was even better than expected.  After parking at the Yorktown battlefield visitor center and getting situated we set out heading west towards Williamsburg and ultimately Jamestown.

Along the way we were treated towards a mostly shaded route with occasional clearings giving us a great views of both the York and James rivers.

At about the half way point between Jamestown and Yorktown we took a nice detour through historic Williamsburg.  A tunnel along the route forces bicyclists and pedestrians up and into the town.  I felt a little silly riding though a gaggle of tourists towing my dog in a trailer wearing bright green cycling garb.  However with the exception of the one guy who pointed at Buster wagging his tail in the trailer and exclaimed “that’s awesome!” nobody really seemed to pay us any mind.

At the halfway point of our little journey we took a little break for some bananas.  Buster had a drink and also scarfed down some banana as well.  After a few minutes of relaxing and soaking up the great scenery we hopped back on our bikes for the return voyage to Yorktown.

Buster loves riding in the trailer.  The faster we go the more his tail wags.  If I dip below ten miles per hour on the hills the whines in discontent probably thinking to himself “hurry up! I can go this fast on my own!”

All in all it took us about three and a half hours to cover the forty-some miles.  Certainly not the difficult pace of Sundays training ride but much more appropriate and enjoyable given the circumstances.

If you are looking for great ride any time of year (we’re going back in the fall for sure) I highly recommend this route.

The pavement is a bit rough so a touring bike like my Civia or Sarah’s Redline Conquest Classic would be a bit better suited for a longer trip but that did not stop the Dan and Jerry from Tripower from hammering away along the route.  Personally I like a smoother ride for this type of thing so I’ll stick with my 700x28c Gatorskins.

When Virginia finally gets around to finishing the Virginia Capital Trail I will be making some frequent two day trips by bike from good ol’ Richmond down to Yorktown and back for sure.