Williamsburg, VA  Back from the Virginia Bike Walk conference in Williamsburg, VA. In the spirit of the conference I decided to be car-free and get there using a combination of bicycle and train. I loaded the Bike Friday travel suitcase with my bag, attached it to my New World Tourist folding bike and rode to Alexandria. The route is mostly on trails, the W&OD, Four Mile Run, and Mt. Vernon.

It took about 20 minutes to pack the bike into the suitcase/trailer but I had plenty of time as the train was about 30 minutes behind schedule. It was a pleasant trip with only a few stops: Occoquan, Fredericksburg, Ashland, and Richmond. The trip through Richmond is rather excruciating as the train is limited to about 10mph. At the Williamsburg station I assembled the bike and rode to my motel after an unintended tour of the downtown Williamsburg. We visited the city this summer as part of our Bike Virginia trip but my mental map was not as good as expected.

Thanks to a proactive planning director, local advocates, and local control of their streets, there are many bike lanes in Williamsburg. Some are not AASHTO standard width, but they exist and they work. On some more narrow sections of street they disappear but most speed limits are around 25 mph and most motorists are respectful.

The conference was informative and I met many bicycle advocates. It would have been a better experience had I not come down with a cold on the day of the train trip, but I managed to suffer through without too many problems. I returned earlier than planned, reversing the process of cycling, riding the train and cycling home, meeting my lovely wife on the ride.

On the return Amtrak trip I snapped the above photo of a stone pyramid. I had seen it on the trip down and was prepared with my camera when we passed it the second time. It was erected in the early 20th century at Fredericksburg Battlefield for the benefit of the passing rail passengers.
posted by Bruce Wright at 12:14 PM #