I'm not a technical rider at all and my goal on the trails is to avoid injury at all times. Leakes Mill is my favorite course because of this as it's more of an XC style of trail. It's challenging from an endurance and leg strength standpoint yet flowy enough for you to have fun without too much risk of hurting yourself. It's also impossible to get turned around and lost as it's just a giant loop.

I've always had good experiences at Pedal Power. I have another friend who swears by Coqui Cycles. Both are still locally owned.

Good on you for being able to channel your inner John Wick. I don't know what I'd do in that same situation, but ending up with the guy knocked out cold is the ideal outcome.

I'm an open water swimmer who will jump into the upper James in a heartbeat and have done individual swims that have gone from Watkins Landing down to Bosher's Dam and other's where I've gone from Hugenot Flatwater down to the Z Dam and back. Yet I won't touch the lower James and none of the crew of open water swimmers I know and train with will either and that avoidance is solely due to the CSO. It's bad enough that we have to monitor ecoli levels in the upper James due to runoff from farms, but at least those drop off a day or two after a rain event. The lower James the ecoli levels just fester for days and days. But apparently you know more about swimming in the James than I do so good on you for that one.

I also never said all of the silt in the lower James is from the CSO, but the silt that is dropped there via the natural flow of the river is not all just harmless dirt and debris. I helped out during the Ignite SwimRun series when they held a race here in RVA for a few years. The race had an exit point from the James at Shiplock Park and if you don't think there feces down in that mud then you haven't been knee deep in it before.

The way the CSO (combined sewer overflow) system works now means that anytime it rains hard enough, raw sewage gets dumped into the James River. All of that shit being dumped into the river makes the bottom of the lower James covered in silt and fucks with the water quality for fish and plant life. When I first moved to the city I had no clue how the CSO system worked and took my paddle board out over by Shiplock Park. I was paddling along and a used tampon went floating past me and when I finally got out of the water I had to scrub down my board because it reeked.

If raw sewage stopped being dumped into the river recreation down in that area would boom. The fishing would be way better, boating would be better, and people would actually be willing to swim in the water down there. Imagine shiplock park, with its easy access to the river having clear and clean water on a sunny day in the summertime. There would be all kinds of people down there having a blast.

100% agree! Redesigning the sewer system so that waste water is separated and treated and storm water is the only thing going into the river would completely transform the river south of the city in a fantastic way.

I live in Hanover as well and the timing of their taxes always kills me because they arrive in December and are due by Feb. The burden of buying Christmas presents and paying personal property taxes at the same time always makes my wallet hurt.

Welcome to Virginia where you get taxed again and again on property you already own and already paid tax on when you purchased. It's an obnoxious racket. You should be thankful you have older vehicles as the newer the car the more taxes you pay on it.

And yes, the tax happens once a year.

I can't speak to commuting northbound in the mornings, but this time of year always sucks for commuting south or west during rush hour due to the sunset. Until daylight savings time hits the sun is at the perfect level on the horizon to be a giant shark with a laser beam on it's head.

We used Sallie Plumlee for a custom entertainment cabinet and loved working with her. She had a baby within the past month or two though so it may be awhile until she starts making furniture again.

https://sallieplumleystudio.com/shop