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By Wesley P. Hester
On a walking tour of South Railroad Avenue before a student town hall at Randolph-Macon College on Tuesday, Warner told a group of town officials about the time as governor when he rode his bike though Ashland, bareheaded.
"By Monday morning, I'd gotten a call in the governor's office saying, 'Don't you think it's appropriate that the governor should ride with a helmet?' " he recalled. And he listened.
A year-and-a-half later, he took a nasty spill, landing on his head and cracking his helmet in half. "I would've been dead," he said. "Luckily, as usual, I had Ashland people telling me what to do."
On Tuesday, Ashlanders mostly told Warner to keep pushing for a long-term solution for the nation's ballooning debt, and create some jobs in the process.
Hopping from shop to shop, Warner talked with tourists, train conductors and business owners, picking up a book and a bottle of Virginia wine in the process.
He wrapped up his tour at Ashland Coffee & Tea, addressing a friendly crowd of about 50 on his efforts to find a bipartisan plan to reduce the deficit.
"I do agree that folks like me need to pay a fair share," he said, "but that's not going to solve the problem alone," adding that everyone will need to share in the pain.
He urged those in attendance to offer elected leaders "support to have the courage to do the right thing."
Warner also popped into the town's train station to pick up some literature and a map of Virginia.
"I remember the old days when my face was on this map," he remarked.
"It will be again someday?" asked Rosanne Shelf, president of the Ashland Museum, referring to rumors that Warner may run for governor again next year.
"Who knows? Who knows?" he said.
Warner also took a few minutes to talk national and local real estate with Cameron B. Wood, a broker and appraiser with Hometown Realty.
Before leaving, Wood asked Warner, "What can we do to help you?"
"Well," he said, pausing, "pray for the country."
