Day 39. I conquer my Moby Dick. Love, VA

 A big climbing day up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, leaving Limestone Baptist Park at 8:15 and arriving at the Royal Oaks Cabins on the Blue Ridge Parkway at a place called Love, VA at 6:45pm. Over 7,000 ft. of climbing today, and slow going too!!

 As we leave the Baptist park where we camped overnight we are reminded to renew our strength-We did last evening in the pool and at dinner and as we slept.  We'll need that strength today!!

 After our morning ride of about 25 miles we ride through Lexington after lunch. It seemed a nice and more vibrant town then we have been riding through. 

 Two reasons I see for the energy in Lexington is Virginia Military Institute, a small piece  shown here and Washington and Lee University. 

 

My new cycling super hero is Vin. Not to be easily categorized as an east or westbounder on the TransAm route, Vin took a 12 month leave of absence from his job, moved out of his apartment near the Bay Area of San Francisco and started cycling on March 8. He went south to San Diego to get on what's called the "Southern Tier" riding to Florida through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and then Florida. He then turned up the Atlantic coast and road the Atlantic Cost route to Yorktown, VA where the Transamerica Route will take him all the way to Portland. And then he'll ride south to his old home base in the Bay Area to get a new apartment and go back to work. He has over 5,000 miles behind him and over 4,000 to go. 

And did you see the size of his load??  I would never do a ride with that much weight but I can't argue with his success. Amazing Vin, I wish him well!!🚴

 We had a steady after lunch climb up to Vesuvius from Lexington. We tried to pace ourselves and once again, following a stream bed is a good sign your climb shouldnt be too outlandish. 

 Now, with 47 miles behind us we have to get ready for 4 miles of very steep grade to get up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. We stop at the famous Gerties for hydration and energy food to help us with the climb.  Now believing we can make it to the Parkway I borrow Gerties phone to have our cabin reserved and a key left under the mat since we'll be there after the manager leaves for the night at 6pm. 

 

Gerties daughter working the store for Gerty while a neighbor visits over her meal. So many days on the road and so many convenience marts, gas stations, diners, cafes, fast food joints, restaurants, motels, cabins, camp sites and church cycling hostels. I still love them and the people but  I'm starting to think about being back in my own wonderful home every now and then. 🏡

 After an hour and 20 minutes from leaving Gerties we finally arrive at the Blue Ridge Parkway!! I averaged about 3.5 mph up the steep grade and we still had to stop and rest our legs/catch our breath about 6 times. 

 Just for another perspective, on the far left of this elevation profile is Buchanan where we started today. Just right of the middle is Vesuvius and just to the right of that is the steep clump up 1,800 ft to the parkway. I've been staring at this climb for days. We have had similar climbs in eastern Kentucky and western Virginia but this climb today had been looming as a threat or at least a worry for me for the last 4 days for some reason. Some people had said this would be the toughest climb, including a nice guy at a church in Vesuvius who hailed us to caution us about the road and say it wasn't too late to turn back!! I had agonized about stopping for the night below Vesuvius and taking the climb early the next day when we were fresh and the day cooler but that raised schedule issues. The lighter effort days leading up to today were about trying to restore some strength back into our legs so we could conquer this climb. In the end, we just did it. It was hard and we had to rest a few times but now, the mountains of the Appalachians are behind us. It is literally now almost all downhill to the coastal plains. At least that is what I am telling myself!!

 John got this great shot of me passing under the Blue Ridge Parkway on VA 56 before turning left and actually being on the famous scenic byway. We were almost euphoric at this point. 

 Anticlimatically we still had some more climbing to do after we got on th BR Parkway!!  But the grades were much more reasonable. 

 

Almost the highest spot we rode on the parkway and I believe the highest we've been on the trip. 

 

Beautiful long views from the Blue Ridge and excellent road with very light traffic. 

 Finally arriving at our cabin for the evening at the Royal Oaks Cabins. In the thick of the woods with nothing else nearby. But it's a bed and a shower for the night and we were ready for it! 🚿. Clearly the sign indicates they like to keep us bikers seperate from the upscale customers!

 Eating from our panniers we had dehydrated backpacking Chili Mac I have been carrying since Day 1 as emergency back up food,  John's instant potatoes for the same purpose, yesterday's leftover bread and some cheese and wine John bought before the camp store closed. We used my backpacking stove to boil the water in a few minutes and had a nice dinner on the deck before the mosquitos became too aggressive. Now we rest and tomorrow we'll start moving easterly and down hill to Charlottesville to meet Angela and take a day off on Thursday. I think we deserve it!

Day 38. 2,000 miles I've roamed...Buchanan, VA

 8:45 am departure from Christiansburg finishing in Buchaman, VA by 4:30.

I reached 2,000 total miles today for my trip, a milestone for me!! I figure I've got about 600 more miles to Buxton and about 11 more riding days. I think we'll make it after all!!

 On my way to go get our breakfast this AM from The Burger King around the corner the fog slowly burns off around our motel in downtown Christiansburg. 

 As we progressed through the hills of the Shenandoah Valley this morning the fog migrates to low clouds around the mountains. 

 Beautiful country riding this morning mostly on one or two lane back roads on undulating hills. The morning offered low traffic as people slept in or moved slowly into their holiday morning.  The cool, damp morning gave way to humidity and higher traffic volumes as people drove to their backyard BBQ's or other Memorial Day activities.

 We rode consistently for 28 miles through the morning pushing towards a rest stop with food service at this spot in Catawba but the Memorial Day holiday found it closed. Nothing for more than 15 miles ahead we dipped into our pack food of carmel covered peanuts, trail mix, Cliff Bars and Peanut M&M's.  Charlie, in the red jersey next to me, started in Yorktown a week ago with his daughter. She just pulled off yesterday as planned and now Charlie will finish the trip solo to Portland. He has 12 weeks off from his DC city job to make it to the Pacific and return home. His recumbent bike will make his upcoming hills all the more challenging. 

 John went next door to beg for water and found crazy Kenny the Bluegrass band man setting up for his BBQ and kindly offered us water from his home. I'm still uncomfortable around guys (other than cops) packing side arms but I guess Kenny wanted to be ready in case trouble broke out in Catawba. 

 We pushed on through the warming afternoon to find a real meal at Wendy's in Daleville. Now about 3pm we have 20 miles to go to Buchanan. We weren't expecting any restaurants around the only hotel around Buchanan so John volunteered to make a run to Krogers next door for a "picnic" dinner in our room. 

 

 Just outside Buchanan we spotted what looked like a city park with a pool and campers just outside. Turned out it was a private Baptist park and they were shutting down in 90 minutes at 6. John is shown here sweet talking our way into their good graces to let us camp over night and use their showers. 

Splash!! John got us in and for $6 we could use the pool too!!! 

 

 After everyone had gone home for the night we moved under the pavilion and had our picnic dinner of cheese, salami, bread, hummus, crackers, apples and Pinot Grigio to wash it down with. Simple, healthy and tasty!!

 As thunder storms moved in for the evening we witnessed a great light show of distant lightning over the hills of the Shenandoah Valley. John still won't sleep without his tent but at least he brought it under the pavilion and kept the fly off. I'm getting my sleep on top of the picnic table again, after removing the food of course!!  It's almost 11 pm now  I've got to upload this post and get some sleep. We may have a big day tomorrow climbing up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, our last big climb of the trip.  Then on to Charlottesville the next day to reunite with my bride, Angela, followed by a down day. I can't wait!!⏲

Day 37. A Sunday ride rejuvenates. Christiansburg, VA

 9am departure and a liesurely ride to Christiansburg arriving around 5pm. Cloudy skies and comfortable temperatures most of the day today with a few sprinkles thrown in from time to time. 

 John and Edgar had agreed at dinner the night before to meet at 8am today and get a picture of their two Rivendale bikes and send to the company in Walnut Creek, CA in hopes of some publicity. Here they discuss  their bikes before the picture and probably wake up the other motel guest trying to sleep in on Sunday morning!💤  If so, that's what they get for staying at a cheap motel like we do!

 We stopped at Fort Chiswell after about 12 miles of riding. John was nice enough to get us both coffees this AM from a nearby gas station before we left the motel but no breakfast was readily available. We like to ride a bit and then stop for a break on many days.  Note the creamers organized in a decorative manner. Apparently all Denny's are supposed to do this but only our waitress took the time! We almost hated to disturb them. 

 This was a very welcome sign as we cruised through the Virginia rural landscape. Very cool for Pulaski County to welcome as well as offer support to touring cyclists. Luckily we didn't need any assistance today but I'll be keeping this photo just in case the next week through the rest of our trip in VA. 

 Really nice scenery we got the pleasure to ride through today. We took our time today including not working to hard on the bikes and taking time to stop, rest, take a picture or just chill if we found a nice spot. We are purposely trying to recover some power and energy in our legs after the tough two day ride from Hazard, KY to Damscus, VA by having some easier days while still moving east rather than taking a rest day.  We are starting to feel some results today. We'll see how the next couple of days go. 

 And this was one of those little rest stops. I gave James Gardner a call to talk logistics of our combined ride in about a week while John explored the area by the New River Trail and chatted with some day riders from our own demographic (old men!). 

 And another fun rest, taking advantage of Happy Hour at Sonic. It's not quite the same without Angela but I enjoyed introducing John to the Sonic Happy Hour in Radford. Only about 14 miles to go until we reach Christiansburg,VA. 

 And here we are, arriving into Christiansburg.

 While I was taking the photo of the Christiansburg city limits sign John practiced his new yoga move "Standing Bikes" holding my bike from the rear on the side of the road. It seemed a comfortable position for him. 

 Two "therapeutic" 24 oz. Dos Equis at the Mexican restaurant across the street from the motel. Cheers to a really nice Sunday riding day and great friends. 🍻

Day 36. An easy day in VA. Wytheville, VA

After 2 hard days in a row our legs have lost their spring and become a bit dead, so we slept in till 7, dallied over a very nice breakfast buffet at the Old Mill Inn where we stayed and hit the road at 9:15 with an arrival into Wytheville, VA at 5.  

 Damascus Main Street on our way out of town. A very interesting little town if you're into the hiker/biker long haul traveler scene like I am with hostels and hiking/biking shops everywhere. Angela and I read the book "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson before we were even married and it inspired us to dream for many years about a 6 month through hike on the Appalachian Trail. That adventure is probably passed us by at this point in our lives but we both still have a romantic spot in our hearts for it and being in Damaacus for the first time rekindled it for me. 

 The Virginia Creeper trail is a 38 mile rail to trail that runs through Damascus and parallels about the first 11 miles of our route east on the TransAm. Apparently the "Creeper" was a special train that could take the grade up to the east a few thousand feet up. Now, especially today on Memorial Day weekend, shuttle vans were making hundreds of trips taking people and rental bikes up the grade all day so people could coast 18 miles back down to Damascus. Those lazy bastards!!

 

We had to climb about 1,800 feet to get out of Damacus before we could settle into mostly gently rolling hills into Wytheville. We knew the grade would be fairly nice as long as we followed these beautiful mountain streams. 

 Azelas, some still with blooms, adorned the steams and forests the first 25 miles of our ride. Even though we were climbing again, it was a nice morning ride. 

 

I wanted to make a joke here about how the sheep called out John's name when we passed but that would have been childish!!

 The church in Sugar Grove was having a yard sale and offered food as well. The nice lady in the middle here, Peggy, took care of our needs in the somewhat chaotically slow food tent. Her 24 year old grandson, Dillon, is currently hiking the Pacific Coast Trail (Mexico to Canada) and has also through hiked the Appalachian Trail. She knows how many people have helped Dillon out when he needed it or been kind to him, so besides being a very gracious lady, I think she was passing it on to us. 

 And this was our lunch. It wasn't fancy but relaxing from the sun in the shade of a tree and eating it was a pleasant break. About 21 more miles to go to finish the day. We're still taking our time, trying to take it easy and bring out tired legs and bodies back to life. 

Finally into Wytheville we find "deluxe" accommodations at the Travel Lite Motel, just like us, traveling light. And only $50 a night, score once again!!

 

Just as we finished our check-in this gentleman road up on his touring bike with a slightly lost or bewildered look about him. We briefly greated each other and agreed to have dinner together at 7 at the "Log Cabin 1776" restaurant across the street. This picture from dinner shows Edgar in better mental shape.  He's from the Philippines and is on his first bike tour ever across the country on the TransAm. Starting in Yorktown about 22 days ago he's making slow progress due to his lack of cycling experience and conditioning. If you do the math he's averaging over all of his days about 20 miles per day. He's getting stronger but still probably not comfortable going too much further than that. He's already made two shipments of gear back to the Philippines and admitted he's probably still carrying too much weight. He had some amazing stories about his false starts and challenges but in all cases he's gotten great help from strangers along the way, persevered and still is planning on finishing by September. He was a great dinner guest and was very impressed with the bounty and character of our country and people.  BTW John felt an immediate connection with Edgar because they were both riding Rivendale bikes and fanatics about them. 👍 

Day 35. A long, rough ride gets help just in time. Damascus, VA

 

8am start from Breaks, VA with a lot of climbing made for a slow day into Damascus at 8pm. Over 8,000 ft. of climbing today through sunny skies and warmer temps. 

 At the Gateway Motel before we leave John checks his phone outside because the wifi is so weak and the Internet terribly slow. 

 

As we've move onto Virginia were getting higher, the views are getting longer and the mountains and valleys are opening up more to us. This is a view of the Breaks Interstate Park about 5 miles from our hotel.  

 Just one of many steep and fairly long climbs, today. John grabs some water as he crests and prepares to modulate his speed with his brakes on the way down again. 

 

A long view for a nice change. 

 

 Road, mountains and sky. Our roads today were like this one mostly but the traffic was much busier and less tolerant giving us less space as they passed.  Perhaps getting into more populated areas and the Friday before the Memroial Day weekend had something to do with it.  Today might as well have been national "Mow and Weed-eat Your Grass" day. We saw so many people out getting their properties cleaned up for the weekend parties and BBQ's coming up.  

No photo, especially from my phone, can capture the beauty and depth of the vistas today. 

 We knew getting to Damsacus was going to be hard today because of the climbing and what would be an 80 mile day if we made it. We had a fallback plan of camping in Meadowview about 20 miles sooner if we got too tired or ran out of time. 

In Rosedale, about 20 miles from Meadowview, we started looking seriously at the fallback plan. We had had one really tough and long climb into Honaker called Big A Mountain and it had taken some wind out of our sales.  I called the camping place in Meadowview. It turned out to be camping behind a little market but no access to water or restrooms. Crap! 

There were no good options other than stopping now, in Roaedale, half way to our goal, or dig deep and try to climb up another big climb into Hayters Gap and then the last 20 miles into Damascus. We decided to give it a try but we knew if we made it we would likely be straggling into Damascus in the dark. Just before we reached the point where the road pitched up steeply for the 3 mile grind I was feeling light headed and beat up. Just in front of us was a pretty house with a beautiful manicured yard with a little mountain brook running down along the side of the property. I laid my bike on its side, no place to lean it or use the kickstand, and plopped down in the grass by the stream and started devowering some sports snacks Ang had left me.  Minutes later Jerry Thornhill, the man in this picture, came walking over from his chores to check on us. We explained we were just resting for the final push into Damascus and hoping to make it. He offered to take our bikes up the mountain for us!!  We quickly got over our guilt of "cheating" and thanked him. 

Jerry built this house 35 years ago, retired from teaching at the community college and then got kidney cancer a few years back. After removal of the kidney things had been going well. He and his wife were planning on taking a big western US trip this summer to birdwatch but a recent follow up exam indicates the cancer was back and now in his adrenal gland.  Tuesday after Memorial Day he starts chemotherapy.  His helping us out meant so much to our day today, I almost hugged him. I gave him my address and phone number and told him after he completed his treatment Angela and I would put them up for a night on their way to Rocky Mointain National Park to pay back his kindness.  I hope I get to see Jerry again. 

 Finally into Damascus and before sunset!!

 Damascus is a hot bed of hiking and biking. It's on the Appalachian Trail and a famous point for hikers to get a little "civilization" before completing their through hike to Mount Katahdin, Maine. We stopped to ask this young man for info on the town. His trail name was Corn, graduated from Alabama last year, he had started his hike at Springer Mountain, GA on March 8. Having hurt his ankle he has to take 2 weeks off but was now on his way to finish the 6 month long trek. Corn gave us the lay of the land, mostly focusing on the hostels that serve the hikers but also including the upscale hotel The Old Mill Inn where we finally settled for the night. Great burgers and beer in the hotel bar before they closed at 9, then off for showers and a well earned nights sleep. 💤