We had another cooler day today…foggy/misty in the morning and overcast throughout the rest of the day. After talking to west bounders about the 100+ degree days that they had in Virginia, we were a little worried. But, the last three days we have been very lucky with the temperature. Now, if we can get a few storm-free days, we will be ready to end this thing on Friday early afternoon.
The road conditions and scenery could not have been better today. I believe that today goes down as my favorite day of the trip as far as all conditions are concerned. The roads had the feel of Owens Road (Lover’s Lane – for you Lovers) that runs along the Stillwater River, south of Covington. They were mostly tree-covered, with out of control vegetation on the side of the road. They rolled up and down and up and down. They were not the smoothest of roads, but not all that bad…..everything that reminded me of Owens Road. The only thing that was missing was the river. At times, the trees surrounded us so much, that you almost felt like you were on a hiking trail. Speaking of which, our road crossed the Appalachian Trail again today, but I missed it someway. I am not sure which zig-zags more, but for these two trails to be crossing so much, there is definitely some zig-zagging going on with both.
Which brings me to this….Virginia is a good example of why you should just follow the maps that are given to you and not look at a big state map. The maps that are put out by Adventure Cycling are placed in a rectangular fashion and in a way to fit the largest amount of traveled road in the rectangle. Therefore, the map is not always situated so that North is to the top. So, if you are like me, you just follow the line on the map and don’t think too much about where you are going in the big picture. Well, I got the crazy idea of marking on the Virginia state map exactly where we were traveling. It was kind of depressing. We go way north….then come back down south….probably an extra 100 hundred miles more than straight across. I am sure there are reasons.
We are in Lexington tonight, on route. After we got everything all settled in, I took Kim back into the middle of town to the campus of VMI. They have a real nice track/football complex at which Kim was able to do her workout. That usually puts her in a better mood for the rest of the evening. (Not that she is ever in a bad mood…….!)
Tomorrow is the day that I have been waiting for. We have the big climb up onto the Blue Ridge Parkway. It says that it is about 4 miles long, but it looks to be steeper than anything that we have ridden thus far on the trip. If that is the case, I may struggle with my bicycle’s gearing. I am pretty confident that I will be ok, though. The worst thing that could happen is that I struggle at about 5 miles per hour and it takes me 48 minutes to reach the top. Then, there is the climbing that occurs once you get up there….it should be fun…climbing has been my favorite part of this trip.
Well…we need to get about 75 or so miles down the road tomorrow to stay on track….automatic, I say!
The Majority of Today's Route Scenery
VMI Track/Football Field Complex
Kim, Getting Her Jog In While I Slept in the Bleachers
