Day #15-Big Hill to Berea, KY 10 miles

We met up with Jules.  He took two days to ride what we rode in three days.  He did laundry and took a shower at our room before heading to free camp space at the fire station.  We plan to meet him tomorrow before he takes off.  Barring his taking several days off it’s doubtful we’ll see him again on the road.

Incidentally there is a Big Hill.  We zoomed down it on a bright sunny morning at 30+MPH! It’s a cut exposing rock walls.

We're essentially taking a rest day.

Day #14-Buckhorn to Big Hill, KY 58 miles

There was frost this morning.  It was clear and sunny but never quite warm enough that the downhills weren’t chilling.

The landscape softened gradually today.  More cows and horses.  Wider views.  The dogs were still waiting around every turn.  Sometimes it paid to be ahead and catch the dogs unaware; but sometimes being in front was a little like taking the point in one of those war films.  The stars of the film didn’t do that! There was still evidence of coal culture.  Often it was just a grassy field on the top of a hill-telltale signs of completed strip mining.  Many of the houses were heating with coal as evidenced by the sooty stain stretching down the roof from the chimney.

We camped at the Big Hill Welcome Center (above).  No water or bathrooms.  There was a cemetery just uphill from the welcome center and I found if I walked through it I could get cell phone reception.  The cemetery, as many others we encountered, suggested a vibrancy that had since disappeared in this small town.

We managed to hoard enough water for morning coffee.  Coffee drinkers understand.  It got down to freezing again but what a full moon!

Day #13-Hindman to Buckhorn, KY 50 miles

The red buds and politics in bloom everywhere we went in Kentucky!

We left Jules behind at the hostel as he's taking a day off to rest his hurting wrists.  He seems to be having an overuse problem related to his hand position on his bike.  He'll try to catch up to us.  Unseasonably warm weather and more hills were on the menu today.

We're camping at a Corp of Engineers (COE) campground near the Buckhorn Lake Dam Area.  We're about the only people in the campground tonight.  It's a clean well maintained campground with showers and a laundry; but no WIFI!  Cell phone service is predictably spotty.  The campground host tells us that the campground isn't officially open yet because its too early in the season.  There's also a country store just outside the entrance to the campground.  

Day #12-Breaks, VA to Hindman, KY 68 miles

Spent the day in coal country.  It’s as beautiful as it is economically distressed.  Trump won big here on promises to bring the coal industry back, and the two miners I talked to in Elkhorn City say things are better but both admitted there were still six local mines idle.  One complained that they mine low sulfur bituminous coal right here and yet companies go to China and Russia for coal.  I have no idea whether this is actually true.  Later in the day we rode by the closed Raven Mine #1, dozens of CSX train cars waiting for a cargo that would never arrive.  An eerie sight.

I mentioned before that Kentucky is well-known for dog-cyclist incidents and we had a couple.  So we’re riding on on Poor Hollow Road (honest).  It’s a narrow road and alive with barking dogs on all sides.  I look left and see three dogs coming down a hill on well-worn paths.  I begin to struggle to get my feet out of my cleats.  I’m going uphill so my speed is slowing down quickly.  Too quickly it turns out. I fall over.  The three dogs are in the road.  None of the three are all that big but from my back they’re monsters. Anyway, I look to my right and there’s a guy coming down the driveway.  He’s just pumped a shell into his shotgun! “Are you ok?” He asks.  I mumble something and thank him.  Later I imagine he’s been willing to rid the neighborhood of these three mutts and almost got the chance with me.

This was another tough day with 4500’ of climbing.  Beautiful weather, almost hot.  We’re reunited with Jules who is staying at the Hindman Youth Center, too.

Trivia:  Patty Loveless is from Elkhorn City, Kentucky!

Day #11-Rosedale to Breaks, VA 46 miles

Didn’t quite make it out of Virginia but we spent the night a mile away! We bumped into Susan again. She’s staying at the same motel, the Gateway to the Breaks Motel!

Day #10-Troutdale to Rosedale, VA 57 miles

This day started out damp and gloomy but we had a long downhill along the boundary of Mount Rogers National Recreation Area that followed a rushing mountain stream all the way into Damascus. We immediately came upon MOJO's and they had what we needed-pancakes!  The weather and our mood improved after that!

This is Steve.  Steve may not look happy but he is.  He just crested the climb to Hayters Gap.  1500’ feet of climbing fun!  

We stayed at the Elk Garden United Methodist Church just outside of Rosedale, VA. I’ll try for more detail on the last couple of days if I can get reliable internet in the evening.

Susan and Jules shared our accommodations at the Methodist Church last night.  Susan is from France and is headed to Oregon like we are.  Jules, from the Netherlands, will head straight west from Pueblo, CO to San Francisco.  The stories of their trips so far and the. cheery attitude each has about the difficulties is inspiring.  Susan has a bike with a Rohloff hub!  For any of the bike nerds reading this you know this is special!  Eleven speeds to go up and down these hills.  Amazing!  She bought her bike on EBay! Jules is looking forward to staying at the bike hostel in Hindman, KY in two days. Maybe we’ll meet up with him again there.

Heading to Kentucky!

Day #9-Wytheville to Troutdale, VA 34 miles

 

The elevation profile sums up the next two days in a nutshell.  We’re going right to left.  It’s still raining; the temperatures are in the 50's; but, we had a tail wind! Highlight of the day was a stop at the Dutch Pantry to warm up and buy a few things to eat. 

The view from the Troutdale Baptist Church hostel in Troutdale, VA.  

It’s a wonderful hostel that caters to AT hikers as well as bikers.  It consists of two rooms, each of which has two bunk beds; micro wave; coffee maker; and heat! There is a shower in a back room at the church just down the hill.  We were relieved to get somewhere dry as it was a wet cold ride today. 

Three AT hikers arrived to occupy the other room.  When you hike the AT you end up with a trail name.  These three were Bacon; Webster; and Sprout!  The caretaker told us "The rain drives 'em (AT hikers) out of the woods!"  They were wet!  Bacon had developed shin splints and was going to lay over a second day to let them heal.  

Day #8-Newbern, VA to Wytheville, VA 38 miles

Today was meant to be a recovery day of sorts and it was for the most part. East winds of 10-15 mph meant we had a tail wind.  The rolling roads continued.  It started to drizzle as we got near Wytheville our destination.  Our plan was to take advantage of the free camping at the city park. When I called about this I was informed that there is construction at the park, but they were using a different park.  I know it’s bad form to complain about free stuff but the alternate park didn’t have a shelter. With the probabilities for rain at near 100%, having a dry space to eat or pack up seemed critical.  We debated the merits of continuing on at the local Starbucks long enough for the heavens to really open up, and the temperature to drop.  We got soaked in spite of rain gear (I didn’t think I really needed my rain pants-wrong!) We decided to stick around but where to go?  The Travel Lite Motel of course!  Steve felt a bit  chagrined at having settled for indoor accommodations a second time but I pointed to the wisdom for the week and he felt better.  Tomorrow we plan another shorter,wet day to the biker hostel in Troutdale (we stayed in Troutville as well).  We’ll be doing more serious climbing too.  Steve said we got 2900’ of climbing today.

A little trivia:  Apparently Woodrow Wilson’s wife was born in Wytheville.  They have a museum dedicated to her!

Day #7-Troutville, VA to Newbern, VA 68 miles

So we camped at the Troutville City Park.  This was our spot.  The tents are already hanging up to dry the light dew on them. Nobody ever asked us what we were doing camped there.  Weird right?  We meant to camp again but didn’t quite make it.  My notes about the ride explain the there are two ridges of mountains with a valley in-between.  The valley isn’t flat, it undulates (like that word!).  Anyway we did the undulating today, all day.  It was rural and beautiful.  Green rolling pastures dotted with cows; sheep or horses.  Bordered by rocky forested hills.

We actually racked up as much elevation gain (4500’) as two days ago albeit over more distance.  We’re gradually gaining altitude. We’re at about 2200’ tonight.  We’ll top out at 3700’ in two days.  This is the second ridge of mountains.

So the altitude garbage is my round about way of letting on that we were bleary-eyed by the end of the day.  As we turned off the TA route we still had to ride three miles to the state park.  It was almost dark again, although we already ate an early dinner at the Kroger when we stopped.  A vision appeared!  A mom and pop motel that believed that I’m an AARP member although I don’t have a card!  A room cost $20 more than a camp site that we would still have to ride almost three miles to get to.  In AT (Appalachian Trail) parlance this is Trail Magic! More magic tomorrow for sure.  

Wisdom for the coming week:

Don’t push the river-Barry Stevens

Don’t force it-Red Moeller

Day #6-Lexington, VA to Troutville, VA 42 miles

Started this day in our motel room waiting for the temperatures to climb a bit.  It’s 29 degrees here and neither of us really have adequate gear to ride in those temperatures,  although we’re good to camp that cold.  The prediction for today is 60’s and sun.  We’re on the edge of the cool spring.  In a couple of weeks things SHOULD be warmer!  I am constantly eying the weather when thinking through the next days of riding.  I know next Tuesday promises to be wet for example.  Things like this, nice to know in the other life, become essential.  

Today’s ride came doctor recommended-relaxed pace; wonderful cool sunny day; rural roads; and, plenty of time for lunch.  We had a near mishap when Steve missed a turn but it worked out. Today was the first day we ditched the legging and showed off our pale White guy legs! No pictures of this however.  We’re’ camping in the local park that has a history of allowing bikers and AT hikers camp.  We’ve been parallel with the trail for some time now.  A DJ from Roanoke is putting on a free tribute performance he’s called Purple Rain in the little park but nobody has showed for it.  He played a few Prince tunes and now he’s stopped.  Not much interest in Prince locally I guess.  Better sleep for us!  Tomorrow we finish the first of the twelve map series the covers the entire route.  

 Cell phone service or WiFi access may become spotty for awhile as we move into Appalachia.

Steve’s Daily Zen (@dailyzen) pearl is that we must exit our comfort zones because this is where wisdom lives.

Day #5-Rockfish Gap to Lexington, VA 50 Miles

Short and sweet.  Perfect day for the Blue Ridge Parkway to kick our butts! Also had a three mile thrill ride off the Parkway to the tiny town of Vesuvius.  Max speed today was 34 mph!  Min speed under 3 mph!  4000’ of climbing-does that sound like a lot?  My quads say ya!  Lexington is the home of Virginia Military Institute and Washington and Lee University.  Looks like a great college atmosphere but we’re too wiped to take much of it in.  We’re roughing it in an Econolodge.  Tomorrow we get back to camping.

Day #4-Palmyra UMC to Rockfish Gap 55 miles

Will be praising the virtues of the 22 tooth inner chainring in this location eventually.  Staying at an over-priced dirtbag motel with bad WiFi near Rockfish Gap(1900’). A gap out east is a pass in the west which means that we went up in elevation.  We leave the James River watershed and enter the Shenandoah River watershed (I could be wrong here somebody leet me know!).  I read where it’s one of the few places along the spine of the Appalachian Mountains where the prevailing westerly winds can rush through and the winds were howling as we got here. This was a nice ride to our junction with the Blue Ridge Parkway. Tomorrow promises to be an awesome albeit cool day.  

Day #3-Mineral Fire Station to Palmyra Methodist Church, 30 miles

We spent this day on tranquil back roads for the most part.  The story today was the hospitality of the folks at the Methodist church.  When we called to inform them of our arrival, Cindy offered to feed us fried chicken!  When I informed her that Steve was vegetarian she offered to make black bean linguine instead.  She says she loves to cook.  When we arrived Cindy and her husband Jerry were there to welcome us and show us around.  Cindy and Jerry have lived in the area for about five years. Although Palmyra is a small town and county seat,  the county’s population increased recently due to the development of a housing development with about 14,000 residents!  Cindy and Jerry live in this development.  It seems their roles with the church are to welcome TA bikers!  Pastor George also joined us for dinner.  His wife is out of town so Cindy was going to feed him too! Pastor George shared some of the organizational details of the local church, such as his appointment is actually year to year.  While he’s a Methodist minister he expressed a refreshingly open attitude regarding religion and faith.  Pastor George seemed genuinely interested in our stories and asked lots of questions.  Cindy and Jerry think highly of Pastor George and are happy he replaced the former pastor.  While we were eating Cindy got a call from another biker.  It was Alan!  He arrived in time to get some dinner!

The only downside to our stay was no showers.  We had to stay dirty for another day!

Day #2-Willis UMC to Mineral Fire Station, 81 Miles!

I shouldn’t complain about the cold, knowing that the Region has been getting flurries, but it 35 this morning!   No worries since we slept indoors.  Cold headwinds again today.  If yesterday celebrated Colonial America, today marks the Civil War.  We rode just north of Richmond and markers for Seven Days Battles (June-July 1862) were numerous. Maybe a bigger deal was the Battle of Cold Harbor(May-June 1864).  Some people may research this stuff prior to the trip, but not me.  What I’ve gathered so far is these battle are proof that General Lee was the man!  It sure is sobering to realize how many soldiers died.  We biked by the Cold Harbor National Cemetery.

Then the foolishness begins. Steve has located Starbuck’s along the route.  This is no surprise to anyone who knows him.  There’s one just off the route in Mechanicsville and we go to it.  Then we hit the local Kroger’s for groceries.  Finally in  Ashland we happen upon another coffee shop, Ashland Coffee and Tea, and go inside.  We meet Allen there.  He’s headed cross country by bike too. He’s following the Transamerica Trail to Pueblo, CO.  Then he’s heading straight west, ending in Sacramento, his home.  He’s staying at a nearby B and B.  He’s taking it easy to let his tender knee get better.  Story short,  we were not like Allen!  We decided to go another 40 miles!  We pulled into the fire station and set up in the dark.  After a couple amazing nights, tonight was rough.

Day #1-Yorktown-Glendale (Willis United Methodist Church)-62 Miles

As I sit here writing this I realized I didn’t take any pictures today.  Such was the unspoken intensity of getting going I guess.  We certainly travelled some scenic miles.  We passed through Williamsburg and Jamestown.  Along with Yorktown they makeup the so-called Historic Triangle of Virginia.  It’s a very tourist-friendly area which means plenty of traffic on the Colonial Parkway.  The parkway looks wide enough for at least three lanes but without any lines cars variously gave us plenty of room or whizzed by within an arms reach.  Most of the day was spent on the Capital Trail, which looks to be fairly new.  I think that’s why my Garmin GPS kept trying to reroute us. We planned on camping tonight because the information we had said the Willis Methodist Church no longer offered indoor sleeping space but within minutes of our arrival, Heather pulled up. She was on her way to her daughter's dance practice but let us in the church; showed us around; and,was on her way. She told us opening their doors to cyclists was part of their mission.

The weather was tolerable, 50’s; mostly cloudy for most of the day; but the 15 mph headwind with gusts much higher, was irritating at best and brutal in the open areas.



"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it" Hebrews 13:2 .  

Day of Rest

Today we completed the last of the steps to get to the start of the trail.  We returned our rental car to the Newport News/Williamsburg Airport within the one day rental agreement.  A minor crisis was averted when Steve realized I had plugged another airport, Norfolk International Airport, into my phone! Then we rode less than10 miles, past the Yorktown Battlefield Park, to Yorktown.  We’re staying at a house owned by Grace Episcopal Church that has a history of hosting touring cyclists.  It’s also the final resting place of General Thomas Nelson, Jr.; founding father and hero of Yorktown. Anyway, We’re the first bikers to occupy the house since last year.  The last log entries are from east bound bikers who finished here.  John, our host asks for nothing except that we pull the sheets off the beds and lock up.  What a wonderful service his church provides! There’s rain in the forecast but mainly overnight.  Tomorrow we hope to cover 61 miles and spend the night at another church with a similar arrangement.  Looking foreword to it.  

Ceremonial start!

Our hosts for the night.

Long Drive

So today was mainly just a long long long drive!  Not a great picture but if you notice there’s a splattered bug on the windshield.  Also the sun is out.  What you can’t tell from the photo is that it’s 83 degrees!  We drove to summer!  As you may know if you live anywhere near northern Indiana, where we started, it was a wet raw 40 degree day.  This is the Pennsylvania Turnpike by the way.  I’ve got good memories of these tunnels from family trips east.  I haven’t been back through them since then. The drive ended after dark  in Virginia, only a couple of hours from the eastern end of the Transamerica Trail in Yorktown.  Good night all.

Transamerica, T minus four days!

Steve and I rode 50+ miles today fully loaded with the gear we plan to take across the country!  It was enough to ease much anxiety about our preparation.  It didn’t hurt to have possibly the best day weather-wise of the year.