From Mt. Rogers, VA to Breaks Interstate Park, VA - ~100 miles
[one side note...unfortunately, our cycling computer stopped working today, and so we will no longer be able to give all the number details. i will still do my best to estimate the number of miles, but that is about all we will be able to do.]
Story [in words]:
we camped last night at the top of mt. rogers, which is about 4200 feet above sea level, and so when we woke up this morning, it was cold...cold enough we could see our breath. we were set on getting to breaks interstate park today (it is called that because it is a state park that sits in both virginia and kentucky)...and so despite the cold, we were up and loaded by 6:15 am.
we left the park at about 6:20 am, and one of the things that happens when you camp at the top of a mountain is you have to descend. and descending means going fast. and going fast when it is already cold equals really stinking cold. i have never wanted to climb hills on my bike until this morning. my teeth were chattering i was so cold. i was ready to climb, just so that i could get the body temperature up a little bit. and before long, we were climbing and we got warmed up, although it was a cooler day all day. we both cycled in our pants the entire day (although there were times we didn't really need them).
and speaking of climbing, we climbed a ton of hills today. estimating from the elevation chart on our maps, i would guess that we climbed somewhere around 6000-6500 feet today. at one point we climbed 1500 feet in about 3.5 miles. we climbed at roughly 4 miles an hour for almost an hour. and it was one of those hills where you could only see a little in front of you, because the road turned. and in your mind you are thinking that the climb stops just around the corner...but there were a lot of corners where sadly that was not the case.
about 18 miles into our day we came to a really quaint little town called damascus, and as we rolled into town, there was a little ma and pop kitchen diner type of a place. we decided that would be a great place to grab some breakfast and get energized for the rest of the day. as we rolled up we noticed that there were two other loaded bikes sitting outside. (there is always something exciting and energizing about seeing other loaded bikes) as we went into the restaurant, the other couple was just getting ready to head out, so we chatted for just a minute before they hit the road. they are a retired couple from colorado, probably in their late 50's or early 60's.
we went to the counter and both ordered biscuits and gravy, and then found a table where we could plug in our phones to get them charged a little. before long, what we assume was the owner and chef, brought us our food. they also had some of the best coffee i have ever had. great for warming up after the cold morning descent. we had some great conversation with the owner as well. mainly just about where we were from and where we were going and things of that sort. we finished up our food before too long and went up to the counter to pay. we paid for our food and were just about to leave the counter when the guy reached under the counter and pulled out the biggest cinnamon roll that i have ever seen (we had noticed them when we walked in, but they were also $4). he said, "here...eat this at about 10 for a little energy boost."
we put the cinnamon roll in our bag and headed back out on the route. as we cycled on and started to need to get more energy, we thought about eating the cinnamon roll, but on the second day of our trip we had this huge apple fritter at about 10 am, and we found that it totally made us want to fall asleep, and so we thought we better just leave it for later. so we stopped and got some other food, and then continued on the road.
we had a lot of miles ahead of us today and so we tried to keep on task, however, the hills made it hard to feel like we were covering the miles as fast as we really wanted to be.
as we continued through western virginia, one thing that we started to notice is that these people know how to garden. everywhere we look we see gardens...and we are not talking just 4 or 5 rows of stuff planted in the side yard, we are talking acres of gardens. and beautiful, well kept gardens. they were awesome and inspirational for sure. it tends to be much easier to talk and cycle when you are climbing hills, and so as we climbed and climbed we talked about gardens and about the ways that we hope to expand our garden in the coming years. there is something heartwarming about being out on the road in unknown territory and yet being able to connect to life back at home.
as we approached breaks interstate park, we were spent to say the least. as we came up to the park sign, we noticed that it had a picture of both virginia and kentucky, with the state line marked on it. and there was something very rewarding to know that we had made it to our first state line. (see the above picture)
we headed into the park, only to discover we were going to have to ride over a mile inside of the park to get to our campground...and there were hills to boot. but we got to the campground and got a site. put the tent up. got showered up. and then we hopped back on the bikes to ride back to the lodge where there was a restaurant. as we walked into the restaurant, we were blown away at the view as we looked out the back wall of windows. we were overlooking an amazing valley with mountains all around. (the second picture above was the view from the restaurant) we had some amazing...and surprisingly not too expensive food, and then we got back on the bikes and rode back to our campsite to call it a night.
it has been quite the day to say the least. we will probably hang around here for a little bit in the morning to rest up and also to take advantage of the laundry facilities here. but it will certainly be exciting to officially cross over the state line in the first couple of miles of the day tomorrow.
(as a sidenote, we were too full tonight to eat the cinnamon, so we packed into cailyn's backpack for the morning)
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