From Dema, KY to Hazard, KY - ~40 miles
Story [in words]:
we awoke at our front yard oasis at 5:30 am. we packed up our gear, ate a couple of our hard-boiled eggs, and were on our bikes by around 6:30 am. as we began riding, it was quite cloudy which left us unsure about what the weather was going to do.
we rode about 17 miles through the towns of pippa passes and mallie, and as we came into hindman, it started to rain. it rained lightly for a couple of minutes, and then it started to pour. luckily, as it started to pour, there was a fairly large fruit and vegetable roadside stand, which had a tent that we were able to ride under as we waited out the rain. we waited under the tent for probably close to an hour, while we tried to decide what we were going to do with the rest of the day (it looked like the type of a day that would be rainy all day).
there was a hostel in the town we were in, but it cost $25/person which is just too steep for us. we began looking ahead on our maps to see if there was a cheap hotel a minimal number of miles ahead. we found a cheap hotel that was about 23 miles ahead. we decided that would be the plan, whether it stopped raining or not, we were going to cover the miles and get to a hotel for the night.
we got back on the road, and it poured for a few minutes, to the point where we were so cold that our teeth were chattering. but before long, the rain subsided and it wasn't too bad for riding. as we were coming into the town of carrie, there was a guy in a truck that passed us unusually slowly. he then pulled into a parking lot of a building just ahead of us on the left...and as we rolled up, he was standing out by the road as if he wanted to say something to us. when we got closer, he said, "there's some good food in here if you want." so we decided to pull in and see what was going on. as we got up to the building, we realized that we were at a community center.
the guy who had invited us in went into the building for just a minute and then he came back out and said, "it's free for you guys...just sign your name and come on in and eat". so we walked in, signed the book, and discovered that we had to be the only people in the place under 65. apparently at this community center, every wednesday they have a home cooked meal for a donation. so we grabbed a huge plate of homecooked food, and sat down with the guy that had invited us in. his name was jimmy slone. awesome guy to say the least...he told joke after joke...and seemed to be very real about his faith as well. man he was a great guy!
we enjoyed our food and conversation, and then got back on the road to get to our motel. as we got back on the road there wasn't rain, but the wind had started picking up, which is also not enjoyable for cycling. then when we were a couple of miles from the motel, the rain started again, and we got poured on one more time.
so, to say the least, we were ready to get inside and dried out by the time that we arrived. it is not a roach motel, but it is certainly nothing fancy. it was low cost, has everything that we need, and even has internet so that we can get caught up on the blog. all in all, not too bad of a deal. and on top of all of that, tonight is so you think you can dance night, and so we will enjoy watching that as we fall asleep! nice change of pace.
i have to be honest...our spirits have not been terribly high lately. we feel like we haven't had the right attitude exactly with the experience and with respect to encountering God and whatnot. we are pretty excited about the fact that being at the motel tonight has allowed us to get our ipods charged up and loaded up with sermons and things and hopefully that will help some.
tomorrow is going to be a big day. the weather looks good. hopefully we can knock out 100 miles which would get us to berea, kentucky...the end of map number 11. another great accomplishment!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Day 9 : A Great Start and Finish...and an Average Day in Between...
From Breaks Interstate Park, VA to Dema, KY - ~52 miles
Story [in words]:
we slept in until about 7 am this morning, and we rolled out of our tent all ready to eat our massive cinnamon roll, only to discover that the raccoons had unzipped cailyn's backpack and taken the cinnamon roll out and not a crumb left. cailyn was not too happy to say the least! (we later noticed that there was a huge nail sticking in a tree on our campsite where we could have hung it from)
cailyn began packing up camp, while i rode up to the lodge to get some quarters so that we could do our laundry. we got the laundry started while we finished packing up our gear. then we rolled down to the laundry area to wait for our laundry to finish. while we waited, we tried to catch up on a little blogging and journaling. when our laundry finished, we quickly put on some clean riding clothes and packed the rest of our clothes in the trailer bag and headed back towards the lodge to grab some breakfast.
we sat down next to the same beautiful view (actually the same table) and had a great breakfast. while we ate, we looked at our maps to make a plan for the day that was ahead. we quickly discovered that there was no camping and no hostels listed on our maps in the area we would be able to ride to with our late start. so for the first time on our trip, we got on the bikes not knowing where we were going to stay at the end of the day. we figured it was about time to start asking around and see if we could just find a place to put up a tent.
after we finished breakfast, we were planning on sitting in the lodge for a while to get the rest of the way caught up on the blog, but for some reason the internet was not working and so we were not able to blog (which is much of the reason there have not been any posts in a few days). so, we got sunscreened up, and headed back onto the route at about 11:30 am.
not too far out of the park, we ran into the road line painting crew (i think that is the technical term) coming towards us. one of the trucks pulled over to us and told us that we would need to get off the road for a little while because the paint truck would be turning around and following behind us in a few minutes. we weren't exactly sure what that meant, but we figured we would just keep riding and see what happened. but sure enough, in another 5 or 10 minutes, the truck did come behind us and we needed to get out of the way in a hurry. conveniently though, at the place where we had to get out of his way, we found the couple from colorado that we had met the day before also waiting for the paint truck to pass. so we were able to talk with them a little more and get to know them better.
after the paint was dry, they came by and told us we were free to cycle on. so we said goodbye to our colorado friends and hopped back on the bikes to try to cover some miles. we continued riding and continued climbing just about as much as we did yesterday.
they say that the appalachian mountains are the toughest of the mountains on this route. and there is no doubt in my mind that i agree. at least that better be the case, or we will never make it through colorado. the climbing is demoralizing...for both of us. thankfully, it seems that most of the time, when one of us is down, emotionally, the other is up...and vice versa. i don't know where we would be without each other, that is for sure.
despite all the climbing, and the late start, we were covering a decent number of miles...but then at a little after 7 pm, we found ourselves in a town with a name that we didn't recognize. we pulled into a gas station and got our map out, to discover that we had missed a turn some 3 miles back. so, fairly frustratedly, we turned around and cycled back our 3 miles that we had gone in the wrong direction.
as an interesting side note, through most of virginia, the turns are marked with route 76 bike signs. however, as soon as you cross the state line, those all go away, and it is all up to us to navigate.
we got back on the right route, and felt like it was time to figure out where we were going to put up our tent for the night. there were a couple of towns on the route, but they were small and so there weren't really public parks or churches or fire houses to stop and ask about camping. and it quickly became apparent that we were going to have to find someone who would allow us to camp on their property.
we came around a bend, and sitting back off the road a little ways was a nice looking house, with another big beautiful garden (apparently they know how to garden in east kentucky as well), and a sign that read, "potatoes for sale". as we came to the driveway, we noticed that there was a guy walking around out in the garden area. we decided this was the one to go talk to (we both had been praying for quite a while that God would show us the right people to talk to)...so we parked out bikes in front of the house and walked back towards the garden and asked if they would mind if we put up a tent in their front yard. they were sweet as can be and said that would be just fine.
so we wheeled our bikes into the front yard and got our tent set up. as we were getting some food out for dinner, the guy walked out and asked if we had enough food. we said that we were good. then he asked us about water...he said they had some bottled water he would be glad to bring out. and we said that we would take a couple of bottles of water. he brought us out some water and we stood and talked for quite some time. and before long, his son, who lives up the road but keeps chickens on their property had come out to talk as well. and before much longer, the wife was out there as well.
we stood and talked for a good long while. they told us all kinds of interesting things about the area, most notably, that there are elk in this area. we were both quite surprised to find that out.
the son had collect a dozen fresh eggs from his chickens and at one point he asked us if we ate eggs. and we said, "only if they are hard boiled". (we don't have any means to cook them in our gear) and the next thing we know, he turns to his mom and says, "well momma, why don't you go and boil 'em some eggs". and before the night was over, we had a dozen hard boiled eggs for breakfast and to take on the road with us.
it really was an amazing place to camp. aside from not having a shower, there is not much else we could have asked for. pervis had told me a couple of days ago that we needed to just ask people and they would be glad to help us out, and that certainly seems to be true.
[as a side note about kentucky: it is crazy, but as soon as you cross the state line, quite literally, you immediately see mobile homes, four wheelers, and dogs on the loose...everywhere...kinda crazy.]
Story [in words]:
we slept in until about 7 am this morning, and we rolled out of our tent all ready to eat our massive cinnamon roll, only to discover that the raccoons had unzipped cailyn's backpack and taken the cinnamon roll out and not a crumb left. cailyn was not too happy to say the least! (we later noticed that there was a huge nail sticking in a tree on our campsite where we could have hung it from)
cailyn began packing up camp, while i rode up to the lodge to get some quarters so that we could do our laundry. we got the laundry started while we finished packing up our gear. then we rolled down to the laundry area to wait for our laundry to finish. while we waited, we tried to catch up on a little blogging and journaling. when our laundry finished, we quickly put on some clean riding clothes and packed the rest of our clothes in the trailer bag and headed back towards the lodge to grab some breakfast.
we sat down next to the same beautiful view (actually the same table) and had a great breakfast. while we ate, we looked at our maps to make a plan for the day that was ahead. we quickly discovered that there was no camping and no hostels listed on our maps in the area we would be able to ride to with our late start. so for the first time on our trip, we got on the bikes not knowing where we were going to stay at the end of the day. we figured it was about time to start asking around and see if we could just find a place to put up a tent.
after we finished breakfast, we were planning on sitting in the lodge for a while to get the rest of the way caught up on the blog, but for some reason the internet was not working and so we were not able to blog (which is much of the reason there have not been any posts in a few days). so, we got sunscreened up, and headed back onto the route at about 11:30 am.
not too far out of the park, we ran into the road line painting crew (i think that is the technical term) coming towards us. one of the trucks pulled over to us and told us that we would need to get off the road for a little while because the paint truck would be turning around and following behind us in a few minutes. we weren't exactly sure what that meant, but we figured we would just keep riding and see what happened. but sure enough, in another 5 or 10 minutes, the truck did come behind us and we needed to get out of the way in a hurry. conveniently though, at the place where we had to get out of his way, we found the couple from colorado that we had met the day before also waiting for the paint truck to pass. so we were able to talk with them a little more and get to know them better.
after the paint was dry, they came by and told us we were free to cycle on. so we said goodbye to our colorado friends and hopped back on the bikes to try to cover some miles. we continued riding and continued climbing just about as much as we did yesterday.
they say that the appalachian mountains are the toughest of the mountains on this route. and there is no doubt in my mind that i agree. at least that better be the case, or we will never make it through colorado. the climbing is demoralizing...for both of us. thankfully, it seems that most of the time, when one of us is down, emotionally, the other is up...and vice versa. i don't know where we would be without each other, that is for sure.
despite all the climbing, and the late start, we were covering a decent number of miles...but then at a little after 7 pm, we found ourselves in a town with a name that we didn't recognize. we pulled into a gas station and got our map out, to discover that we had missed a turn some 3 miles back. so, fairly frustratedly, we turned around and cycled back our 3 miles that we had gone in the wrong direction.
as an interesting side note, through most of virginia, the turns are marked with route 76 bike signs. however, as soon as you cross the state line, those all go away, and it is all up to us to navigate.
we got back on the right route, and felt like it was time to figure out where we were going to put up our tent for the night. there were a couple of towns on the route, but they were small and so there weren't really public parks or churches or fire houses to stop and ask about camping. and it quickly became apparent that we were going to have to find someone who would allow us to camp on their property.
we came around a bend, and sitting back off the road a little ways was a nice looking house, with another big beautiful garden (apparently they know how to garden in east kentucky as well), and a sign that read, "potatoes for sale". as we came to the driveway, we noticed that there was a guy walking around out in the garden area. we decided this was the one to go talk to (we both had been praying for quite a while that God would show us the right people to talk to)...so we parked out bikes in front of the house and walked back towards the garden and asked if they would mind if we put up a tent in their front yard. they were sweet as can be and said that would be just fine.
so we wheeled our bikes into the front yard and got our tent set up. as we were getting some food out for dinner, the guy walked out and asked if we had enough food. we said that we were good. then he asked us about water...he said they had some bottled water he would be glad to bring out. and we said that we would take a couple of bottles of water. he brought us out some water and we stood and talked for quite some time. and before long, his son, who lives up the road but keeps chickens on their property had come out to talk as well. and before much longer, the wife was out there as well.
we stood and talked for a good long while. they told us all kinds of interesting things about the area, most notably, that there are elk in this area. we were both quite surprised to find that out.
the son had collect a dozen fresh eggs from his chickens and at one point he asked us if we ate eggs. and we said, "only if they are hard boiled". (we don't have any means to cook them in our gear) and the next thing we know, he turns to his mom and says, "well momma, why don't you go and boil 'em some eggs". and before the night was over, we had a dozen hard boiled eggs for breakfast and to take on the road with us.
it really was an amazing place to camp. aside from not having a shower, there is not much else we could have asked for. pervis had told me a couple of days ago that we needed to just ask people and they would be glad to help us out, and that certainly seems to be true.
[as a side note about kentucky: it is crazy, but as soon as you cross the state line, quite literally, you immediately see mobile homes, four wheelers, and dogs on the loose...everywhere...kinda crazy.]
Day 8 : Another Century, Lots of Climbing, and Plenty 'O Gardens...
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)
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Day 7 : Pervis, Pervis, Pervis...
From KOA Southeast of Wytheville, VA to Mt. Rogers, VA - 48.1 miles
Time on bike: 5:28:23
Average speed: 8.7 mph
Max speed: 33.1 mph
i feel very confident that if it weren't for pervis, our trip would not still be going on. at around 9:15 this morning, pervis showed up to our campground with his bike for me to ride. we got everything switched over and in place, and by about 10:30 we were back on the road from the campground. only to get to the end of the road and find that cailyn was having break trouble. so we stopped and worked on those for about 15 minutes, and then we finally got on the road for good.
however, it was also the worst riding conditions we have had so far as well. the wind was blowing a ton...to the point where we had to pedal to go downhill. not fun. the plan was that pervis was going to drive ahead to the next town (rural retreat) and park his car and then get on his other bike that he brought and ride back to where we were and ride with us back to his car. except there was a problem. for us to be riding into a massive headwind meant that he had a huge tailwind. and so he was flying and got back to us and past us before we got back on the actual route (our campground was a little off route). and by the time he realized it, he was like 7 miles past us, and so he had to play catch up and meet us in rural retreat.
we grabbed some subway in rural retreat and then decided it was time to get out and pedal in the wind some more. we headed back out, while pervis would drive a little ahead of us and wait for us so that he could take pictures of us. it was awesome to have him there...you could tell that he was loving being a part of it, and we needed him, because our spirits were not high to say the least.
then before long, it started to rain...but we really needed to cover the miles because of yesterdays short day, and so we cycled on as the rain kept coming. right after the rain started, we passed 3 women setting up tents in a field (we had heard they were out ahead of us), but we just waved and kept going as there was a good distance between us and we were just trying to get through the rain. we rode for a couple of hours in the rain, and then came to a restaurant at the base of mount rogers. pervis had eaten there before and really wanted to eat there...and he said that he was paying for it. so we went into this totally back country grease pit, and we ate our hearts out, including 3 deserts that we passed around and shared.
our plan was to get to the campground at the top of mount rogers, so cailyn and i climbed back onto the bikes (at least it had stopped raining) and we began to climb, while pervis went ahead to the top and got us a campground (which he also paid for) and set up our tent. and when we got to the campsite, he even had a fire going for us. which let me tell you, was an amazing sight after the cold and rain we had been cycling in.
i don't think that i can even begin to express how thankful i am to pervis. the way that he just poured love and support on us was amazing. i don't always feel like i am the most generous person, and pervis really taught me a lot today about what it means to love others through generosity. i really want to be more like that. i hope it has really sunk in at the heart level for me through this.
it was absolutely a very tough day...and i really don't know where we would be without pervis.
i have to be honest...this has been way harder than we anticipated. not necessarily the cycling, although it has been tough too, but just all of the other things. the little details, the camping, the bike problems. it has been tough and we have wondered often whether we really want to be doing this. don't get me wrong, it is a blast, an amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience. but at the same time, it is hard...really hard. i am really trying (though i don't think very well) to listen to God and to figure out what exactly He is trying to teach me and teach us through this whole thing. i know there is a ton there, i am just trying to process it one day at a time.
and speaking of processing, you would think that you would have a ton of time to process when you are riding your bike between 8 and 10 hours a day, but honestly, i haven't found that to be the case so far. it really takes a lot of brain power and concentration to just cycle and make sure we are on the right route and that we are eating and drinking enough. that may seem crazy...but so far, that is how it has been.
Time on bike: 5:28:23
Average speed: 8.7 mph
Max speed: 33.1 mph
i feel very confident that if it weren't for pervis, our trip would not still be going on. at around 9:15 this morning, pervis showed up to our campground with his bike for me to ride. we got everything switched over and in place, and by about 10:30 we were back on the road from the campground. only to get to the end of the road and find that cailyn was having break trouble. so we stopped and worked on those for about 15 minutes, and then we finally got on the road for good.
however, it was also the worst riding conditions we have had so far as well. the wind was blowing a ton...to the point where we had to pedal to go downhill. not fun. the plan was that pervis was going to drive ahead to the next town (rural retreat) and park his car and then get on his other bike that he brought and ride back to where we were and ride with us back to his car. except there was a problem. for us to be riding into a massive headwind meant that he had a huge tailwind. and so he was flying and got back to us and past us before we got back on the actual route (our campground was a little off route). and by the time he realized it, he was like 7 miles past us, and so he had to play catch up and meet us in rural retreat.
we grabbed some subway in rural retreat and then decided it was time to get out and pedal in the wind some more. we headed back out, while pervis would drive a little ahead of us and wait for us so that he could take pictures of us. it was awesome to have him there...you could tell that he was loving being a part of it, and we needed him, because our spirits were not high to say the least.
then before long, it started to rain...but we really needed to cover the miles because of yesterdays short day, and so we cycled on as the rain kept coming. right after the rain started, we passed 3 women setting up tents in a field (we had heard they were out ahead of us), but we just waved and kept going as there was a good distance between us and we were just trying to get through the rain. we rode for a couple of hours in the rain, and then came to a restaurant at the base of mount rogers. pervis had eaten there before and really wanted to eat there...and he said that he was paying for it. so we went into this totally back country grease pit, and we ate our hearts out, including 3 deserts that we passed around and shared.
our plan was to get to the campground at the top of mount rogers, so cailyn and i climbed back onto the bikes (at least it had stopped raining) and we began to climb, while pervis went ahead to the top and got us a campground (which he also paid for) and set up our tent. and when we got to the campsite, he even had a fire going for us. which let me tell you, was an amazing sight after the cold and rain we had been cycling in.
i don't think that i can even begin to express how thankful i am to pervis. the way that he just poured love and support on us was amazing. i don't always feel like i am the most generous person, and pervis really taught me a lot today about what it means to love others through generosity. i really want to be more like that. i hope it has really sunk in at the heart level for me through this.
it was absolutely a very tough day...and i really don't know where we would be without pervis.
i have to be honest...this has been way harder than we anticipated. not necessarily the cycling, although it has been tough too, but just all of the other things. the little details, the camping, the bike problems. it has been tough and we have wondered often whether we really want to be doing this. don't get me wrong, it is a blast, an amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience. but at the same time, it is hard...really hard. i am really trying (though i don't think very well) to listen to God and to figure out what exactly He is trying to teach me and teach us through this whole thing. i know there is a ton there, i am just trying to process it one day at a time.
and speaking of processing, you would think that you would have a ton of time to process when you are riding your bike between 8 and 10 hours a day, but honestly, i haven't found that to be the case so far. it really takes a lot of brain power and concentration to just cycle and make sure we are on the right route and that we are eating and drinking enough. that may seem crazy...but so far, that is how it has been.
Day 6 : A Story for Sure...
From Christiansburg, VA to KOA Kampground southeast of Wytheville, VA - 38.1 miles
Story [in numbers]:
Time on bike: 3:57:54
Average speed: 9.6 mph
Max speed: 31.7 mph
Story [in words]:
with our late night of riding last night, we slept in till about 7am today, quickly got ready and got the bikes loaded, and it became quite apparent that Kirk was not very interested in moving at a very fast pace today. so he told us that he was going to hang in town a while longer, do some laundry, get a good breakfast and then just cover a minimal number of miles. so we said our goodbyes, and pedaled down to the motel 8 office to grab some continental breakfast.
we got on the road by 8:15, and spent the next 20 or so minutes riding to get back on the route. we finally got back on our route and headed on. the riding was good...a fair amount of climbs, but we were covering the miles without too much trouble.
before long, we rolled into the town of radford, yet another university town. (radford university) the downtown area was really cool. there was a house with the craziest tree limbs i have ever seen. there was actually a tree limb that was growing on the ground. kind of reminded me of the tree that used to be on memorial mall area at purdue. (it was struck by lightning last year)
we continued on through the towns of newbern and draper. we weren't too far out of draper, when from up the hill and around the corner came a hand cyclist (a 3-wheel recumbent looking cycle that is "pedaled" with your hands...usually for people who are paralyzed).
so we stopped and talked, and man was it worth it. we found out the guys name was alan and he suffered from friedreich's ataxia, which is a deterioration in the cerebellum that slowly causes you to lose control of portions of your body. he was diagnosed when he was 30 (he's now 33), but he quickly decided that he wanted to use it to write a better story. so he started talking to children in schools. and then he decided that he was going to ride from st. louis (where he is from) to washington, d.c. he was an incredibly inspiring guy to say the least, which it would turn out shortly after that we would need the encouragement.
he, along with his sag wagon, also had some great insights for us about great places for us to stay in the coming days. he even talked about staying a night with some trappist monks. sounds like it was a pretty wild time. so after talking across the road for quite some time, we both decided to head on.
we got back on the road, climbed a couple of hills...and then as we rolled down a hill, we came to a stop sign and i forgot to down shift as we were coming to a stop. traffic was clear and so we began to cross, however, i was in far too tough of a gear and so i had to put a ton of torque on the pedal, which meant that i was also pushing on the seat...and it was at that point that i felt the seat move and heard a noise from underneath me. i have had a few minor problems with my seat in the first few days, so i thought i was having the same problem. i finished crossing the road and we put our bikes against the guardrail to see what was going on.
when i looked under my seat, i discovered that the problem was much more serious than what i had been dealing with. the seat had almost snapped completely off. i was pretty sure that it was a goner, but we tried to reinforce it with some duck tape, just to see if we could make it to the next town. however, we rode probably another 150 yards and the seat snapped completely off.
this put us in a whole new predicament. our bikes are pretty unique to say the least, and i was pretty sure that the only place that we would be able to get a replacement seat would be from the guy that we bought the bikes from. so...we sat on the side of the road underneath a shade tree as we tried to decide what we would do next. we decided that the best case scenario would be if pervis (my friend who did this trip in 2008) would be willing to bring me his bike tomorrow when he comes to visit us and allow me to ride his bike for the rest of the trip. (the only other option we could come up with was contacting the place that we got our bikes from and asking them to ship us a new seat...but if we were to do that, we probably wouldn't get any riding in until wednesday.
we couldn't get ahold of pervis (he was at work)...so in the meantime we decided to walk our bikes up to the house that was just up the way. we could see that the guy was out on his porch, could hear that he was playing a banjo, and it looked like he had a truck. we walked up the hill, or maybe i should say limped up the hill. we certainly looked like we were in a little trouble to say the least.
as we got up in front of his house, we made a little bit of small talk, told him that we had a broken bike, and then asked him if he might be able to give us a ride up to the koa kampground in wytheville. he said that he would be willing to do that, so we wheeled our bikes into his driveway and got our bikes loaded into the truck. (meanwhile, we were greeted by two of the cutest little weiner dogs) we had a great little ride down the road...the guy talked our ears off about all kinds of fun things. we tried to give him $20 for gas, but he refused to take it...said, "he didn't need it...that we should give it to someone who needed it when we got to oregon". he was a great guy and a real blessing.
we got ourselves a campground (the guy who we assume to be the owner gave us a special site (including electric and water...which we didn't pay for) just for the heck of it...he was a super nice guy)...and we got the tent set up. and then of course...we showered...which is always awesome after a day of cycling...even a shorter day.
before long, pervis was off of work, and he called me back. he asked what was going on and i told him what had happened. after a short discussion, we decided that tomorrow he would bring his bike to me, we would swap bikes, and tomorrow i will continue the trip on his bike. what an amazing blessing. when we talked on the phone yesterday, he had said, "let me know if there is anything that you need and i will be glad to pick it up for you"...however i never really thought i would be telling him that what i needed was a bicycle. crazy and yet an amazing deal.
now i definitely feel like we are in an epic story...and that we are in this for the long haul, for sure. when i talked to my dad tonight he said, "didn't you expect that things like this would happen?" and i did, but at the same time, you are not really prepared for them even when they do happen.
so now we are sitting on an amazing little porch swing as it rain lightly. a beautiful ending to quite a day.
Story [in numbers]:
Time on bike: 3:57:54
Average speed: 9.6 mph
Max speed: 31.7 mph
Story [in words]:
with our late night of riding last night, we slept in till about 7am today, quickly got ready and got the bikes loaded, and it became quite apparent that Kirk was not very interested in moving at a very fast pace today. so he told us that he was going to hang in town a while longer, do some laundry, get a good breakfast and then just cover a minimal number of miles. so we said our goodbyes, and pedaled down to the motel 8 office to grab some continental breakfast.
we got on the road by 8:15, and spent the next 20 or so minutes riding to get back on the route. we finally got back on our route and headed on. the riding was good...a fair amount of climbs, but we were covering the miles without too much trouble.
before long, we rolled into the town of radford, yet another university town. (radford university) the downtown area was really cool. there was a house with the craziest tree limbs i have ever seen. there was actually a tree limb that was growing on the ground. kind of reminded me of the tree that used to be on memorial mall area at purdue. (it was struck by lightning last year)
we continued on through the towns of newbern and draper. we weren't too far out of draper, when from up the hill and around the corner came a hand cyclist (a 3-wheel recumbent looking cycle that is "pedaled" with your hands...usually for people who are paralyzed).
so we stopped and talked, and man was it worth it. we found out the guys name was alan and he suffered from friedreich's ataxia, which is a deterioration in the cerebellum that slowly causes you to lose control of portions of your body. he was diagnosed when he was 30 (he's now 33), but he quickly decided that he wanted to use it to write a better story. so he started talking to children in schools. and then he decided that he was going to ride from st. louis (where he is from) to washington, d.c. he was an incredibly inspiring guy to say the least, which it would turn out shortly after that we would need the encouragement.
he, along with his sag wagon, also had some great insights for us about great places for us to stay in the coming days. he even talked about staying a night with some trappist monks. sounds like it was a pretty wild time. so after talking across the road for quite some time, we both decided to head on.
we got back on the road, climbed a couple of hills...and then as we rolled down a hill, we came to a stop sign and i forgot to down shift as we were coming to a stop. traffic was clear and so we began to cross, however, i was in far too tough of a gear and so i had to put a ton of torque on the pedal, which meant that i was also pushing on the seat...and it was at that point that i felt the seat move and heard a noise from underneath me. i have had a few minor problems with my seat in the first few days, so i thought i was having the same problem. i finished crossing the road and we put our bikes against the guardrail to see what was going on.
when i looked under my seat, i discovered that the problem was much more serious than what i had been dealing with. the seat had almost snapped completely off. i was pretty sure that it was a goner, but we tried to reinforce it with some duck tape, just to see if we could make it to the next town. however, we rode probably another 150 yards and the seat snapped completely off.
this put us in a whole new predicament. our bikes are pretty unique to say the least, and i was pretty sure that the only place that we would be able to get a replacement seat would be from the guy that we bought the bikes from. so...we sat on the side of the road underneath a shade tree as we tried to decide what we would do next. we decided that the best case scenario would be if pervis (my friend who did this trip in 2008) would be willing to bring me his bike tomorrow when he comes to visit us and allow me to ride his bike for the rest of the trip. (the only other option we could come up with was contacting the place that we got our bikes from and asking them to ship us a new seat...but if we were to do that, we probably wouldn't get any riding in until wednesday.
we couldn't get ahold of pervis (he was at work)...so in the meantime we decided to walk our bikes up to the house that was just up the way. we could see that the guy was out on his porch, could hear that he was playing a banjo, and it looked like he had a truck. we walked up the hill, or maybe i should say limped up the hill. we certainly looked like we were in a little trouble to say the least.
as we got up in front of his house, we made a little bit of small talk, told him that we had a broken bike, and then asked him if he might be able to give us a ride up to the koa kampground in wytheville. he said that he would be willing to do that, so we wheeled our bikes into his driveway and got our bikes loaded into the truck. (meanwhile, we were greeted by two of the cutest little weiner dogs) we had a great little ride down the road...the guy talked our ears off about all kinds of fun things. we tried to give him $20 for gas, but he refused to take it...said, "he didn't need it...that we should give it to someone who needed it when we got to oregon". he was a great guy and a real blessing.
we got ourselves a campground (the guy who we assume to be the owner gave us a special site (including electric and water...which we didn't pay for) just for the heck of it...he was a super nice guy)...and we got the tent set up. and then of course...we showered...which is always awesome after a day of cycling...even a shorter day.
before long, pervis was off of work, and he called me back. he asked what was going on and i told him what had happened. after a short discussion, we decided that tomorrow he would bring his bike to me, we would swap bikes, and tomorrow i will continue the trip on his bike. what an amazing blessing. when we talked on the phone yesterday, he had said, "let me know if there is anything that you need and i will be glad to pick it up for you"...however i never really thought i would be telling him that what i needed was a bicycle. crazy and yet an amazing deal.
now i definitely feel like we are in an epic story...and that we are in this for the long haul, for sure. when i talked to my dad tonight he said, "didn't you expect that things like this would happen?" and i did, but at the same time, you are not really prepared for them even when they do happen.
so now we are sitting on an amazing little porch swing as it rain lightly. a beautiful ending to quite a day.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Day 5 : Starting to Get Into a Groove...and an Epic Ride...
From Lexington, VA to Christiansburg, VA - 101 miles
Story [in numbers]:
Time on bike: 9:35:32
Average speed: 10.5 mph
Max Speed: 37.9 mph
Story [in words]:
we got up at 5 this morning at our super 8 motel, and we headed across the parking lot to the waffle house for a big breakfast. then we headed to the next parking lot to walmart to pick up a couple of things that we were needing.
so, with breakfast and walmart before getting on the bikes...it was about 7 am before we got riding. we headed through lexington and then out into the countryside. roller hills mostly. we rode alongside a stream and railroad tracks for quite some time. it was quaint and beautiful.
at about 1 pm we arrived into troutsville. and i have to stop and give props to my friend pervis (the guy who kind of inspired this trip). when he did this trip 2 years ago, he rode the whole of the ride that we did yesterday AND all of the distance to troutsville as well (where we were today at 1 pm). all i have to say is, pervis, you are absolutely insane!!
speaking of pervis, i got a phone call from pervis today, and he said that he is planning on coming up on sunday to meet us and take us out for lunch...and then he is going to drive ahead 20 or 30 miles ahead of us and see us one more time. it will be really nice to see a familiar face...and i can't wait to share stories with him, since he has been through it all before.
i wrote up until this point while we were stopped at a gas station waiting out some rain at around 4 pm. we really wanted to log another 28 miles to get into christiansburg, but the rain rolled in and we weren't sure if we were going to be able to make it or not. we waited till about 5:15 pm and made the decision that we were going to give it a whirl. so at about 5:30 we got on and started riding.
it was mostly down hill for the next 20 plus miles or so (at times in some pretty serious rain), and then we had to do a pretty serious climb into christiansburg. it was intense to say the least, but we made it. we then made a wrong turn trying to get to our camp ground for the night. and so when all was said and done, we ended up riding just over 100 miles on the day. we finally found the campground, but came to find out that it was going to cost $20/tent. (we are still riding with kirk. keith had a friend in roanoke and he rode in to visit with his friend.) so it was going to cost us $40 total to camp, and so we ended up going to the motel 8 right across the street for a total of $58, we are staying in luxury one more night. we can't keep living like this, but on a night where we were riding past 9 pm, it was nice to not have to get the camp stuff out. but we will be back to the camping tomorrow for sure.
it is amazing how good my legs feel after being on the bike for 9+ hours today and logging 100 miles. it will be interesting to see how things feel in the morning.
one note from yesterday that i forgot to mention, was that the transamerica trail intersect the appalachian trail in a number of spots. and so, yesterday, as we were riding on the blue ridge parkway, all of a sudden there was a guy that just walked out of the woods. and come to find out he was a through-hiker on the AT. we had some great conversation with him and also gave him some of our food, which he was very appreciative of. we also ran into another through-hiker a little while later, as well as one today who was hanging out at the gas station that we were at as we waited out the storm this afternoon.
it is kind of cool to have time to chat and interact with some other people that are doing things that people would call "crazy".
cailyn and i were talking today about how many things and how much variety you get to see in doing this trip. we have seen a number of old historic towns, gone by at least 5 universities, seen some amazing valleys and beautiful mountains, and even taken in a couple of decent size towns. and all in 5 days. it is pretty crazy to think back on it all.
oh and...i almost forgot...probably the most exciting part of today is that today was a major milestone. by reaching christiansburg tonight, we finished the first of our 12 sets of maps. so, 1 down...11 to go. tomorrow we will set in on map #2.
Story [in numbers]:
Time on bike: 9:35:32
Average speed: 10.5 mph
Max Speed: 37.9 mph
Story [in words]:
we got up at 5 this morning at our super 8 motel, and we headed across the parking lot to the waffle house for a big breakfast. then we headed to the next parking lot to walmart to pick up a couple of things that we were needing.
so, with breakfast and walmart before getting on the bikes...it was about 7 am before we got riding. we headed through lexington and then out into the countryside. roller hills mostly. we rode alongside a stream and railroad tracks for quite some time. it was quaint and beautiful.
at about 1 pm we arrived into troutsville. and i have to stop and give props to my friend pervis (the guy who kind of inspired this trip). when he did this trip 2 years ago, he rode the whole of the ride that we did yesterday AND all of the distance to troutsville as well (where we were today at 1 pm). all i have to say is, pervis, you are absolutely insane!!
speaking of pervis, i got a phone call from pervis today, and he said that he is planning on coming up on sunday to meet us and take us out for lunch...and then he is going to drive ahead 20 or 30 miles ahead of us and see us one more time. it will be really nice to see a familiar face...and i can't wait to share stories with him, since he has been through it all before.
i wrote up until this point while we were stopped at a gas station waiting out some rain at around 4 pm. we really wanted to log another 28 miles to get into christiansburg, but the rain rolled in and we weren't sure if we were going to be able to make it or not. we waited till about 5:15 pm and made the decision that we were going to give it a whirl. so at about 5:30 we got on and started riding.
it was mostly down hill for the next 20 plus miles or so (at times in some pretty serious rain), and then we had to do a pretty serious climb into christiansburg. it was intense to say the least, but we made it. we then made a wrong turn trying to get to our camp ground for the night. and so when all was said and done, we ended up riding just over 100 miles on the day. we finally found the campground, but came to find out that it was going to cost $20/tent. (we are still riding with kirk. keith had a friend in roanoke and he rode in to visit with his friend.) so it was going to cost us $40 total to camp, and so we ended up going to the motel 8 right across the street for a total of $58, we are staying in luxury one more night. we can't keep living like this, but on a night where we were riding past 9 pm, it was nice to not have to get the camp stuff out. but we will be back to the camping tomorrow for sure.
it is amazing how good my legs feel after being on the bike for 9+ hours today and logging 100 miles. it will be interesting to see how things feel in the morning.
one note from yesterday that i forgot to mention, was that the transamerica trail intersect the appalachian trail in a number of spots. and so, yesterday, as we were riding on the blue ridge parkway, all of a sudden there was a guy that just walked out of the woods. and come to find out he was a through-hiker on the AT. we had some great conversation with him and also gave him some of our food, which he was very appreciative of. we also ran into another through-hiker a little while later, as well as one today who was hanging out at the gas station that we were at as we waited out the storm this afternoon.
it is kind of cool to have time to chat and interact with some other people that are doing things that people would call "crazy".
cailyn and i were talking today about how many things and how much variety you get to see in doing this trip. we have seen a number of old historic towns, gone by at least 5 universities, seen some amazing valleys and beautiful mountains, and even taken in a couple of decent size towns. and all in 5 days. it is pretty crazy to think back on it all.
oh and...i almost forgot...probably the most exciting part of today is that today was a major milestone. by reaching christiansburg tonight, we finished the first of our 12 sets of maps. so, 1 down...11 to go. tomorrow we will set in on map #2.
Day 4 : Let the Hills (Mountains) Begin...
From Afton, VA to Lexington, VA - 56.9 miles
Story [in numbers]:
Time on bike: 6:30:04
Average speed: 8.6 mph
Max speed: 36.1 mph
Story [in words]:
this morning we woke up at 5 am at the cookie ladies house, along with our friends keith and kirk. we were on the bikes by 6 am.
the cookie ladies house is literally in the middle of a climb, and so as we began cycling, we were climbing. no doubt about it. we climbed and climbed until we reached the blue ridge parkway (a national park that is just barely wider than the road...and goes about 469 miles). it was a pretty serious climb, but it was well worth it to get up to the parkway. it was an amazingly beautiful ride. we climbed to 3400 ft at our highest point today.
the climbing was challenging, but all in all i felt like it was a success. the climbs seemed slow...but doable. i felt like we learned that we can do the climbs, and that was a concern that we both had. so it was good. i am also learning that climbing also means awesome downhills, and we did plenty of that as well.
we rode for a number of hours this morning with our new friends, and then mid-morning we decided to part ways as they stopped to get some sandwiches and we wanted to keep covering the miles. so we continued on. a ways further up the road, we had two older cyclist come up behind us. great local guys that were just out for a morning ride. cailyn called them rocky and crash. rocky because he was going to do a ride in the rockies in a couple of weeks. and crash, because he had broken his leg a couple of years ago in a crash. they were really cool guys. and they gave us some great info about a local place to grab lunch in vesuvius.
we got off the parkway above vesuvius, and the decent was epic to say the least. huge grades, and switchbacks. we had to stop twice to let our brakes cool down and make sure that the breaks didn't overheat. and when we got down to vesuvius, we did indeed find the restaurant that the guys had told us about. it was called girty's, and it was an awesome little place. the ladies that worked there were hometown as they come, and the food was killer! great stop to say the least! and to our surprise, as we were about to head out, our friends keith and kirk pulled in.
they were there for just a quick stop, and so we ended up leaving there together again. we had a great gentle downhill ride next to a beautiful stream all the way into lexington. it is a beautiful college town (vmi and william and lee). we stopped at a little ice cream shoppe called sweet things ice cream shoppe, as it was a place that my friend pervis stopped at on his trip.
we ended up deciding to just go ahead and stay here for the night. we really wanted to get more miles in, but it was after 4 before we got into town, and there was no where close to the route where we were going to be able to camp, and so we decided it would be best to just stay here with our friends keith and kirk. so we are at a super 8 motel (with the cost split between us, it was not bad at all)...and so hopefully it will provide a great nights sleep...and we will again get on the bikes by 6 and try to cover a solid number of miles tomorrow. it would be awesome to get to christiansburg by tomorrow. if we could do that, we would complete the first of our 12 maps, which seems like it would be a great confidence boost.
8.6
36.1
6:30:04
56.9
Story [in numbers]:
Time on bike: 6:30:04
Average speed: 8.6 mph
Max speed: 36.1 mph
Story [in words]:
this morning we woke up at 5 am at the cookie ladies house, along with our friends keith and kirk. we were on the bikes by 6 am.
the cookie ladies house is literally in the middle of a climb, and so as we began cycling, we were climbing. no doubt about it. we climbed and climbed until we reached the blue ridge parkway (a national park that is just barely wider than the road...and goes about 469 miles). it was a pretty serious climb, but it was well worth it to get up to the parkway. it was an amazingly beautiful ride. we climbed to 3400 ft at our highest point today.
the climbing was challenging, but all in all i felt like it was a success. the climbs seemed slow...but doable. i felt like we learned that we can do the climbs, and that was a concern that we both had. so it was good. i am also learning that climbing also means awesome downhills, and we did plenty of that as well.
we rode for a number of hours this morning with our new friends, and then mid-morning we decided to part ways as they stopped to get some sandwiches and we wanted to keep covering the miles. so we continued on. a ways further up the road, we had two older cyclist come up behind us. great local guys that were just out for a morning ride. cailyn called them rocky and crash. rocky because he was going to do a ride in the rockies in a couple of weeks. and crash, because he had broken his leg a couple of years ago in a crash. they were really cool guys. and they gave us some great info about a local place to grab lunch in vesuvius.
we got off the parkway above vesuvius, and the decent was epic to say the least. huge grades, and switchbacks. we had to stop twice to let our brakes cool down and make sure that the breaks didn't overheat. and when we got down to vesuvius, we did indeed find the restaurant that the guys had told us about. it was called girty's, and it was an awesome little place. the ladies that worked there were hometown as they come, and the food was killer! great stop to say the least! and to our surprise, as we were about to head out, our friends keith and kirk pulled in.
they were there for just a quick stop, and so we ended up leaving there together again. we had a great gentle downhill ride next to a beautiful stream all the way into lexington. it is a beautiful college town (vmi and william and lee). we stopped at a little ice cream shoppe called sweet things ice cream shoppe, as it was a place that my friend pervis stopped at on his trip.
we ended up deciding to just go ahead and stay here for the night. we really wanted to get more miles in, but it was after 4 before we got into town, and there was no where close to the route where we were going to be able to camp, and so we decided it would be best to just stay here with our friends keith and kirk. so we are at a super 8 motel (with the cost split between us, it was not bad at all)...and so hopefully it will provide a great nights sleep...and we will again get on the bikes by 6 and try to cover a solid number of miles tomorrow. it would be awesome to get to christiansburg by tomorrow. if we could do that, we would complete the first of our 12 maps, which seems like it would be a great confidence boost.
8.6
36.1
6:30:04
56.9
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