Day 13

Wednesday, July 20

I woke up at 4:30 this mooring to the sound of something being dragged away from our tent. I got my light out and saw that Ben's pannier was missing from outside our tent, so I woke him up and he went to look for it. By a stroke of luck, he spotted it in the woods 50 ft from our tent and had to climb down to get it. We can only assume that it was a raccoon who had a craving for whole wheat wraps and Gatorade powder because that is what was missing from the front zipper pouch. (we found out the hard way that those bandits can use zippers!) I found this event to be outrageously funny but Ben was not so amused. We later found out that a raccoon stole bananas out of the other couple's bag.

That couple- Matthew and Crystal warned us about dogs in Kentucky and gave us a spare can of pepper spray to use if they chase us. We quickly learned that Kentucky dogs really do love to chase bikers, but they also seem to be classically conditioned to stop chasing once they see that bottle pointed at them. I pulled out the spray and pointed it at a chasing dog and he stopped almost immediately! Unfortunately, there must have been some pepper spray residue on the can because ten minutes later I itched my eye and felt the horrible burn of peppers! It was so awful and painful and it lasted for a good 5 minutes while I just had to sit there and endure the pain... Lesson learned I guess. And now I really know why the dogs are afraid of the can!

We rode 71 miles to Hindman, KY to stay with David who has been hosting cyclists for about 15 years. He has a huge tent that we slept in on big air mattresses. He greeted us with iced tea at the driveway, we showered had a baked potato and salad, and then banana splits for dessert.

We slept well until about 530 when thunder started and pouring rain! We were glad that our own tent wasn't getting wet. We just had breakfast and are trying to get the courage to go riding in the rain...

Location:Dukes Branch Rd,Hindman,United States

Day 12

Tuesday, July 19

We woke up at the church feeling well rested and more blessed than yesterday. We had iced coffee and grilled banana/peanut butter wraps for breakfast- both were such treats because we don't ever make coffee or cook hot breakfast.

It was a very hilly day with one big mountain climb- Big A Mountain. Right before that climb I stopped at the post office to send a few items home and lighten my load. I really could notice a difference with about 2 lbs fewer! We were pretty tired so we stopped for the day just 2 miles short of the Kentucky border in the Breaks interstate park, which spans both Kentucky and Virginia. After we set up our tent and showered, we took a golf cart ride around the park -believe me, we felt extremely lazy but it was awesome!

The park has beautiful overlooks, including "the grand canyon of the south" which unimpressed both of us. It did not really life up to it's name, but it was cool to see anyways. I think we have been jaded by the last week of being constantly surrounded by mountains and gorgeous overlooks. We also have grown to despise the mountains for the pain they have caused our legs and almost every other body part. After dinner we met two cyclists who were headed west from San francisco to NYC. We swapped stories about our trips but they had many more days behind them than we do!

 In the golf cart:

They have been in this town (Honker) for three weeks because of a hole in a fence
45 miles today... They say we are almost out of the mountains, commonly thought to be the most difficult section of the trip. Can't wait!

This was my favorite part of the day: Billy goats on the side of a mountain on the road! I couldn't get enough of these billies

-jen

Location:Breaks Interstate Park, VA

Day 11

Monday, July 18
Miles today: 71

We finally hit our desired mileage today!
The day started with yet another flat back tire for me but I changed it (I'm getting good at it now!) quickly and got on our way. We took route 11 for about 50 miles, which was great because it closely follows interstate 81, which means fewer hills. We stopped for lunch at subway (paid for by my cousin Tiffany- it was just what we needed!) and had a generally easy ride until we turned onto rt 80, with 20 miles to go. The road quickly descended for at least 6 miles. It was awesome to go downhill for so long but I couldn't enjoy it at all because I knew what had to be in our future- the reverse side of that downhill. Soon enough, we found ourselves slowly climbing back up into the mountains from the valley. It is a mental struggle to ride uphill for so long. My mind plays tricks on me and I think I see a downhill coming up but it is really just a steeper section... I just keep telling myself that it has to end at some point. When we finally reached the top we were rewarded with another great downhill, and this one I fully enjoyed! The views were incredible- farm land and cows, mountains, it was really awesome. When we were about halfway down the mountain we stopped to let our rims cool off (a fellow rider told us to do this, not sure if it is necessary) and we decided that the climb is worth the amazing feeling of accomplishment and the exhilarating descent down winding roads. I'm not saying I would want to do it again anytime soon- but I think tomorrow has another mountain in store for us.

 This was the view behind us after we got off the mountain. Yes, we were up there!

A short 4 miles later and we arrived at our destination for the night, the Elk Garden Methodist Church. This place is awesome- it's free, has a complete kitchen and fully stocked cabinets for us to use! It is available to all cyclists riding through the area but we have the place to ourselves tonight. I immediately made a pot of coffee and put it in the fridge for iced coffee in the morning!

The only weird thing about this place is that we are sleeping in the room where church services take place- right next to the altar. The floor is so padded and comfy that we had to choose this room instead of the tile in the dining room- and the pastor suggested we sleep in here when I spoke to him on the phone. This is one thing I never thought I would be doing... One of many on this trip!

We should be going into Kentucky tomorrow, if all goes well! I can't wait to have an entire state behind us. It really doesn't seem like we've gone that far but i guess we have!

Location:Rosedale, VA

Days 9 & 10

Sunday, July 17

The ultimate rest day today. We went out to a diner for breakfast for $10- 3 eggs, homefries, toast and coffee/tea for each of us. That has become our typical breakfast because it's cheap and it's hard to cook breakfast without a fridge so we usually go out. We went to the grocery store and cvs to pick up some food and supplies, patched up my two tubes, did laundry and just chilled out. It rained for most of the afternoon so we were happy not to be riding. Dinner was corn in the cob, rice and black beans, cooked in our hotel room.

We are excited to get back on our bikes tomorrow and crossing our fingers for no more flat tires for a while!

We are straying from our route tomorrow because of advice given to us by a rider coming from the west (he was by himself and started on June 1. He had about 3 more days to go when we saw him- very impressive!). He said this will save us about 50 miles and lots of hills- wahoooo!!

Saturday, July 16

We were exhausted from Friday's long ride so we slept in until 10 and then waited out the rain until about 1:30. As soon as I got on my bike, I realized my bike had it's first flat tire. So we turned back to the campsite to fix it up. It didn't take long and we were on our way. We rode 40 miles to Wytheville and we knew we needed a rest day asap!

We showered at the beautiful community center for free, which was awesome. When I got back on my bike to ride the mile down to the park we were going to stay in, I realized my bike had it's second flat tire! And it was the same tire. This was very frustrating and I decided not to fix it because I didn't want to get dirty directly after my shower and it was getting dark out. I walked my bike a short way down the park but we decided it was too creepy and wide open to camp out in. (Ben was very creeped out by this town because nobody was out at 9 pm on a Saturday night, every store was closed except for fast food restaurants, and he thought the streets were too wide...) So we found the nearest cheap motel. We picked up some ice cream on the way at a Sonic. It was my first time at sonic and I found it very strange! Every car has their own personal speaker to order in a parking space. Even though we sat at the tables, we still had to order through a machine and they brought the food out to us. I was also disappointed because the employees weren't on roller skates like in the Sonic commercials. But the ice cream was great!

The highlight of today: we passed the section of the interstate where North 81 and South 77 are the same road an South 81 is the same as North 77. This is a very rare signing phenomenon and Ben was pumped about it!

Location:Lithia Rd,Wytheville,United States

Day 8

Friday, July 15

Miles today: 84

There is no flat- only up and down. I guess it makes the ride interesting but it really is hard work. The last 15 miles today were pretty tiring, we stopped to get groceries for dinner and then just had to think about how hungry we were until we got to the campsite. The meal was delicious though and worth the wait- pasta with tofu, red pepper and broccoli. We love our little camp stove!

The highlight of the day was our trip to see the Natural Bridge. It was owned by Thomas Jefferson for a while and George Washington surveyed it. It is one of the seven natural wonders of the world (so we hear). It was beautiful and we wished we had more time to explore the trails and the caves but we didn't stay long bc we knew we had a long day ahead.

That little speck of green is Ben. It's that huge! It was really cool to see

-jen

Location:Little River Rd,Radford,United States

Day 7

Woke up feeling much stronger and finished up the parkway section with ease.

I hit 43 mph on my bike which was awesome. Pretty solid bike even at high speed. Our exit was VA state route 56 which was 4 miles of twisting and steep turns down into the town of Vesuvius! My rims were hotter than a stoked fire. But sure felt good to not pedal for 10 min and be almost tripling our average speed. Both of us were very hungry, so we got some awesome egg sandwich at this cool store named Gerti's.

I thought it was cool how everyone who walked in the store was greeted by name. (not us ha) After a nice break we hit the road headed to good ol Lexington. About 15 miles of a nice flat with hills road we made to the visitor center for AC and H2O. Got a good healthy sandwich at the health food store in town and an avocado for later. Speaking of food, pasta sides were not working out for us so now we use dry seasoning sauce packets which is way better. Got to KOA natural bridge (12 mi) and called it a day. We showered and ate and felt like kings. Today was the end of my pay cycle and we came in right on budge. Jen is up to bat now ( still splitting everything so I'm not about to order surf and turf on her week hah)
Goodnight
Ben

NEW TENT EQUIPPED WITH double doors holla

Miles for week one w one rest day: 269
Avg per day: 44.8

Location:Killdeer Ln,,United States

Day 6

Wednesday, July 13


The day started out with a wrong turn and I knew it was a bad omen. After we got back on track I had to give some of the weight in my panniers to Ben because it was just too much for me. Then a bungie cord got caught in my gears and caused me to fall. It took at least ten minutes to untangle the cord, and now I was quite sure it was going to be a bad day.

The hills continued until the town of White Hall, where we stopped at a country store. Then the mountains began. We stopped for lunch at a peach farm and had peach and peanut butter wraps, along with many peaches and plums.

The scenery was truly beautiful but we knew we were riding on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which meant that we had to climb up there first. This was a scary thought but I don't think we fully understood would that would entail. We soon found out, and it wasn't pretty. We climbed to an elevation of 1895 ft in 3 miles. We literally biked up the mountain.
I can't really expressed how difficult it was... I was in first gear the entire time, and it seemed like my hardest gear. About halfway to the top, we stopped at the Cookie Lady's house but she wasn't home. She has been greeting bicyclists and giving them water since 1976. She has a barn filled with pictures and notes from cyclists past.

Sadly, we didn't get to see inside. We definitely appreciated the water from her hose as we continued up the mountain.

Once we reached the entrance of the parkway, we kept climbing and climbing. In a span of 20 miles we climbed to a max of 3425 ft- with very few downhills in between the ups. We were so exhausted by 7 pm we had no choice by to stop for the night, even though our town was still 12 miles away. After weighing our options we decided to camp out near an Appalachian trail head. Thankfully, some hikers let us have some of their water, because we really were in the middle of nowhere on top of a mountain. We made a quick dinner and fell asleep soon thereafter.

us> mtns?
Too close to Call

Location:Blue Ridge Parkway, Love, VA