Day 9 - June 12, 2013 - Love, VA to Lexington, VA

Miles - 35

Total miles- 294.6

Today began our part 2 of conquering the Blue Ridge Parkway and the mountains that Virginia threw our way. We got a pretty early start, since we didn't know exactly what the mountains would be like, though we did know that we had a crazy downhill waiting for us at the end of the Parkway.

Here's Erica's mascot, Shep, up and at 'em early at the cabin:

Just as we expected, we faced more uphills and major climbs. But something was different about today's ride...maybe it was the promise that we would be through one of the most challenging parts of our journey by the end of the day, maybe our legs are actually getting stronger as the days go by, but despite the climbs today, we did manage to make it up them. I (Mel) finally think I have my gearing figured out, so I know what gears I should be in and what will get me up a hill in the best and most efficient manner. Erica has been riding bikes with gears for years, so I think she has it down pretty good. 

We came across a number of beautiful overlooks today, such as this one, which apparently serves as some sort of way for the folks in the valley below to tell time in the summer months. I'm not sure why there is a giant gun on the sign, though. 

We finally turned onto the road taking us down off of the parkway and into the town of Vesuvius...and this descent is legendary to TransAm riders. We're not 100% sure what the grade is, but our best guess is it is at least over a 10% grade. This is crazy enough in a car, but on a bike, we are talking potential speeds up and over 50 mph. Most folks ride the descent while engaging their breaks, which means that after 100 feet or so, it is necessary to pull off to the side of the road and let the rims of your tires cool from the friction of the brake pads. Too much heat can severely damage the rims or completely blow out your tire. Neither of which are very fun to deal with, so it's best to play it safe, kids! 

When we made it totally down the mountain, we stopped in to the famous TransAm landmark, Gertie's Country Store. Gertie's has seen hundreds upon hundreds of bikers and hikers, and even hosts overnight guests behind the store in a nice little pavilion. We had some awesome food, refreshing drinks, Erica had a Choco-Taco, and we talked to the folks there for quite a while. Everyone at the store was super kind and we genuinely enjoyed the food, drinks, and conversations. 

Next we experienced such wonderful biking as we traveled on a slight downhill, next to the South River and some railroad tracks. We reached some coasting speeds that we hadn't seen in days and it finally felt awesome to not be struggling up another hill. 

Our original plan was to stop at the Mallard Duck Campground for the night, but we both felt so good that we rolled right past it. We figured we could make another 8 miles easily after what we faced over the past few days. And we were mostly right...though we did have about 3 miles of some very serious hills that forced us off the bikes and into the hiking position, and some construction that took one of the roads down to a single lane road. We finally made it to Lexington by about 6 p.m. Of course, our hotel is up a hill, as are all things we are trying to get to in Virginia. But we're glad to be out of the mountains, and we both had huge smiles as we immediately got in our swimming gear and headed down to the pool to cool off this evening. As the great poet, Ice Cube, would say, "Today was a good day."

Day 8 - June 11, 2013 - Afton, VA to Love, VA

Miles - about 16

Total miles - 259

Oh, Blue Ridge Parkway...

We coasted down the hill from our scumbag motel, and discovered that the kettle corn stand at the bottom of the hill had just opened, so it was time for kettle corn and Gatorade breakfast, naturally.  We knew we were in for a brutal day again, and I think we were avoiding the inevitable just a bit...

So, all sugared up, we hit the Blue Ridge Parkway and start pedaling.  About 2 miles in, we think, this isn't so bad!  It's uphill, but we can handle it!  We see a mom and baby deer leisurely crossing the road, it's almost an idyllic morning scene for cycling.  Then we find the real hills...

It's pretty, sure, but visit by car, or at the very least, an unloaded bicycle!  We spent a crap-ton of time walking up mountains today.  It kinda sucked.  There were two amazing downhills, one of which I had to come to a complete stop in the middle of because the blustery wind threatened to take me down!  

We stopped about 6 miles in a the Humpback Rocks visitor center.  I'm sure the rocks were lovely, but there was no way I was doing any more hiking up the mountain to find out!  If you ever get the chance, have someone drive you and your bike to Ravens Roost Overlook, coast down the parkway for a mile or two for some of the best views and cycling you'll ever experience, then have that person pick your ass up at the bottom so you don't have to bike up any mountains!

Since we knew we were in for a doozie today, we scrapped our previous plans of a near 50 mile day, and made it a 16 mile day, staying in a cute little cabin in Love, VA.  The proprietors were very friendly, and their general store was an oasis for cyclists!  We got a chance to talk to a couple of other riders at the store biking the Blue Ridge Parkway from Charlottesville, VA to Ashville, NC in about 10 days.  One from Brooklyn, one from London.  They had cruised by us a bit earlier on much lighter bikes - we were very envious!

We survived to bike another day!  On this map photo, you can see the elevation gains we experienced - from Afton to about where my finger was on the map.  Mel will tell the story of that huge downhill to Vesuvius on the next installment!

Day 7 - June 10, 2013 - Charlottesville, VA to Afton, VA

Miles - about 23

Total miles - 239.9

Today started off in a bit of a drizzle, but what would a day of LOAA be without getting rained on?  We devised a plan before leaving today that we were going to skip Adventure Cycling's route through what I imagine were some beautiful and lightly traveled yet impossibly steep roads.  This move kept us on a busy quasi-highway, but I'm guessing it was graded a lot better than the country roads - plus we saved some miles!

We got out of Charlottesville around 8, and the first 18 or so miles went by pretty quickly.  Then we found ourselves at a decision point just before Afton - stay on 250, the heavily traveled road, which we could see went up into a pretty steep hill, or take the actual marked cycling route to Afton, which went down an innocent looking country road.  

We chose the cycling route - partially because the "Cookie Lady's" (June Curry, who had helped cyclists on the trail since the original Transam ride in 1976 and turned part of her house into a hostel for cyclists, but sadly passed away last year) house was on the marked route.  We had been looking forward to visiting that TransAm landmark forever.  About half a mile down the road, it turned steep, then steeper, then impossibly steep!  It was hard just to push the bikes up this thing, I have no clue how anyone cycles up!

We found a post office right next to the Cookie Lady's house, and shipped maybe 1.5 pounds of stuff home that we don't need.  Then checked out some of the notes and stories people have left over the years at June's house.  She touched so many lives - we both teared up a bit about not having the opportunity to meet her ourselves.

Oh, and the hill climbing wasn't over yet, we had to finish the hike back up to meet 250, then make it another couple miles on 250 biking/walking up hills.  We had decided to stay at the only hotel in the area, The Inn at Afton, which we knew was going to be a dump, and it really was.  Plus we had to make it up ANOTHER hill to get there.  Virginia, why does everything have to be at the top of a hill?  :)  On top of all that, none of the pizza places would deliver all the way up there on a Monday night!  Grr.  Instead, we had some backpacking food :)

I think the only other people at this place either lived there, or were Appalachian Trail hikers, it's right on the trail and probably brings in most of their meager business.

It did have a pretty amazing view from the parking lot though:

And here is Shep in the mountains

Day 6 - June 9, 2013 - Charlottesville, VA - Rest Day

After getting a late start, on our way back to the route to get going for the day, I realized it was just too late to tackle a hilly day, and that I really wasnt feeling up to riding since my sinus stuff is still hanging around.  So we took a break with slushies at Burger King, and pricelined a hotel for the evening.

We got there way before checkin time, but the hotel graciously allowed us to store our bikes in their meeting room while we explored Charlottesville.  We went looking for lunch, and after about an hour of wandering in circles, finally found "The Corner" at UVA.  The campus is beautiful, but hilly, as is everything in Virginia!

We grabbed lunch, took the free trolley around the city, then went back to the hotel and pretty much spent the entire rest of the day in bed.  Ugh, I hate being sick!

Didn't take any pictures, so this is a pretty boring post!

Day 5 - June 8, 2013 - Mineral, VA to Charlottesville, VA

Today's mileage - Estimated around 60

Total mileage -211

Time in saddle - 10h 45m

Total trip time - 12 hours

Wildlife spotted - chickens, dogs, turtles

Years from now, if you ask me what I remember about Virginia, I will answer with one word..."hills."

We got up pretty early to pack up our tent and belongings at the fire station in Mineral so we could get on the road early and avoid traffic, and hope to get into Charlottesville at a decent time. As we have been finding out for most of this trip already, it seems that the first 10 or 15 miles of our day seems to fly by very quickly. We did get rained on for quite a while early in the morning, but soon the sun came out, along with the humidity and we were glad to dry out a little throughout the day. 

It wasn't long until we encountered lots of hills. And the thing about the hills here in Virginia is that there is nothing like them in Indiana...no way we could have trained or prepared for this. In fact, I'm not sure there are bikes with gears that would get a person up the hills we have faced. Every time we sped down a hill, we found another wall of hill we had to climb. And...we take no shame in this...but we had to get off of our bikes more than once and walk up the hills, pushing our bikes. At one point, Erica said "This is what they should do on The Biggest Loser!" It was definitely one of those days where we were very aware of the fact that we were burning tons of calories and spending lots of energy. 

Despite my complaints about hills, Virginia is gorgeous. We passed by beautiful farms and fields...places where history has been made and it truly is wonderful. However, if you plan on visiting Virginia anytime soon, do it by car.

We stopped for lunch in the town of Palmyra and ate at the Two J's Smokehouse. Just as we walked in the door, we met a group of folks who eat there every Saturday and we talked about our trip to them. Another group was checking out our loaded down bikes parked in front of the restaurant, and we talked to them for a while, too. If you are ever in Palmyra, stop in and eat at this place...the food is amazing! We could go on and on about their hush puppies!

At this point, we were 20 miles from Charlottesville, so we thought it would be easy sailing into town. Ha-freaking-Ha. The last 20 miles were absolute torture. It was constant up and down hills and became a total mind game. We rolled past Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and a number of vineyards in the area. Wouldn't you know it...Charlottesville is up a hill, and the hotel we were trying to get to for the evening was up several more hills. 

We finally rolled in to the Hampton Inn after 12 hours of biking and have never been so happy to arrive anywhere. We owe a big, huge "Thank You" to the Hanley's for sponsoring a hotel room for us...after two nights of sleeping in a tent on a one inch air mattress on top of concrete, a bed never felt so good! 

Day 4 - June 7, 2013 - Rest Day, Mineral, VA

Since the forecast called for rain, all day, with the potential of thunderstorms, we decided to take a 0 day in Mineral.  The two guys that were also at the volunteer fire department actually packed up and left in the pouring rain!  Best of luck to Daniel from Berlin and Steven (I think I remember that correctly!) from Seattle!

We didn't do much - still up early because of various things - trains rolling by 40 feet from us, the uncomfortable nature of sleeping on concrete, and movemrnt outside.  We stopped by the gas station to grab coffee, and had leftover pizza for breakfast.  Exciting huh?  Oh and they sell this at the gas station :

We napped, read, and lazed around as much as possible.  I went and did some laundry at the nearby laundromat - it was nice to get out soaking wet clothes from the day before dry!

Did more of the same in the afternoon and evening, cooked some of our backpacking food for lunch, then ate at this greasy spoon (literally, everything had about a gallon of grease cooked in), which have me heartburn all night, thanks!

Turned in early, and that was about it.  Such an exciting day off!

Here's another funny for you:  

 Can you train urban essence?  I was tempted to sign up to find out!

Day 3 - June 6, 2013 - Mechanicsville, VA to Mineral, VA

Today's mileage - 59.1

Total mileage - 151

Time in saddle - 6h 54m

Total trip time - 8 hours

Wildlife spotted - Rabbit, fox

This one might be a bit short, we are exhausted and getting ready to be lulled to sleep by the sound of the rain in our tent!

We ended yesterday a bit short of our goal, so we went back and started there this morning.  My parents left to head back to our house after providing support for us for the first few days of the ride - thank you both again, we love you!  So we had to load up the bikes with all of our gear for the first time today.  We haven't weighed the officially, but they are probably somewhere north of 70lbs fully loaded!

The day started fairly uneventfully - traffic wasn't too bad after we got out of the city, and the first 10- 20 miles flew by.  Then we met the first hill we had to walk up!  There isn't much more defeating than flying down a fantastic downhill only to be faced with a wall of climb!  

I guarantee you, the photo doesn't do it justice.  We tackled a ton of hills today, and probably had to walk about 5 of them.  The long, gradual inclines are no problem at all - we shift into the easiest gears, and just spun away.  The short, steep ones are the killers...there isn't a gear that could possibly get those heavy bikes up those hills!  We cursed VA for its hills today, and the next few days will be even worse.  Can't wait!  Oh, and I had that miserable Train song "Meet Virginia" in my head all day...I really don't like Train ;)

We pedaled past Bumpass, VA, skipping the obligatory photo at the post office involving something ass-related - we were coming to a downhill, and there were too many people there, small town hangout i guess!  We pedaled by a lake, which was pretty.

 And then, to add insult to leg pain, it started raining about 8 miles from our destination.  Ugh.  It was chilly rain, and just yucky after we were exhausted anyway!  I won't lie - we walked most of the last mile into Mineral.

The volunteer fire department here lets cyclists camp on their property and provides a 24 hour bathroom - awesome!  We set up camp under their picnic shelter, grabbed a real NY style pizza (the guy has the dough even shipped in from NY!), then headed back to camp to catch some zzz's.  we are about 20 feet from the railroad tracks - hoping no train traffic in the middle of the night!

Thanks for checking in guys!  Talk to ya tomorrow!

 Oh and here's some comedy, read the last line in the picture below if you can, describing ice cream toppings ;)