Summary of the past few days
Day 18/19
6/2-6/3
Slacking at Grandma's House
Day 20
6/4
Marion to Abingdon
20 Miles
Day 21
6/5
Abingdon to Rosedale
29 Miles
Day 22
6/6
Rosedale to Haysi
35 Miles
Day 23
6/7
Haysi to Elkhorn City
Still in progress, but it's going to be a short one.
What a great rest stop I had at George and Marie's house! They have a beautiful home on a peaceful and scenic mountaintop just outside of Marion where I was completely overwhelmed with hospitality and heaps of home cooking. I worked two full days, getting pretty much caught up on my "urgent 'to do' list", toured the farm and played endless games of fetch and tug-of-war with "granddog" Rylie.
Thanks VERY MUCH George and Marie! I had a great time and look forward to visiting again.
But all too soon it was over and time to hit the road. Fully provisioned with homemade strawberry preserves, biscuits (plain and with country ham) and oatmeal cookies, George and Marie packed me up in the van and drove me down to pick up the route in Damascus, VA.
Damascus has a real "outpost" feel to it, hosting a large outdoor supply store and bicycling shop where I finally found dog repellent (and was told I'd definitely need it). I also picked up a "care package" from Pattye. Then after waiting out a brief rain shower I headed off down the road for what was going to be a relatively short trip to Abingdon to spend the night before heading back into the mountains. On the way to Abingdon I found a small hair cut place and decided it was time to a buzz cut! I left a little lighter and much cooler!
Friday was back into the mountains. I passed under Interstate 81 for the last time (I've been paralleling it for half my ride through Virginia) then rode through Morningside. On Thursday I'd felt that the countryside was changing slightly and today I definitely felt that. Fewer fields and more livestock. The hillsides rose more abruptly on either side of the road. The roads seemed more twisting and the hills seem to be getting steeper. It was very overcast (I worked all the way until noon before leaving, waiting for the rain to stop) and cool and it drizzled a few times but didn't really rain.
And when I got into the mountains, it was very hard climbing, but just beautiful. Drop-dead beautiful. I was on a very steep, narrow, twisting two-lane road, with huge tall trees all around. This was very rugged terrain, lots of sharp rocks and steep hillsides. And all around the sounds of water running. Streams, water dripping off the rocks, running in little streams beside the road, cascading over the rocks. It was as if the entire top of the mountain was a huge over-saturated sponge that was just leaking from every possible point.
The sounds of the mountain forest would be interrupted every few minutes with a car passing by and then return. I felt so lucky to be experiencing all of this "immediately" -- not from inside a car driving by but truly being inside of it...being part of it. I was thinking as I was riding up and up and up that you really need music to describe this kind of experience...words are just way too klunky!
I rode into a heavy fog (a low cloud?!) approaching the summit and it was just unreal. The fog stayed with me the rest of the ride (out of the mountain and through more farm land to the four-lane highway) to Rosedale.
Spend the night at a rustic motel, the got up and rode to Haysi yesterday. A lot of climbing and descending again - I definitely feel like I'm out of the foothills and into the mountains! After a nice more-or-less "downhill" ride into Haysi, I went looking for the (very aptly named) Hilltop Motel. A mile and a half climb! Good training for the days ahead I guess!
Spent last night on the phone with Pattye trying to plan out the next couple of days. One very limiting factor for me is just finding lodging (campsites, hotels or otherwise) every 20-40 miles (which....argh....is where I seem to be in terms of day-to-day endurance right now, especially given all the mountains). I plan to stop tonight in Elkhorn City (another 5 miles down the road from where I am right now), but from there it's a long 55 miles to the next camping location, and another handful of miles to the next motel.
Now I'm very confident I can do 60 miles if I need to, but there are 5 big mountain peaks in that route, so at best it's going to be a very challenging day.
So the plan is to spend Monday working in Elkhorn City while the body rests up from the last two days and then try for Pippa Passes and/or Hindman on Tuesday. Now if I end up not making it all the way I'm prepared to start asking for permission to pitch the tent behind someone's gas station or call for a taxi (do they have taxi's out here?). Frustrating because it's another day I'm not making progress, but necessary (I'll get a good amount of necessary work hours in at the beginning of the week and I really need to give the body a day off before trying to ride double my daily mileage in a single day).
Then last night I went and broke my glasses. And of course I haven't ridden by a Lens Crafters at all today. I've got them all patched up with duct tape (dignified quantities of duct tape) and figure I can nurse them along for a few more days until I get to Berea.
So all this has served to ratchet up the general anxiety level somewhat, which makes everything just a little less pleasant to deal with. I'm getting a whole new level of appreciation for those who wrestle with anxiety on a daily basis!
Oh, before I forget let me just say that I've got oatmeal, raisins and bananas in the saddle bags, granola mixed with trail mix in the handlebar bag, and I'm sucking down water like crazy. Good carbs and protein, and not so many cheeseburgers!
Anyway I'd better go pay my bill and ride into Kentucky. Here are some pictures:
PS The closer I get to Kentucky the more slowly I have to speak for people to understand me.
Lots of cows on Thursday and Friday
Hardware store in Damascus
George, Marie and Granddog Rylie
Grandma's back yard
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