Jeff Bikes: Day 10 - Lingering (again?!) in Lexington

Day 7, Charlottesville - White Hall
24 Miles

Got a late start this morning. Worked until 11 then rode the rest of the way into downtown Charlottesville to pick up a few items and then put some miles behind me. The traffic leaving town, on a Friday afternoon, on Memorial Day weekend was heavy, but a few miles from town the route took a turn on to the back roads and I left the traffic behind. From then on out the ride to White Hall was entirely pleasant and uneventful. The horizon was full of mountains all afternoon. I hope I'm up to climbing those mountains (we'll know soon enough). I arrived mid-afternoon, and trying to keep with my plan to take it easy, resisted the urge to go a few more miles.

My destination was the White Hall Community Building which is listed on the route map as a place where camping was allowed. When I rolled up the first thing I noticed was the beautiful view of pastures and the mountains behind. I parked the bike behind the community building then crossed the street to Wyant's market for provisions. I noticed they have a bike log sitting out on the counter. The man behind the counter said this was the work of the local historical society. I added an entry right below someone else who was headed for Oregon and had signed the day before.

Spent the rest of the afternoon reading and rehydrating in a shady spot beside the community building. As evening approached I broke out the camp stove for the first time on the trip and cooked broccoli and pasta while managing not to burn down the building or start a grass fire or otherwise injure myself or others. After cleaning up I set up the tent (I'll get my "outdoorsman" badge yet), read until it got dark, then called it a night.

Day 8, White Hall - Waynesboro
29 Miles
Woke up this morning with more dew clinging to the inside of my tent than to the outside (let's see, warm, xxl body inside the tent, cool air outside the tent). I packed up fairly quickly, stretched and headed off. In the wrong direction. I was headed for Crozet for breakfast. I ended up on a very nice road that paralleled a creek and was lined with very expensive looking homes and farms. Crozet was supposed to be maybe 3-4 miles down the road. The road I was on steadily rose and then got very steep just as the creek ended in a reservoir. I huffed and puffed my way up the road a ways before taking a breather and thinking to myself "Hey, I don't remember seeing a reservoir on the map".

I had 10 miles on the odometer when I crossed back in front of the White Hall Community Building.

Along the road to Crozet I crossed paths with a man cycling the other direction. He was cycling from San Diego, California to Maine! I was also overtaken all day long by cyclists who whizzed past me effortlessly. Well I may not be quick or in shape but I am persistent...well...so far anyway.

Finally made it to Crozet where I stopped for "brunch" at Subway and then pressed on to Afton, where I got my first "taste" of the mountains.

I only had to stop and push the bike three times.

Day 9, Waynesboro - Lexington
52 Miles

I crossed the Blue Ridge!

What a beautiful ride down the Skyline Drive. Traffic was light and the views were amazing. It was overcast and cool all day (thank goodness) with a few light showers which I didn't mind.

I gotta tell you, I was very nervous about this leg, having not really ridden in the mountains before and having run into so many...er...personal limitations so soon. My contingency plans to stop and camp half way across if necessary. But when I hit the half way point I was still feeling good. There were a lot of cyclists on this section of the Skyline Drive. I met a guy coming west to east whose wife was driving the truck with all his gear. When he got done with each day's ride they would load the bike in the back of the truck and drive to a hotel. Now THAT's the way to go!

It felt really good to know that I could make it over those mountains! I'm getting stronger every day (well, maybe every third day). On the other side was a very steep descent into Vesuvius during which I stopped a few times to cool off the brakes. The plan was to stop in Vesuvius and camp for the night, but I had a pressing "work thing" and decided to ride on to Lexington. The route from Vesuvius to Lexington runs along the South river and was just very pleasant.

Day 10
0 Miles
I've been working on the "work thing" all day and will probably be at it all day tomorrow as well. I hate being stationary again so soon, but the "up side" is that I'm getting a lot of work hours in early in the week and will spend the end of the week doing more riding.

I'm planning on making it to Marion on Saturday where I've been invited to spend the night at George and Marie's house (their brand new retirement home, on the farm!).