riding a bike.
The part of the previous post which got eaten by the computer somehow basically recalled how I got some advice on my route in Marquette, IA, half of which was great and half of which was pretty darn bad. The first part of that day was great with wonderful roads, even with a designated bike lane. The last part, especially the last few miles from New Vienna to Dyersville were horrendous. In Dyersville luck changed because I asked if the guy who ran the closed bike shop was still around. He was and he delivered a spare tube to me at my hotel. That is Lyle who then helped me out the next day.
So now we are caught up to Muscatine. Next destination Burlington. The ride from Muscatine to Burlington was very nice. The day turned very hot and the wind was in my face but I got to Burlington about 1:30. It was a 63 mile day and I felt I had done as much as I wanted to. My original plan was to keep riding another 20 or so miles to Jess and Doris Lionberger's place. They are a Warmshowers site. That is an online organization where people make themselves available to host touring cyclists if you notify them ahead of time. I called them after I had already checked into a motel. If I had called earlier they probably would have just driven in and picked me up. Oh well.
When I arrived in Burlington I was immediately impressed by the activity and the appearance of the city. It was a Sunday and there was some kind of graduation reception in the terminal building on the riverfront. They have a great Welcome center there. I got great information there. Went to lunch at Big Muddy's. Nice buffet brunch. I think it was my first "senior" meal. $10.99, all you can eat. Good to be old!?!? As I left the restaurant the bicycle police were riding to the riverfront top speed and sirens were all around. A 13 yo had fallen off a dock and drowned.
The ride to Burlington had several road kill turtles and several live ones. They must be moving to lay their eggs. Roads are not good for turtles and other living things. Again I have observed that birds really suffer. Lots of song birds. Bluebirds, cardinals, goldfinches, orioles. Even a hawk on the roadside.
From Burlington, on Monday, I rode to Jess and Doris' place to have a break for pie. Soon, after the pie I was eating breakfast and soon we were having lots of biking conversation and it was getting hot and hotter by the minute. 98% humidity. I decided it was too good a place to leave so soon so I stayed for the day and night. They are in the midst of projects around their farm house and worries about trying to get the rest of their planting done but welcomed me anyway. They are really wonderful supporters of cyclists and cycling, as well as cyclists themselves. After a day of relaxation, reading, napping we took off for Burlington to prepare packets for the bike races in Burlington this coming weekend. Turns out Jess and Doris are responsible for registration and this was the night to stuff envelopes with the numbers of preregistered entrants in the Burlington road race and the Snake Alley Criterium. It was fun to participate and help. I had a chance to ride past Snake Alley on my way to the motel yesterday. It is billed as the world's crookedest street. It is on a hill, a 12% grade, which is really steep. The Category 1/pro racers go up that thing 20 times in their race.
Today promised to be hot and humid again. I got an early start out of Lionberger's and made good progress. The temperatures were not as bad as yesterday and there was a slight headwind to help keep me cooler. The ride was along the river for quite a distance and was very pleasant. I made it to Warsaw at about 10:30 for eggs and biscuits and gravy and some great conversation with locals in the "bakery". I learned that the point out on the river where there is an obelisk commemorating Zachary Taylor, is the only point where you can see 3 different cities in 3 different states. Warsaw, IL, Keokuk, IA and Alexandria, MO. Can you figure out what is unique about these 3 cities?
On the way in to Quincy, IL, today's destination, I ran in to George Reed. He is a friend of Jess and Doris's who is really in to bike touring and was just returning home from several weeks on the road. I had talked to him last night and he had given me some vital road closed information in MO. If I had not stayed with Jess and Doris I would not have learned this and would have had an unpleasant surprise tomorrow. We thought we might end up at the same motel in Quincy tonight but he got to Q at noon and 'only' had another 60 miles to go to home so he is pushing on. He said he would get to Warsaw, about 30 miles from home and call his sister to come pick him up.
So there we are. So far so good. Tomorrow I will cross to MO at Louisiana (city in MO). There could be rain.
Later.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Stuff happens
NOTE: This post got truncated somehow. I will fix it later.
So, I had a quiet evening in Dyersville. Never made it to the Field of Dreams field and filming site.
Next morning I headed out using a route suggested by Lyle when he dilivered my tube. The route was fine but a few miles down the road the fun began. My tire bead came off the rim of the wheel, like it had when I hit the rock. This time I stopped and prevented a blowout but when I tried to put the tire back on it came off the rim again, before I even had the wheel on the bike again. So I had to use my spare tire and I would not have a spare. I had awoke with a sore thoat and began to wonder if I should just stay in Dyersville, get things squared around and rest. I called Lyle again to see if he could help. He said he could get a new tire and another tube to me but it would take an hour or more. So in the end it took over 2 1/2 hours from start to finishe to get back on the road but Lyle came through again. Then, as I started out, the wind had come up and it was blowing hard. I got on the road, fighting the strong cross wind. Ran into Road Closed signs, figured I could get around what ever it was. Wrong. Had to detour, back on 136 to get to Cascade. The wind was the worst I have ever ridden in which actually says a lot after North Dakota. I limped into Cascade and determined that I would need to find a place to stay in this motel-less community. They have a beautiful stone City Hall and I went in. Shelley was behind the desk. Deputy Clerk. I explained my plight and my hope to find a cyclist or someone in town who could put me up. Between the wind and the coming rain camping did not look inviting and I was not feeling particularly well. She found a terrific guy, Jerry Volk, and his wife Mary, who agreed to let me stay with them. It turned out great. I had a great stay with them, and their dog Chance.
Next day was soggy and I rode only about 30 miles to Lowden and stayed at the Lincoln Hotel, one of the last surviving original hotels on the Lincoln Highway, the country's first cross country highway. Weather cleard over night and I made it to Muscatine today. Now it will be strategy time as I am a day behind my schedule. Hopefully Jim, who I plan to meet in Cave in Rock, and I can connect and synchronize our plans.
Supposed to have heat and headwinds tomorrow so it could get more interesting yet.
So, I had a quiet evening in Dyersville. Never made it to the Field of Dreams field and filming site.
Next morning I headed out using a route suggested by Lyle when he dilivered my tube. The route was fine but a few miles down the road the fun began. My tire bead came off the rim of the wheel, like it had when I hit the rock. This time I stopped and prevented a blowout but when I tried to put the tire back on it came off the rim again, before I even had the wheel on the bike again. So I had to use my spare tire and I would not have a spare. I had awoke with a sore thoat and began to wonder if I should just stay in Dyersville, get things squared around and rest. I called Lyle again to see if he could help. He said he could get a new tire and another tube to me but it would take an hour or more. So in the end it took over 2 1/2 hours from start to finishe to get back on the road but Lyle came through again. Then, as I started out, the wind had come up and it was blowing hard. I got on the road, fighting the strong cross wind. Ran into Road Closed signs, figured I could get around what ever it was. Wrong. Had to detour, back on 136 to get to Cascade. The wind was the worst I have ever ridden in which actually says a lot after North Dakota. I limped into Cascade and determined that I would need to find a place to stay in this motel-less community. They have a beautiful stone City Hall and I went in. Shelley was behind the desk. Deputy Clerk. I explained my plight and my hope to find a cyclist or someone in town who could put me up. Between the wind and the coming rain camping did not look inviting and I was not feeling particularly well. She found a terrific guy, Jerry Volk, and his wife Mary, who agreed to let me stay with them. It turned out great. I had a great stay with them, and their dog Chance.
Next day was soggy and I rode only about 30 miles to Lowden and stayed at the Lincoln Hotel, one of the last surviving original hotels on the Lincoln Highway, the country's first cross country highway. Weather cleard over night and I made it to Muscatine today. Now it will be strategy time as I am a day behind my schedule. Hopefully Jim, who I plan to meet in Cave in Rock, and I can connect and synchronize our plans.
Supposed to have heat and headwinds tomorrow so it could get more interesting yet.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Not where I meant to be, but it's nice
Today was day 4 of this trip. I am in Prairie du Chien, WI. Thought I would end up in Monona, IA, about 15 miles west of here. Turns out there is no place to stay there (I thought there was) and there is no good place between here and there. Boring...
Day 1 was about 53 miles from home to Jan and Tom Buckman's place near Ellsworth, WI and just across the Mississippi from Red Wing. Had not seen them since the last funeral so it was nice to visit without that reason. They have a great spot which they have created with their own hands, in a beautiful location on a ravine, pretty isolated and quiet. It was very nice to catch up and we definitely need to get back to visit again. The ride over there was good except for the stretch of US 10 from Prescott to the turn at US 63. Difficult ride because of narrow shoulders and high traffic. And it was the first day out and at the end of it I was seriously considering leaving behind all my camping gear to lighten my load and just do motels. In the end I decided to hang with the plan and left after a great breakfast on Sunday morning with all of my gear.
Sunday was a long day to Winona. Stuck with my Adventure Cycling route map out of Red Wing, up a long climb which got the legs and lungs working again. After that I stayed on US 61 the rest of the way instead of taking the county roads on the ACA route. I saved a few miles and is actually not a bad road to ride. The traffic noise is the worst part but there is a wide shoulder and you stay right on the river so the scenery is really nice. Riding down the river, counting the riding yesterday and today, is as beautiful and scenic as any I have done. Every place has its beauty, but this ride is right in there.
For jaw dropping vistas and riding yesterday from Winona to New Albin, IA was really the bomb. I did take the county roads off of 61 and it was really worth it. Riding through Pickwick and other quaint villages in the hollows and ravines off the river reminded me why I really love doing this. The spiritual experience of silently moving through these places, at a human pace is difficult to put in words. It is the reason to keep getting out here. And there are so many places to go and to see. And I have never heard so many birds. You can not do that travelling any other way.
I did the route down east side of the river, Wisconsin and Illinois, when I rode across the US in 2005. This time I am on the west side. The route will be the same once I get to Dallas City, IL, where I cross over from Burlington, IA. Then I will cross again to Hannibal, MO. Down to Chester, IL and across Illinois to Cave In Rock where you cross the Ohio on a ferry and in to Kentucky.
Today I started in New Albin, IA where I asked if I could camp in the town park because the campground I had planned on was not really a campground. So I slept in the park under the street light and did just fine. Today was highlighted by several experiences. First were three major climbs in the morning. Worthy of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I was slow but steady and got over those. Then I had to ride on the worst road to date this trip, state road 76 in Iowa. I won't go into detail there. Just glad it is over. On 76 was the Effigy Mounds National Monument. Stopped there and ate a 400 calorie bar, found out my intended destination was not going to work, and saw some of the mounds and some spectacular bluff views. The mounds are burial mounds of the Hopewell native people, constructed about 1000 BC. Some are in the shape of animals, usually bears. They are quiet amazing.
Then, after the mounds, it was back on 76 for the last three miles into Marquette, IA. The road runs right along the sheer limstone cliffs and chunks of rock litter the road. I hit a chunk. It sounded bad and less than half a mile later I learned it was bad when my rear tube blew. I thought the rock had torn the tire but I inspected it over and over and it was fine so I guess the rock and knocked the bead of the tire off the rim and the tube had bulged out until it finally blew. There was little to no room to even pull off the road but I figured it out and got the tube changed. Can not have any more of these since I do not have another tube. No more flats!
That is the story so far. The weather has been perfect. Too much sun actually. Wind so far has been favorable.
Tomorrow it is Dyersville, IA hopefully. Then I will be on schedule. If not I will have some catching up to do to meet Jim on June 2 at Cave In Rock, IL.
Cheers.
Day 1 was about 53 miles from home to Jan and Tom Buckman's place near Ellsworth, WI and just across the Mississippi from Red Wing. Had not seen them since the last funeral so it was nice to visit without that reason. They have a great spot which they have created with their own hands, in a beautiful location on a ravine, pretty isolated and quiet. It was very nice to catch up and we definitely need to get back to visit again. The ride over there was good except for the stretch of US 10 from Prescott to the turn at US 63. Difficult ride because of narrow shoulders and high traffic. And it was the first day out and at the end of it I was seriously considering leaving behind all my camping gear to lighten my load and just do motels. In the end I decided to hang with the plan and left after a great breakfast on Sunday morning with all of my gear.
Sunday was a long day to Winona. Stuck with my Adventure Cycling route map out of Red Wing, up a long climb which got the legs and lungs working again. After that I stayed on US 61 the rest of the way instead of taking the county roads on the ACA route. I saved a few miles and is actually not a bad road to ride. The traffic noise is the worst part but there is a wide shoulder and you stay right on the river so the scenery is really nice. Riding down the river, counting the riding yesterday and today, is as beautiful and scenic as any I have done. Every place has its beauty, but this ride is right in there.
For jaw dropping vistas and riding yesterday from Winona to New Albin, IA was really the bomb. I did take the county roads off of 61 and it was really worth it. Riding through Pickwick and other quaint villages in the hollows and ravines off the river reminded me why I really love doing this. The spiritual experience of silently moving through these places, at a human pace is difficult to put in words. It is the reason to keep getting out here. And there are so many places to go and to see. And I have never heard so many birds. You can not do that travelling any other way.
I did the route down east side of the river, Wisconsin and Illinois, when I rode across the US in 2005. This time I am on the west side. The route will be the same once I get to Dallas City, IL, where I cross over from Burlington, IA. Then I will cross again to Hannibal, MO. Down to Chester, IL and across Illinois to Cave In Rock where you cross the Ohio on a ferry and in to Kentucky.
Today I started in New Albin, IA where I asked if I could camp in the town park because the campground I had planned on was not really a campground. So I slept in the park under the street light and did just fine. Today was highlighted by several experiences. First were three major climbs in the morning. Worthy of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I was slow but steady and got over those. Then I had to ride on the worst road to date this trip, state road 76 in Iowa. I won't go into detail there. Just glad it is over. On 76 was the Effigy Mounds National Monument. Stopped there and ate a 400 calorie bar, found out my intended destination was not going to work, and saw some of the mounds and some spectacular bluff views. The mounds are burial mounds of the Hopewell native people, constructed about 1000 BC. Some are in the shape of animals, usually bears. They are quiet amazing.
Then, after the mounds, it was back on 76 for the last three miles into Marquette, IA. The road runs right along the sheer limstone cliffs and chunks of rock litter the road. I hit a chunk. It sounded bad and less than half a mile later I learned it was bad when my rear tube blew. I thought the rock had torn the tire but I inspected it over and over and it was fine so I guess the rock and knocked the bead of the tire off the rim and the tube had bulged out until it finally blew. There was little to no room to even pull off the road but I figured it out and got the tube changed. Can not have any more of these since I do not have another tube. No more flats!
That is the story so far. The weather has been perfect. Too much sun actually. Wind so far has been favorable.
Tomorrow it is Dyersville, IA hopefully. Then I will be on schedule. If not I will have some catching up to do to meet Jim on June 2 at Cave In Rock, IL.
Cheers.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Epilogue
Almost 2 years isn't too long is it?
So, since last entry I have had 3 surgical procedures. The first in August 2008, I will not describe it, but suffice it to say that my trips to the men's room are shorter these days. The second two are something else again. I missed a step out of the back door of our house and BOOM! something was terribly wrong. Turned out I totally ripped my left quadriceps tendon. (Google it) This is not good. Especially if you want to ride a bike. Surgery repaired things and all was well until---BOOM!--- it happened again. Same injury. Surgery again. So for the last year and one-half I have been working on recovering from these potential tragedies. My goal has been to make them only big bumps in the road and not road blocks to long distance bicycle touring.
This past winter I spent two sessions a week on the bike trainer with my "coach" Larry Foss and his right hand woman Sophie working on getting my leg back to bike-tour-capable. So far things feel good and everything is heading in the right direction.
But I digress. I wanted to add some comments regarding the Skyline/Blue Ridge Parkway ride. Well it taught me several lessons. One, I am not nearly as strong a rider as I thought I was. My riding partners consistently were out there ahead of me on the road. No matter. We each have our strengths and limits. I am happy to be able to ride. I learned that we all have our own ideas of what makes a great trip. Riding with others brings this into clear focus. My idea of a good trip is to set some goals and some expectations and be willing to totally ignore them. Like, your behind schedule? Get a car and drive from Minot to Fargo. Do not worry about it. It is all part of the experience. Plan a trip St. Paul to Virginia, MN and find after the first day you are not up to it. No worries. Turn around and find your way home. That is what happened when I tested my leg last summer hoping to make it up to my Uncle Herb and Aunt Jean's in Virginia. It did not happen but I will make it there one day soon. On the other hand, there are those like Denny, with whom I rode on the BRP, who must press on day after day. I can not do a trip like that. I do not want to rush through it. I would like to stop in every interesting location if I could. But at least stop from time to time and relax.
So now, what's the next great thing? Another trip down the Mississippi and, at the appropriate spot, turn left and head to Kentucky. I followed this route in 2005 when I rode across the country. That time I rode down the east side of the river, crossing at Hannibal, MO. This time I will stay on the Minnesota and Iowa side, cross briefly to IL and then again in to Hannibal and down past St. Louis to the left-turn-point to go back over to the southern tip of Illinois, across the Ohio River at Cave In Rock. There I will meet Jim Smith, my Blue Ridge Parkway riding partner (with Denny). Then we will ride across KY to Berea and a few miles further to Jack and Linda's new house on a ridge. That is the plan and I am sticking to it.
This weekend is the first "fully loaded" ride to test out the leg for this year. I will go only about 20 miles to Afton State Park. I'll camp and then head back on Sunday. A longer "test" trip is planned later this month. Our weather has been so unreal this spring with no snow and temperatures in the 50s to 70s I hope it holds because it really makes it easy to prepare.
I am so looking forward to getting back on the road on a bike. The injury has given me a real opportunity to reflect on the fragility of our physical state and to be so thankful for the ability to dream and to realize the dream.
Later.
Almost 2 years isn't too long is it?
So, since last entry I have had 3 surgical procedures. The first in August 2008, I will not describe it, but suffice it to say that my trips to the men's room are shorter these days. The second two are something else again. I missed a step out of the back door of our house and BOOM! something was terribly wrong. Turned out I totally ripped my left quadriceps tendon. (Google it) This is not good. Especially if you want to ride a bike. Surgery repaired things and all was well until---BOOM!--- it happened again. Same injury. Surgery again. So for the last year and one-half I have been working on recovering from these potential tragedies. My goal has been to make them only big bumps in the road and not road blocks to long distance bicycle touring.
This past winter I spent two sessions a week on the bike trainer with my "coach" Larry Foss and his right hand woman Sophie working on getting my leg back to bike-tour-capable. So far things feel good and everything is heading in the right direction.
But I digress. I wanted to add some comments regarding the Skyline/Blue Ridge Parkway ride. Well it taught me several lessons. One, I am not nearly as strong a rider as I thought I was. My riding partners consistently were out there ahead of me on the road. No matter. We each have our strengths and limits. I am happy to be able to ride. I learned that we all have our own ideas of what makes a great trip. Riding with others brings this into clear focus. My idea of a good trip is to set some goals and some expectations and be willing to totally ignore them. Like, your behind schedule? Get a car and drive from Minot to Fargo. Do not worry about it. It is all part of the experience. Plan a trip St. Paul to Virginia, MN and find after the first day you are not up to it. No worries. Turn around and find your way home. That is what happened when I tested my leg last summer hoping to make it up to my Uncle Herb and Aunt Jean's in Virginia. It did not happen but I will make it there one day soon. On the other hand, there are those like Denny, with whom I rode on the BRP, who must press on day after day. I can not do a trip like that. I do not want to rush through it. I would like to stop in every interesting location if I could. But at least stop from time to time and relax.
So now, what's the next great thing? Another trip down the Mississippi and, at the appropriate spot, turn left and head to Kentucky. I followed this route in 2005 when I rode across the country. That time I rode down the east side of the river, crossing at Hannibal, MO. This time I will stay on the Minnesota and Iowa side, cross briefly to IL and then again in to Hannibal and down past St. Louis to the left-turn-point to go back over to the southern tip of Illinois, across the Ohio River at Cave In Rock. There I will meet Jim Smith, my Blue Ridge Parkway riding partner (with Denny). Then we will ride across KY to Berea and a few miles further to Jack and Linda's new house on a ridge. That is the plan and I am sticking to it.
This weekend is the first "fully loaded" ride to test out the leg for this year. I will go only about 20 miles to Afton State Park. I'll camp and then head back on Sunday. A longer "test" trip is planned later this month. Our weather has been so unreal this spring with no snow and temperatures in the 50s to 70s I hope it holds because it really makes it easy to prepare.
I am so looking forward to getting back on the road on a bike. The injury has given me a real opportunity to reflect on the fragility of our physical state and to be so thankful for the ability to dream and to realize the dream.
Later.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Milepost 469
I am home. That is the bottom line. But the title of this entry is the end of the trip, which actually occurred on Monday, June 9 at about 5:30 pm.
Between Asheville, NC and MP 469 was the most intense riding of the trip and some of the most spectacular scenery. Jim and I got a good night's rest at the Best Western Biltmore East in Oteen, NC outside of Asheville. The thunderstorms had rolled through as we arrived but did not leave behind nice dry air as sometimes will happen and the morning was heavy with fog as we rolled out after our continental breakfast. It was like pea soup and we had all of our blinky lights on. We had a 2 mile ride over a couple of hills to get back to the parkway. My legs felt dead and I was not looking forward to the climbs ahead.
As we got on the parkway the fog persisted until we got out of the river valleys of Asheville. At one point, in the fog, on a curve, across two solid yellow lines oncoming comes a car passing another and headed right for us. Some people are just made stupid and I think that one must have been in that category. The car whizzed by us as we scanned the roadside for a spot to bail out. Luckily he left us enough room but that was not a way I wanted to start a Sunday.
We rode along and the ride for the first 10 miles or so was just great. My legs started to loosen up and feel much better. We were riding through the Biltmore Forest and the roads were rolling to flat, there was little traffic and there were many other groups of cyclists out for the Sunday ride. There was one group of women who were riding with their Carmichael Training Systems coach. They passed us on the flat section and then were gathered across the French Broad River where the climb to Mt. Pisgah began. We slogged on by at our blazing 5-6 mph as the climb began and they shouted encouragement. Soon they were passing us again and exclaiming at their amazement seeing us climb with all that gear on our bikes. Jim had a conversation with some of them and with Tracy the coach at an overlook a few miles up and then they turned around, their climbing for the day done. We had a way to go yet.
There were several miles of climbing before the last 3 miles or so which were the steepest and were the ones we were told will "kick your butt". Oh ya! But we did it. We got to Pisgah, asked the attendant at the campstore where the campground was and the response, I kid you not, was "I don't know, I have never been there." The Park Service apparently does not hire concessionaires based on motivation or knowledge. Not only that but their signage sucks. Have I mentioned that before?
We had planned the day to Pisgah to be a short one and it was. We were there shortly after noon and found the campground and a real nice campsite, made some lunch (mac and cheese) in camp, cleaned up a little and chilled out for some time. Then we headed up to the lodge, gift shop and restaurant. Jim plugged in his laptop and did his journal in the lobby of the lodge. I looked around the gift shop and then went in to the restaurant at 5 when they opened for dinner. The food facilities along the parkway vary greatly. The map and brochure from the Park Service has a handy table that has a category "Food". The problem is that in some cases that means a tiny snack bar which has BBQ pork, hotdogs, chili and soup and closes at 5 pm and in other cases, as at Mt. Pisgah, a full service restaurant with a wine list, local microbrews, waiters in black aprons, a chef , entrees that run to $25 and open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So now we know. I wish they would add "drinking water" to that table. More on that later.
Dinner was great with some corn fritter appetizers and a big bowl of pasta with chicken. Could not even finish it. Then it was off to bed, rest up for the last day, a ride of just over 60 miles with some very major looking climbs.
Everyone had talked most about the climb to Mt. Pisgah in North Carolina or the climb up from the James River in Virginia as the big, long, difficult climbs. No one really said anything about the last 60 miles. Wow, is there a lot of climbing in the last 60 miles! Miles and miles of climbing. Eight miles in one long steady chunk of 2450 ft of up. That comes after climbing to the highest point of the parkway, 6047 ft and milepost 431.4. Then you go down and long way so you can come up again. While there is a lot of climbing, guess what there is precious little of? WATER!! There is a visitor center at MP 450 called Waterrock. Every other visitor center on the parkway has running water. Most have Coke machines. Guess what Waterrock visitor center does not have. (Hint: they do have rocks) They did, luckily, at least have bottled water for sale for a mere $2 for a 16oz bottle. I was steamed. There is a 3 mile climb to the turn to the center, then you need to climb another 1/2 mile just to get there and then there is no running water!! The park ranger called it "ironic". I called it something else.
We were tired and hungry at Waterrock. We drank our designer water, ate some snacks and knew that we had only 19 miles and one 800 ft climb to go. We were now going to spend most of our time screaming downhill from around 5900 ft to 2020 ft at the Oconaluftee River where the Blue Ridge Parkway ends.
The last day gave us our only real on-the-road mechanical problem: a broken spoke on my rear wheel. I have no idea why it happened but it is one of those things that can happen when a wheel is under so much stress with weight and climbing. I heard the tell-tale tinkling sound as the wheel turned. I found the culprit. Problem was, Jim was quite a way up the road. Luckily a motorcyclist saw that I was walking my bike and looking at my rear wheel. He stopped and asked Jim if he was riding with me and that I may have a problem. Jim came back and we got the spoke replaced and the wheel trued, thanks to Jim's good mechanical skills. And we were back on the road.
The other feature of the last day in particular was a series of tunnels. There were several going to Pisgah and there were many in the last 60 miles. They all had names. They each had a yellow sign which said "Tunnel" and under that was a little yellow sign with a picture of a bicycle on it. We have no idea what the bicycle sign is supposed to indicate. Of note, these were the only signs indicating the presence of bicycles on the parkway. There were no "Share the Road" signs or any other acknowledgement that bicycles use the parkway. While riding on the parkway was great and some of the best riding conditions over such an extended distance I have ever seen, it would be nice to have some reminders for those with big motors propelling them along the road.
The last five miles of the parkway, going south, are a great fun downhill with curvey roads, tunnels and the knowledge that soon you will be able to say you rode the length of this road with all of its 48,000+ ft of climbing, and descending. As we rolled down to the end Denny was standing on the bridge over the Oconaluftee snapping pictures. We shook hands, hugged and congratulated each other. Then we got the bikes in the van as fast as we could and Jim and I jumped in the river. It was an area of rapids and we sat in the cool water and let it massage our tired legs. It felt great. Soon we were in the van and beginning our return to Connecticut. We were in CT the next evening about 8 pm after an uneventful road trip. The contrast between riding a bike everyday and then sitting in a car for 15 hours was measured by the stiffness of our leg muscles.
This was an amazing and challenging bike trip, 1505 miles of riding through CT, NY, NJ and in to PA and Amish country, and on to the trip to Front Royal to start the Skyline Drive and then the Blue Ridge Parkway. More final thoughts in an epilogue to come later.
Between Asheville, NC and MP 469 was the most intense riding of the trip and some of the most spectacular scenery. Jim and I got a good night's rest at the Best Western Biltmore East in Oteen, NC outside of Asheville. The thunderstorms had rolled through as we arrived but did not leave behind nice dry air as sometimes will happen and the morning was heavy with fog as we rolled out after our continental breakfast. It was like pea soup and we had all of our blinky lights on. We had a 2 mile ride over a couple of hills to get back to the parkway. My legs felt dead and I was not looking forward to the climbs ahead.
As we got on the parkway the fog persisted until we got out of the river valleys of Asheville. At one point, in the fog, on a curve, across two solid yellow lines oncoming comes a car passing another and headed right for us. Some people are just made stupid and I think that one must have been in that category. The car whizzed by us as we scanned the roadside for a spot to bail out. Luckily he left us enough room but that was not a way I wanted to start a Sunday.
We rode along and the ride for the first 10 miles or so was just great. My legs started to loosen up and feel much better. We were riding through the Biltmore Forest and the roads were rolling to flat, there was little traffic and there were many other groups of cyclists out for the Sunday ride. There was one group of women who were riding with their Carmichael Training Systems coach. They passed us on the flat section and then were gathered across the French Broad River where the climb to Mt. Pisgah began. We slogged on by at our blazing 5-6 mph as the climb began and they shouted encouragement. Soon they were passing us again and exclaiming at their amazement seeing us climb with all that gear on our bikes. Jim had a conversation with some of them and with Tracy the coach at an overlook a few miles up and then they turned around, their climbing for the day done. We had a way to go yet.
There were several miles of climbing before the last 3 miles or so which were the steepest and were the ones we were told will "kick your butt". Oh ya! But we did it. We got to Pisgah, asked the attendant at the campstore where the campground was and the response, I kid you not, was "I don't know, I have never been there." The Park Service apparently does not hire concessionaires based on motivation or knowledge. Not only that but their signage sucks. Have I mentioned that before?
We had planned the day to Pisgah to be a short one and it was. We were there shortly after noon and found the campground and a real nice campsite, made some lunch (mac and cheese) in camp, cleaned up a little and chilled out for some time. Then we headed up to the lodge, gift shop and restaurant. Jim plugged in his laptop and did his journal in the lobby of the lodge. I looked around the gift shop and then went in to the restaurant at 5 when they opened for dinner. The food facilities along the parkway vary greatly. The map and brochure from the Park Service has a handy table that has a category "Food". The problem is that in some cases that means a tiny snack bar which has BBQ pork, hotdogs, chili and soup and closes at 5 pm and in other cases, as at Mt. Pisgah, a full service restaurant with a wine list, local microbrews, waiters in black aprons, a chef , entrees that run to $25 and open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So now we know. I wish they would add "drinking water" to that table. More on that later.
Dinner was great with some corn fritter appetizers and a big bowl of pasta with chicken. Could not even finish it. Then it was off to bed, rest up for the last day, a ride of just over 60 miles with some very major looking climbs.
Everyone had talked most about the climb to Mt. Pisgah in North Carolina or the climb up from the James River in Virginia as the big, long, difficult climbs. No one really said anything about the last 60 miles. Wow, is there a lot of climbing in the last 60 miles! Miles and miles of climbing. Eight miles in one long steady chunk of 2450 ft of up. That comes after climbing to the highest point of the parkway, 6047 ft and milepost 431.4. Then you go down and long way so you can come up again. While there is a lot of climbing, guess what there is precious little of? WATER!! There is a visitor center at MP 450 called Waterrock. Every other visitor center on the parkway has running water. Most have Coke machines. Guess what Waterrock visitor center does not have. (Hint: they do have rocks) They did, luckily, at least have bottled water for sale for a mere $2 for a 16oz bottle. I was steamed. There is a 3 mile climb to the turn to the center, then you need to climb another 1/2 mile just to get there and then there is no running water!! The park ranger called it "ironic". I called it something else.
We were tired and hungry at Waterrock. We drank our designer water, ate some snacks and knew that we had only 19 miles and one 800 ft climb to go. We were now going to spend most of our time screaming downhill from around 5900 ft to 2020 ft at the Oconaluftee River where the Blue Ridge Parkway ends.
The last day gave us our only real on-the-road mechanical problem: a broken spoke on my rear wheel. I have no idea why it happened but it is one of those things that can happen when a wheel is under so much stress with weight and climbing. I heard the tell-tale tinkling sound as the wheel turned. I found the culprit. Problem was, Jim was quite a way up the road. Luckily a motorcyclist saw that I was walking my bike and looking at my rear wheel. He stopped and asked Jim if he was riding with me and that I may have a problem. Jim came back and we got the spoke replaced and the wheel trued, thanks to Jim's good mechanical skills. And we were back on the road.
The other feature of the last day in particular was a series of tunnels. There were several going to Pisgah and there were many in the last 60 miles. They all had names. They each had a yellow sign which said "Tunnel" and under that was a little yellow sign with a picture of a bicycle on it. We have no idea what the bicycle sign is supposed to indicate. Of note, these were the only signs indicating the presence of bicycles on the parkway. There were no "Share the Road" signs or any other acknowledgement that bicycles use the parkway. While riding on the parkway was great and some of the best riding conditions over such an extended distance I have ever seen, it would be nice to have some reminders for those with big motors propelling them along the road.
The last five miles of the parkway, going south, are a great fun downhill with curvey roads, tunnels and the knowledge that soon you will be able to say you rode the length of this road with all of its 48,000+ ft of climbing, and descending. As we rolled down to the end Denny was standing on the bridge over the Oconaluftee snapping pictures. We shook hands, hugged and congratulated each other. Then we got the bikes in the van as fast as we could and Jim and I jumped in the river. It was an area of rapids and we sat in the cool water and let it massage our tired legs. It felt great. Soon we were in the van and beginning our return to Connecticut. We were in CT the next evening about 8 pm after an uneventful road trip. The contrast between riding a bike everyday and then sitting in a car for 15 hours was measured by the stiffness of our leg muscles.
This was an amazing and challenging bike trip, 1505 miles of riding through CT, NY, NJ and in to PA and Amish country, and on to the trip to Front Royal to start the Skyline Drive and then the Blue Ridge Parkway. More final thoughts in an epilogue to come later.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Steamy Asheville
There are big mountains in North Carolina. It is true. Today we climbed up a few of them. This trip continues to exceed all expectations in terms of challenges and thrills. The surroundings are, as I have said and will repeat, spectacular. Since our rest day two days ago we have climbed over 14,000 ft. and descended something in that same vicinity. So, the climbing definitely is the focus and the descending definitely goes by quickly. Meanwhile, as we are climbing, betweeen breathing and focusing on keeping the cranks turning in circles, there are the birds and the flowers and even the constant hum of cicadas in some places. And there are the mountains and trees. It is just really awe inspiring visually. And attention-getting physically.
As I climb I try not to focus on how long it is taking to go up but how much progress each pedal stroke is making. When you are in a 26/32 gear that is not so much, but it is something. The long climbs are usually 2-5 miles in length and the grades, while I have no precise measure, are usually in the 4-7% range. When you look at the road you do not think it is steep, but when you are doing it for 30-60-90-120 minutes at a time, it seems steep. I guess it must be the 50-60 lbs of gear we are hauling up the mountain.
We do have a chart which gives the milepost location and the length of each "major" climb. This gives us an opportunity to anticipate a bit what is ahead and to assess the difficulty of a particular climb. The climbing in North Carolina the last two days has definitely been more difficult in terms of extended steeper climbs and the mountains are definitely bigger than they were in Virginia.
The day after our rest day we had a great day of riding with about 6000 ft of climbing but not too long a day of 60 miles. We stopped several times and had some really sweet interactions with some store-keepers and one not so sweet. The later one was a lady at a campground who told us not to leave our bikes near the store entrance and was quite impolite, so we left. Just down the road we had a great stop at the Northwest Trading Post, with nice folks in the store and a comfortable picnic table for our mid-morning snack. Down the road we stopped at a store which had Carhartt to smoked chicken and prime rib sandwiches and everything in between. And they had the nicest people you would ever hope to meet while on the road on a bicycle. It gives one hope.
We camped in NPS/BRP campgrounds last night and the night before: Crabtree Meadows and Julian Price CGs. These campgrounds, indeed none on the parkway, have showers. This is not really roughing it but it smells the same. Other than no showers, the campgrounds are very nice.
Today was an interesting day. There have been three areas of detours and/or repair of the parkway. The first two detours were not difficult, except for one stretch of busy highway, but today's was said to have been the worst because the detour was very bike unfriendly. We had, however, heard of some new options for cyclists which avoided the detour and only involved walking your bike about half an hour, or half a mile, not sure which, along a path from the visitor center to the picnic area at Craggy Gardens. (Should have gotten a hint from the name) We got the details on the new route yesterday at a visitor center along the parkway. So, we spent the morning climbing over 4,000 feet, ran out of water and arrived at the designated area. We passed Mount Mitchell (did not climb) which is the highest point east of the Mississippi. We got to Craggy Gardens visitor center, locked up tight, water turned off. We immediately noted that the local bikers just continued riding down the road, past the area of retaining wall collapse causing the detour. We, being dedicated law abiding citizens, followed directions and set out on a trail that would make an Appalachian Trail through-hiker proud. We had to lift our bikes over rocks and clamber over roots and shelves of stone, uphill, pushing 70 pounds of ungainly bicycle. It is such an elegant machine but this did not give it opportunity to display it's virtues. Or me. I must confess to some cuss words during the up and down hill trek of, it seemed, forever. When we got to the picnic area we did find water and shade, but of course, there was no mention of that when we started.
(Note to Department of Interior: Your communication and signage stinks. Just thought, as a tax payer, you should know that. Maybe you can put someone on that.)
Well, we got by that. Flew downhill for an hour to Asheville, stopped at the Folk Arts Center but really only to call to get a motel (sorry Jack and Linda). Well, we did find a BBQ pork sandwich to eat too. We got to our motel just as the horizontal rain began. It is unusually hot here this week and a huge thunderstorm kicked up. It was cool at 5200 feet but now we are at 2000 and the temperature was in the 90's.
Tomorrrow we will be facing the steepest climbing of the trip out of Asheville up to Mount Pisgah. We have set it up so it will be a short day. Then on Monday it will be a 2450 ft climb in 8 miles and then a 810 ft climb in 3 miles and then it is all down hill and we will be done. We finish in Cherokee, NC. There, I understand, the Cherokee are the only Native Americans to continue to live on their actual ancestral lands.
Hard to believe we are two days away from finishing. Hope the weather holds. Say a prayer.
P.S. For Ben Popp: Asheville rocks!
As I climb I try not to focus on how long it is taking to go up but how much progress each pedal stroke is making. When you are in a 26/32 gear that is not so much, but it is something. The long climbs are usually 2-5 miles in length and the grades, while I have no precise measure, are usually in the 4-7% range. When you look at the road you do not think it is steep, but when you are doing it for 30-60-90-120 minutes at a time, it seems steep. I guess it must be the 50-60 lbs of gear we are hauling up the mountain.
We do have a chart which gives the milepost location and the length of each "major" climb. This gives us an opportunity to anticipate a bit what is ahead and to assess the difficulty of a particular climb. The climbing in North Carolina the last two days has definitely been more difficult in terms of extended steeper climbs and the mountains are definitely bigger than they were in Virginia.
The day after our rest day we had a great day of riding with about 6000 ft of climbing but not too long a day of 60 miles. We stopped several times and had some really sweet interactions with some store-keepers and one not so sweet. The later one was a lady at a campground who told us not to leave our bikes near the store entrance and was quite impolite, so we left. Just down the road we had a great stop at the Northwest Trading Post, with nice folks in the store and a comfortable picnic table for our mid-morning snack. Down the road we stopped at a store which had Carhartt to smoked chicken and prime rib sandwiches and everything in between. And they had the nicest people you would ever hope to meet while on the road on a bicycle. It gives one hope.
We camped in NPS/BRP campgrounds last night and the night before: Crabtree Meadows and Julian Price CGs. These campgrounds, indeed none on the parkway, have showers. This is not really roughing it but it smells the same. Other than no showers, the campgrounds are very nice.
Today was an interesting day. There have been three areas of detours and/or repair of the parkway. The first two detours were not difficult, except for one stretch of busy highway, but today's was said to have been the worst because the detour was very bike unfriendly. We had, however, heard of some new options for cyclists which avoided the detour and only involved walking your bike about half an hour, or half a mile, not sure which, along a path from the visitor center to the picnic area at Craggy Gardens. (Should have gotten a hint from the name) We got the details on the new route yesterday at a visitor center along the parkway. So, we spent the morning climbing over 4,000 feet, ran out of water and arrived at the designated area. We passed Mount Mitchell (did not climb) which is the highest point east of the Mississippi. We got to Craggy Gardens visitor center, locked up tight, water turned off. We immediately noted that the local bikers just continued riding down the road, past the area of retaining wall collapse causing the detour. We, being dedicated law abiding citizens, followed directions and set out on a trail that would make an Appalachian Trail through-hiker proud. We had to lift our bikes over rocks and clamber over roots and shelves of stone, uphill, pushing 70 pounds of ungainly bicycle. It is such an elegant machine but this did not give it opportunity to display it's virtues. Or me. I must confess to some cuss words during the up and down hill trek of, it seemed, forever. When we got to the picnic area we did find water and shade, but of course, there was no mention of that when we started.
(Note to Department of Interior: Your communication and signage stinks. Just thought, as a tax payer, you should know that. Maybe you can put someone on that.)
Well, we got by that. Flew downhill for an hour to Asheville, stopped at the Folk Arts Center but really only to call to get a motel (sorry Jack and Linda). Well, we did find a BBQ pork sandwich to eat too. We got to our motel just as the horizontal rain began. It is unusually hot here this week and a huge thunderstorm kicked up. It was cool at 5200 feet but now we are at 2000 and the temperature was in the 90's.
Tomorrrow we will be facing the steepest climbing of the trip out of Asheville up to Mount Pisgah. We have set it up so it will be a short day. Then on Monday it will be a 2450 ft climb in 8 miles and then a 810 ft climb in 3 miles and then it is all down hill and we will be done. We finish in Cherokee, NC. There, I understand, the Cherokee are the only Native Americans to continue to live on their actual ancestral lands.
Hard to believe we are two days away from finishing. Hope the weather holds. Say a prayer.
P.S. For Ben Popp: Asheville rocks!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
We are at 3729 ft.--- again
We last checked in about 345 miles and many, many hills ago. Today was a momentous day in that Jim and I decided that after 9 days of riding, the last 6 on the hills of Skyline Drive(SLD) and the Blue Ridge Parkway(BRP), we needed a rest day. Denny, on the other hand is like the Energizer bunny (he may not appreciate the analogy) and did not want to stop. So we discussed it and he went on and we stayed for our rest.
But, we are way ahead of ourselves. Let me say that the riding on these roads through the Shenandoah National Park (SLD) and on the Blue Ridge is sensational. We have had some of the best days of riding any of the three of us have ever experienced in terms of riding conditions, weather and surrroundings, not to mention riding partners. There are many, many, actually endless, ups and downs. It is like the world's longest, not to mention slowest, roller coaster. The mornings are often like riding on a bike path as the traffic levels are very low. Most of the traffic is motorcycles. The speed limit is 45 so most traffic is not moving too fast.
It all began as we left Front Royal, VA at the start of the SLD. We got on to the road early, after a big breakfast and began the climb up to the ridge. The first climb was about 10 miles. The grade on this climb and actually almost all of them so far, are quite reasonable. On the long climbs usually about 5-6% I think. We also had some great downhills, the nicest one being into the Elkwallow Wayside where we had lunch and visited with some nice folks, Appalachian Trail hikers and dayhikers mostly. One was a piano tuner from Annapolis who gave us his card so he could write off the gas money. He did discuss some issues with Jim and Jim talked some accounting with him. On we went through the beautiful forested road with many overlooks out on to the beautiful Shenandoah Valley and the hills beyond. Stunning. Someone said they saw a bear along the road. Bears are much less afraid of people in the park because they are not hunted. We did not see the bear. Our day ended in Big Meadows campground, about 54 miles. With the big climb at the beginning we thought that was a pretty good day. Anyway, there were not other overnight options within reach. The campgrounds in the park are quite nice, with showers and even laundry and bear boxes for your food. The roads and overlooks are well maintained. In contrast, the BRP is less well developed as the campgrounds have no showers and the roads very good but not so elaborate or numerous overlooks and often the trees have grown to block the views.
The SLD is 105 miles long and the next day we covered the rest of it. Again, some long climbs but nothing like the day before and it was so, so pleasant. We finished the SLD and stopped where is meets the BRP. They are essentially continuous. We had some lunch by the roadside with foodstuffs we stocked up on in Front Royal. We encountered two very hot and tired looking young guys on their first bike touring adventure whose goal was to ride across the country. They looked ill prepared and were hoping to make it to a campground some 40 miles distant. It was 4 pm and the climbs on the BRP were ahead of them and it did not seem likely they would come anywhere close to where they wanted to be. We were on the road and they were finishing their lunch. We did not see them again.
The day was getting hot and humid and the first climbs were difficult and long. I had not perfected a sweat management strategy yet since we had really been riding in cool weather up to this point. I could hardly see from the sweat in my eyes but we trudged on and with a rest stop on the longest climb, may 2 miles or so it all worked out.
The riding is a constant contrast of 4-5 mph climbing and 25-35 mph downhills. When you are climbing a mountain the downhills during a climb are somewhat discouraging because you know you will just need to climb all that distance again anyway. But on the parkway you realize that it is just going to be up and down and you are grateful for the distance covered at high speed. Before I got to this part of the trip I was concerned about my conditioning and my climbing. I was struggling some on the hills in CT, NJ and PA. Many of those climbs were steeper than here, up to now, and I think I rode myself in to better condition. Also, I got those lower gears in Wilmington and they are working well.
On the first day on the BRP we were looking to go to a campground which we knew would be down a grade off the main road. We were not looking forward to the climb out the next morning first thing but we had no choices. Or so we thought. As we turned on to the road to the campground, just a few feet off the parkway, there was a fairly obscure sign back from the road which said deli and store. We debated for several seconds whether to stop. We rode in and found a large party of people and we found the store owners. They not only had a deli and small grocery and souvenir shop, but cabins! Unfortunately, the large group was a wedding party and had all the cabins booked. As we chatted with the owner he made the mistake of saying that this once was a campground. We said, maybe it could be again, at least for one night. With the permission of the mother of the bride he said we could pitch our tents over on a nice grassy area away from the party. So we did, then we ate at the deli and then we went to bed to the sounds of a very celebratory gathering in to the wee hours. Not the best night's sleep but it was a nice ending to a 70 mile day and it saved us a long climb and probably and hour or more the next day.
By the way, the name of the town the deli was in, and the wedding, was Love, VA. Don't we all?
Our next day was somewhat shorter. It was another fantastic day of riding. We had a couple of long climbs of a few miles but mostly rolling up and down and finished with a 13 mile down hill into Otter Creek campground and restaurant. We had lunch and decided to stay. Jim was having an off day, it was getting warm and humid and the next campground was about 20 some miles away, 13.7 miles of which was climbing out of the James River valley. This takes one from the lowest point to the highest point on the parkway in VA. Also, they were predicting a storm to move through. So we camped, cramming our three tents on to one 12x12 tenting pad, which is required by the park service. A quick little thunderstorm blew threw but then it cleared and was a beautiful evening. We met a couple originally from Indiana who were doing several different bike touring trips this year. They had driven their car from the southern end of the parkway to the northern end and using the elevations posted on the overlooks along the way they plotted the climbs and descents my hand. They told us that the climbs we had seen were as steep as any on the parkway. That made us feel good, but looking at some other information we have, I wonder about that.
The next morning we got a good early start after an in camp breakfast of good old oatmeal and coffee. We wanted to make that 13 mile climb as early in the day as we could. It was a long haul up but we made it and continued on to finish the day in Roanoke. We had decided to stay in a motel in Roanoke so that we could get more food and and do laundry and not have to climb back up to the campground on the parkway. We ended up bushwacking our way off a exit road on to a road that took us to the highway we needed. How did we know to do that? Well, Jim has a laptop computer with a mapping program with services listed in the program so we had looked up some motels and some grocery stores and picked a likely destination. Then Denny, who had his GPS unit on could see that the road below us was one which connected to the highway. It had begun to rain just as we left the parkway. We put our jackets on and got to the highway. We hid under a bridge while Jim whipped out the computer again to recheck the motel. We called, they had a room and guest laundry and a BIG grocery across the highway. We got all refreshed and restocked, had a dinner next door at the steakhouse and it worked out great.
The next challenge was getting back to the parkway the next morning. GPS to the rescue again and we made it back quickly. Luckily Roanoke is not far below the parkway. Often when one gets off it there is a long climb back up. Of course, since the road went down to meet Roanoke, that meant the next morning there was a long climb as the Blue Ridge gained elevation. This one was about 5 miles long. The rest of the day was more ups and downs, often a mile or so. Again, great riding and weather. We met a father and son out on a ride for a segment of the parkway for several days and we rode together with them off and on for the next two days. We camped in the same campgrounds for two nights. This day our end point was a little town on the parkway called Meadows of Dan (Dan is a river). It is a charming mountain town with a real country store and very nice little quiet campground.
Meals in camp have been mostly packaged noodle or rice dishes, the kind you cook up in 2 cups of water, and pouches of meat, like tuna, salmon or chicken. These work out very well as you can carry 4-5 days worth in not too much space and not too much weight. This night I had rotini with broccoli and chicken. Gooood.
Yesterday we went from Meadows of Dan to Doughton Park campground, one of the parkway campgrounds. It began to rain fairly hard late in the afternoon and it was the first rain we had seen since Maryland, and that was very brief. The clouds moved in and we were in the fog for the evening and pretty much everything got wet. I did not feel well riding on this day and I talked with Jim and Denny about a rest day. And so we come full circle. We rode to the restaurant 3 miles up the road from the campground this morning. Over breakfast Denny proposed his plan that if we wanted to do a rest day, he would prefer to keep riding. He would then be a day ahead. The plan at the end of the parkway is to ride back to Asheville, NC (we are in NC now) and rent a van to load everything in and drive back to return. So Denny will get to Ashville ahead of us, rent the vehicle and meet us at the end of the parkway with the van.
Jim and I went across the parkway from the restaurant to the lodge, built by the WPA when they built the parkway. It has a wonderful view across a meadow of waving tall grass to the top of a rhodadendron covered hilltop. Have I mentioned the flowering bushes? Rhododendra, mountain laurel, flaming azaleas, honeysuckle and many more I do not know all along the route. It is gorgeous. And hilly.
Tomorrow we ride. Sure was a nice rest day. Got all dried out (so to speak) and relaxed and had no trouble at all doing almost nothing. Sure glad the lodge has wifi.
But, we are way ahead of ourselves. Let me say that the riding on these roads through the Shenandoah National Park (SLD) and on the Blue Ridge is sensational. We have had some of the best days of riding any of the three of us have ever experienced in terms of riding conditions, weather and surrroundings, not to mention riding partners. There are many, many, actually endless, ups and downs. It is like the world's longest, not to mention slowest, roller coaster. The mornings are often like riding on a bike path as the traffic levels are very low. Most of the traffic is motorcycles. The speed limit is 45 so most traffic is not moving too fast.
It all began as we left Front Royal, VA at the start of the SLD. We got on to the road early, after a big breakfast and began the climb up to the ridge. The first climb was about 10 miles. The grade on this climb and actually almost all of them so far, are quite reasonable. On the long climbs usually about 5-6% I think. We also had some great downhills, the nicest one being into the Elkwallow Wayside where we had lunch and visited with some nice folks, Appalachian Trail hikers and dayhikers mostly. One was a piano tuner from Annapolis who gave us his card so he could write off the gas money. He did discuss some issues with Jim and Jim talked some accounting with him. On we went through the beautiful forested road with many overlooks out on to the beautiful Shenandoah Valley and the hills beyond. Stunning. Someone said they saw a bear along the road. Bears are much less afraid of people in the park because they are not hunted. We did not see the bear. Our day ended in Big Meadows campground, about 54 miles. With the big climb at the beginning we thought that was a pretty good day. Anyway, there were not other overnight options within reach. The campgrounds in the park are quite nice, with showers and even laundry and bear boxes for your food. The roads and overlooks are well maintained. In contrast, the BRP is less well developed as the campgrounds have no showers and the roads very good but not so elaborate or numerous overlooks and often the trees have grown to block the views.
The SLD is 105 miles long and the next day we covered the rest of it. Again, some long climbs but nothing like the day before and it was so, so pleasant. We finished the SLD and stopped where is meets the BRP. They are essentially continuous. We had some lunch by the roadside with foodstuffs we stocked up on in Front Royal. We encountered two very hot and tired looking young guys on their first bike touring adventure whose goal was to ride across the country. They looked ill prepared and were hoping to make it to a campground some 40 miles distant. It was 4 pm and the climbs on the BRP were ahead of them and it did not seem likely they would come anywhere close to where they wanted to be. We were on the road and they were finishing their lunch. We did not see them again.
The day was getting hot and humid and the first climbs were difficult and long. I had not perfected a sweat management strategy yet since we had really been riding in cool weather up to this point. I could hardly see from the sweat in my eyes but we trudged on and with a rest stop on the longest climb, may 2 miles or so it all worked out.
The riding is a constant contrast of 4-5 mph climbing and 25-35 mph downhills. When you are climbing a mountain the downhills during a climb are somewhat discouraging because you know you will just need to climb all that distance again anyway. But on the parkway you realize that it is just going to be up and down and you are grateful for the distance covered at high speed. Before I got to this part of the trip I was concerned about my conditioning and my climbing. I was struggling some on the hills in CT, NJ and PA. Many of those climbs were steeper than here, up to now, and I think I rode myself in to better condition. Also, I got those lower gears in Wilmington and they are working well.
On the first day on the BRP we were looking to go to a campground which we knew would be down a grade off the main road. We were not looking forward to the climb out the next morning first thing but we had no choices. Or so we thought. As we turned on to the road to the campground, just a few feet off the parkway, there was a fairly obscure sign back from the road which said deli and store. We debated for several seconds whether to stop. We rode in and found a large party of people and we found the store owners. They not only had a deli and small grocery and souvenir shop, but cabins! Unfortunately, the large group was a wedding party and had all the cabins booked. As we chatted with the owner he made the mistake of saying that this once was a campground. We said, maybe it could be again, at least for one night. With the permission of the mother of the bride he said we could pitch our tents over on a nice grassy area away from the party. So we did, then we ate at the deli and then we went to bed to the sounds of a very celebratory gathering in to the wee hours. Not the best night's sleep but it was a nice ending to a 70 mile day and it saved us a long climb and probably and hour or more the next day.
By the way, the name of the town the deli was in, and the wedding, was Love, VA. Don't we all?
Our next day was somewhat shorter. It was another fantastic day of riding. We had a couple of long climbs of a few miles but mostly rolling up and down and finished with a 13 mile down hill into Otter Creek campground and restaurant. We had lunch and decided to stay. Jim was having an off day, it was getting warm and humid and the next campground was about 20 some miles away, 13.7 miles of which was climbing out of the James River valley. This takes one from the lowest point to the highest point on the parkway in VA. Also, they were predicting a storm to move through. So we camped, cramming our three tents on to one 12x12 tenting pad, which is required by the park service. A quick little thunderstorm blew threw but then it cleared and was a beautiful evening. We met a couple originally from Indiana who were doing several different bike touring trips this year. They had driven their car from the southern end of the parkway to the northern end and using the elevations posted on the overlooks along the way they plotted the climbs and descents my hand. They told us that the climbs we had seen were as steep as any on the parkway. That made us feel good, but looking at some other information we have, I wonder about that.
The next morning we got a good early start after an in camp breakfast of good old oatmeal and coffee. We wanted to make that 13 mile climb as early in the day as we could. It was a long haul up but we made it and continued on to finish the day in Roanoke. We had decided to stay in a motel in Roanoke so that we could get more food and and do laundry and not have to climb back up to the campground on the parkway. We ended up bushwacking our way off a exit road on to a road that took us to the highway we needed. How did we know to do that? Well, Jim has a laptop computer with a mapping program with services listed in the program so we had looked up some motels and some grocery stores and picked a likely destination. Then Denny, who had his GPS unit on could see that the road below us was one which connected to the highway. It had begun to rain just as we left the parkway. We put our jackets on and got to the highway. We hid under a bridge while Jim whipped out the computer again to recheck the motel. We called, they had a room and guest laundry and a BIG grocery across the highway. We got all refreshed and restocked, had a dinner next door at the steakhouse and it worked out great.
The next challenge was getting back to the parkway the next morning. GPS to the rescue again and we made it back quickly. Luckily Roanoke is not far below the parkway. Often when one gets off it there is a long climb back up. Of course, since the road went down to meet Roanoke, that meant the next morning there was a long climb as the Blue Ridge gained elevation. This one was about 5 miles long. The rest of the day was more ups and downs, often a mile or so. Again, great riding and weather. We met a father and son out on a ride for a segment of the parkway for several days and we rode together with them off and on for the next two days. We camped in the same campgrounds for two nights. This day our end point was a little town on the parkway called Meadows of Dan (Dan is a river). It is a charming mountain town with a real country store and very nice little quiet campground.
Meals in camp have been mostly packaged noodle or rice dishes, the kind you cook up in 2 cups of water, and pouches of meat, like tuna, salmon or chicken. These work out very well as you can carry 4-5 days worth in not too much space and not too much weight. This night I had rotini with broccoli and chicken. Gooood.
Yesterday we went from Meadows of Dan to Doughton Park campground, one of the parkway campgrounds. It began to rain fairly hard late in the afternoon and it was the first rain we had seen since Maryland, and that was very brief. The clouds moved in and we were in the fog for the evening and pretty much everything got wet. I did not feel well riding on this day and I talked with Jim and Denny about a rest day. And so we come full circle. We rode to the restaurant 3 miles up the road from the campground this morning. Over breakfast Denny proposed his plan that if we wanted to do a rest day, he would prefer to keep riding. He would then be a day ahead. The plan at the end of the parkway is to ride back to Asheville, NC (we are in NC now) and rent a van to load everything in and drive back to return. So Denny will get to Ashville ahead of us, rent the vehicle and meet us at the end of the parkway with the van.
Jim and I went across the parkway from the restaurant to the lodge, built by the WPA when they built the parkway. It has a wonderful view across a meadow of waving tall grass to the top of a rhodadendron covered hilltop. Have I mentioned the flowering bushes? Rhododendra, mountain laurel, flaming azaleas, honeysuckle and many more I do not know all along the route. It is gorgeous. And hilly.
Tomorrow we ride. Sure was a nice rest day. Got all dried out (so to speak) and relaxed and had no trouble at all doing almost nothing. Sure glad the lodge has wifi.
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