Thursday, May 21, 2009

Day 7, May 18. We part ways.

They say that the Blue Ridge Parkway has some of the best road cycling in the country. Lisa and I found out why. There are no commercial traffic allowed on this pristine stretch of highway. And the views are worth killing for.

I was so excited, I didn't know what to photograph. I guess that's a farm or something down there.

"We're from Hawaii, not Brittan!" "You guys must not be from America."

Since Lisa was the only other one around, she gets to be in most of the shots. She went over to check out that big rock, balancing and leaning against that tree. She said it looked like it could fall over and kill somebody.

"That's right, HAWAII!" Thanks again Brian and Deb. for loaning us the flag. So far, no one recognized it yet. The folks around here think it's a Brittish flag.

This deer must see a lot of people. It and two others just watched as we rode by.

The Mallard Duck Family Camp Ground and Hostel. That's Virginia. She and her dad(Pat), also were staying there. We had the whole cabin for ourselves, and i'm glad we did. It got down to at lest 43 degrees in the night.

After parting ways with Fabian, Lisa and I were left to fend for ourselves. This is us as we entered the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Lisa with June Curry, the world famous cookie lady. At 88 years of age, she still welcome weary touring cyclist to rest their tired bones and stay for the night.

The biker house. This place has been visited by more than 10,000 people since the first continental crossing in 1976.


Day 7 Afton to Vesuvius, Va. 44.06 mi.

It was a treat indeed being able be a part of history by staying at the Cookie Lady’s house, and to actually meet this legendary person for myself. If you ever get a chance to talk to someone who has done the Trans Am route. There is a good chance that they would have stayed at or at least met the Cookie Lady. After spending about an hour with the Cookie Lady, The three of us headed on our way. We were immediately greeted by a steep climb that wound it’s way for several hundred yards to the junction where our route becomes part of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Fabian has been having problems with his left knee for the past couple of days, and decided to head into Waynesboro to see if he could get a doctor to look at it, and catch up with us in a couple of days if all turns out well. We are hoping everything turns out okay. He is a great navigator, and the rest of the trip would not be the same without him.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is said to be most beautiful scenic section of the Bi-Centennial route., and I can’t argue with that. The views are spectacular. There are over looks on both sides of the ridge. The grade was a steady upward climb that never seemed to end. Our average speed hovered around 4 miles per hour the whole time, and even took us into our small ring on a couple of the ascents. The weather was excellent, highs in the upper 50’s, sunny, and light winds. I wore my long finger gloves, jacket, and leg warmers all day long, and when ever we stopped for a break, found a nice sunny spot to warm up.

We met up with Pat and Virginia once again, the father and daughter team going all the way to Washington. They had spent the night in Waynesboro. We asked if they had seen Fabian, but it looks like they just missed him on the way our. We continued on our methodical pace, until finally reaching the top at around 3:30PM. The last 3.5 miles in to Versuvius was a screaming 6 to 10 percent, narrow and winding decent. It was kind of spooky. There were some hair pin turns that you had to slow almost to a stop to make it around safely. One guy we met told us that his rear tire blew out, causing him to crash. Stuck out in the middle of no where, he made his way a couple of miles to the only store in the area, where the good folks there took him into Lexington some 30 to 40 miles away, where there is a bike shop.

Tonight we are staying at the Mallard Duck Campground and Hostel. A tiny one room cabin with 5 bunk beds, a couch, and just enough room for Pat, Virginia, Lisa, and myself to store all our gear. Our destination in the morning will be Lexington. Hopefully we’ll find wifi there and I can update this blog, and catch up on some e-mail…………….Good night.

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