Day 8 May 20. Tough day in the hills.

A neat little tunnel next to the road where we took our break.

There were a few water falls along the way, but oppertunity did not present itself all the time.

The Mallard Duck Family Camp Ground, our home for the night.

Lee and Lynn were there to greet us as we entered the Troutville City Park. They made us feel like we were Real special.
I think that is a train bridge. We saw a few of them where we knew there was no traffic.

We passed many of these neat little farms. This part of the country is just breath taking.

Crousing through down town Troutville.

Lisa the great white biker chick.

We met Chuck as we were having lunch. He is from Santa Rosa, California. We ran into him again the next day.

Chuck, going all the way to Oregon. Just like us.


Day 8, May 19 54.39 mi. Vesuvius to Troutville, Va.

Aloha once again. We are still not able to get internet access, so this too will be logged when the opportunity arises. This morning at 6:00AM. The thermometer read 34 degrees as I stumbled out of our cabin to brush my teeth and use the bathroom. It was cold! Real cold!! Since no one was up yet, I did some log entry via txt. Format in Microsoft Word to be paste into my blog later when we are able to get internet. That way things still stay fresh in my mind. Once everyone was up, and breakfast was done with, we all prepared for the days trek. At about 9:30AM, we were finally on our way. Today was the nicest day yet, weather wise that is. Although it was cold, there was not a cloud in the sky. The air was still, and it felt good to be on the road again. I over heard one of the local ladies say that it was so clear, that you could see the leaves of the trees on the side of the hill. I guess on a normal day, it gets quite hazy around here. We are still in the mountains. So most of the day involved climbing and descending on long and winding country roads with little or no traffic. And as always, the scenery was awesome. I tried to take more pictures today. We stopped more often, and took time to really soak in the surrounding area. What a wonderful place, the Appalachian mountains are.

Our route took us along a few streams. Some of them flowing with us, and some flowing against us. There were a number of fisherman out, these must be real men, to go out into that freezing water when they could be riding a bike. We passed a really neat mill of some sort. It had a big paddle wheel that used the flow of the stream to turn the wheel. There were miles and miles of pasture, Christmas tree farms, hay fields, and beautiful brick houses that reflected the early colonial era. As the miles slowly slipped by, and the day progressed, it was a good feeling to know that what we were doing is something very special. As a child, I didn’t appreciate the little things that God Created for our enjoyment. All this beauty is here just for us. It’s a shame that more people don’t take advantage of all of this. Get out in nature just to experience what is there. I feel it brings me closer to God.

We met Chuck, from Santa Rosa today. He is traveling with Map, from Holland. The two of them hooked up on crazyguyonabike.com and was headed for Oregon also. Both of them were traveling light, and were making good time. I doubt if we will see those guys again. We also met up with Pat and Virginia again. The father and daughter team we spent the night with. They were just leaving Buchanan while Lisa and I were looking for something to eat. We didn’t find a suitable place, so we pushed on.

When we arrived at our destination in Troutville, James who we had met the day before came rolling in. The three of us are spending the night at the Troutville City Park where cyclist are welcome to camp for free. It is a very clean and well kept park. Two ladies of “The friends of the park.” Lee, and Lynn Just happened to see Lisa and I out in the streets with a lost look on our faces, and came out to greet us. They were so hospitable, I could not stop saying thank you, thank you, thank you. The director of the park, Cecil. Heard we were here, and made a special trip just to welcome us and make sure everything was in good order for us, The fire station across the street welcomes touring cyclists to shower and do laundry in what looks like a brand new facility. We were more than appreciative for everything these people have done for us. Expressions like this make all the difference in the word .

Tomorrow we head for Christiansburg. Paula Bicoy is driving up from South Carolina to spend the day with Lisa and I. I haven’t seen Paula in over 30 years. By for now, Aloha, Ted.