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Day 16 (June 13th 2016) Hindman – Booneville KY; 67 miles

Today was the worst day I’ve had this entire journey. As much as I tried to be positive during the ride, the hills, heat, and fatigue got to me. It was so hot I could feel myself baking, between the sun bearing down and the hot road roasting up. There were multiple times during the climbs where I thought, “I must’ve gotten hit by a car, died, and St. Peter did not rule in my favor.” It is absolute torture when you think you finally finished a climb, because there is literally no physical way for the mountain to continue, only to turn the corner and realize that indeed it can. The hills, though shorter than yesterday’s, felt twice as difficult. It was just plain rough. The dogs, however, were not nearly as ferocious today. So that’s a good thing.

Today was also a day of mechanical issues. Sheena’s handle bars became misaligned after going over a nasty pothole and my gear shifter became so lose it almost fell off. Because I am not mechanically inclined, this sent me into a panic. But we figured it out and fixed it. Genuine geniuses. Jake’s pedal crank also apparently fell apart. No clue what that means, but from what I’m told, it’s not good.

We got dinner from a diner tonight and have plans for going there for breakfast in the morning. Much shorter day tomorrow, we’re all excited about that!

Total miles today ~67

Day 15 (June 12th 2016) Breaks Interstate Park VA – Hindman KY; 71 miles

We are finally out of Virginia! And Kentucky did not give us a very warm welcome. Within the first 5 miles of entering its borders, we were greeted by multiple unrestrained dogs, and not in the most friendly of ways. At one point, I was surrounded by a group of about 6 dogs. I slowed down and paid them all compliments, as they all were pretty darn cute. They accepted my flattery and let me pass unscathed. Sheena, however, was not so lucky. I’m sure she’ll talk about that in her corner. Not only did the dogs not welcome us, but a bird was not too thrilled to have us enter its state either. I must have startled a crane that was perched high up in a tree. After hearing it take flight, I looked up and noticed that when it flew away, it broke a huge branch that was headed right for my head. Due to my excellent cat-like reflexes, I pedaled really quickly out of the way right before the branch crashed to the ground. It was a close call!

It was an extremely hot and humid day (which made roadkill all the more appealing) that added an extra challenge to an already challenging day. We got out early and we were half way done by 10:30 am. But once the heat hit the pace changed drastically. We sought shelter for an hour or so at a nice little diner in Bevinsville called Fatdaddy’s. We were starving so it was a much needed stop.

Flat continues to be a four letter word we know better than to dare utter, but wish we could anyways. Everywhere we ride is either a gradual incline/decline or a horrifically steep up/downhill. It’s physically and mentally exhausting and can get extremely frustrating. After my couple of wrecks on Friday, I am traumatized by going fast downhill so my brakes (and hands) have been getting extreme workouts.

I was in cooking group for tonight’s dinner, in which we lucked out and got pizza. But we still had to grab groceries for breakfast/lunch. About 2.5 miles before hitting camp, we came across a grocery store. I joked with Mary, who is in the cooking group, that that was probably the grocery store we had to do the shopping. The joke was on me when I came to the realization that it was indeed the store. In attempt to not bike an extra 5 miles on an already extremely fatiguing day, we looked at a convenience store for any semblance of a well balanced meal. No dice. And I still was not willing to bike to the store. We came up with the great idea of asking one of the church volunteers to take us to the store. We asked just in the knick of time, as he was just pulling out just as I approached his truck. I must’ve been convincing because he was a saint and was happy to take us! Bubba told us that he volunteers at the church for youth ministry and also does backlighting for major concerts. He was extremely nice and we appreciated his efforts to help immensely.

Tomorrow is another long day and looks like a carbon copy of today. Lots of hills and heat!

My bike computer broke again, but according to everyone else, it was a 71.4 mile day.

Day 14 (June 11th 2016) Council – Breaks Interstate Park; 28 miles

Today was a short and relatively easy day. It started out with a chilly 20 miles of rolling hills that soon turned into 8 miles of mostly uphill. It was tough, but nothing we haven’t encountered before. We got through it and to our destination of Breaks Interstate Park all before 10:30 am. We set up camp and then set out exploring the park, whose nickname is the “Grand Canyon of the South”. A bit of a stretch, I say, but beautiful none the less. We hiked a little bit and experienced hills off the bike. Definitely a different feel! After the hike I got in an excellent nap and plan on getting to bed early. We have a longer ride tomorrow to make up for distance we didn’t make today. Wish us luck!

Miles: 28.22
Time on bike: 2:28
Avg MPH: 11.4
Max MPH: 38.4

Sheena’s corner:
Since I drew a blank yesterday, here’s my corner for both days. Hayter’s gap was not nearly as bad as I was expecting. I feel a lot stronger on climbs and haven’t needed to walk up anything in quite some time. After that, however, it was an anxiety filled day. Everyone on the team seemed to be having an off day with falls or crashes. We made it through though!

Today was a nice and short day. I hit 41mph! I forgot to go into 3rd gear, so I didn’t get the chance to go faster. Tomorrow is another day with more climbs and faster descents.

Oh and Emilie tried to poison the team with food that she shared with mice…

Day 13 (June 10th 2016) Damascus – Council VA; 54 miles

Today started not so well. I woke up to Sheena rustling about and thought, “why is she up so early?” I checked my phone and realized that my alarm never went off. I got up in a panic and broke down camp quickly. My adrenaline was pumping so hard I didn’t need coffee! But after a delicious breakfast made by Woodchuck (the owner of the hostel we were staying at) we were off. We were nervous about today because of the elevation map and the dreaded Hayter’s gap, aptly named because we all hated it. It was 4 miles uphill at a grade of 8-10%. It was brutal on the legs! But although no one enjoyed it, we all agreed it wasn’t nearly as bad as we had envisioned. We all got up it in one piece.

Getting down, however, was another story. I was hoping that all the hard work I put into that uphill would reap the benefits of a nice downhill. Although it was a nice downhill, I did learn a valuable lesson: 30 MPH and gravel DO NOT mix. When taking a turn during the downhill, I noticed a patch of gravel I was headed right towards. I preemptively braked but could not avoid the patch. I swerved and got caught right in it. I wiped out completely, with my left knee taking the brunt of it. Luckily there was a guy sitting in his car on the exact curve and came out with a first aid kit ready to go. I bandaged my bleeding knee and limped off. Though I was embarrassed and hurt, I was more concerned about my bike. Seems to be running alright! And, ironically, not even a mile down the road I hit another patch of gravel and went right into a guardrail. Luckily for me, both times Meg was there to calm me down and make sure I was okay. Another lesson I learned was that a total wipeout (or two) may dampen your day, but it won’t destroy it. Also, I wasn’t the only victim of gravel. Ten wiped out three times. And, on another side note, Mary was a part of a bad accident. A car rear ended another car that was following her at a safe distance on a road without a shoulder. She was able to outpedal the almost devastating accident, but both cars did not fare well. One ended up in a ditch several feet off the road. All drivers are presumed to be okay. This caused a panic for me and Sheena, as a lady passed by Sheena in her car and told her that one of our girls was involved in a bad accident. We waited about half an hour for the unscathed Mary to make her miraculous appearance. Disaster averted!

We hit another bad hill getting into Council. It was shorter and less steep than Hayter’s, but it was all in the sun and we hit it during the hottest part of the day. It was a struggle, and apparently it was very obvious. A guy in a pick up truck offered me a ride into town, stating that the climb is steep and tough. I declined his offer, saying that I liked the challenge. He said he could relate, as he was ex-military. We got into camp shortly after and have been trying to stay out of the sun ever since. Tomorrow is a short, but hilly, ride. And our last day in Virginia!! Finally!
Total miles: 54.72

Time on bike: 4:56

Avg speed: 11.0 mph

Max speed: 36.2 mph

Day 11 + 12 (June 8th/9th 2016) Wytheville – Damascus VA; 62 miles

Today (well technically yesterday) was by far the most fun day of riding yet, and the whole group agrees. Mom and dad, sorry, but you probably won’t like the reason why. The day started out fine, nice and chilly with some wind. Towards the middle of the day we hit some gradual inclines, which I have grown to love. I have accepted that this is my life and uphills are an inevitable part of it. I better learn to just grin and bear it! We were in the trees which provided shelter from the wind. After the 5 or so miles of uphill we were blessed with 15 miles of pure downhill bliss. We were cruising down the mountains at 25+ MPH down windy roads. We didn’t have to worry about cars behind us because we were going faster than the speed limit. It was a lot of fun and definitely an adrenaline rush

We started out leaving the church early and when riding on the main road a man came running out of his house and cheering us on. “Woo hoo! Go on to Oregon!” he shouted. It’s nice to know we have adoring fans throughout our ride. We also had an older gentleman stop on the side of the road and tell us, “you are the first smart riders I saw who are wearing bright colors. The lot of you are gonna get yourselves killed.” It’s nice to know he was concerned about our well being.

We had lunch in a pretty spot by a river on a bridge in a driveway. The owners came out and talked with us and were very hospitable. They invited us to wade in the river, but it was too chilly to partake. Jake and Catherine joined us for lunch and we had a very entertaining conversation. Some more bike racers passed us during lunch and gave us a thumbs up.

We are camping in Damasus tonight in a hostel. There is a dog here named Buster that looks slightly like Addie and I have been able to get in my dog fix. Because Damascus is a cross through town for the Appalachain Trail, we are camping with a lot of thru hikers. They are very entertaining with funny stories. We have a layover day in Damascus, there isn’t too much to do here, but it’s nice being off the bike and relaxing.

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Sheena’s corner: Yesterday restored my desire for this trip. The climb went great and the long descents were, by far, the best time I’ve had yet. I finally hit over 40mph! Next goal is 45mph.

Total miles: 62.2
Hours on bike: 5:12
Max MPH: 38.1
Avg MPH: 11.9

Day 10 (June 7th 2016) Christiansburg -Wythville VA; 34 miles

Not a very good day. Hilly, hot, and windy. This was our first main encounter with wind this trip. It started in the afternoon and was relentless. It was blowing so badly that it was even challenging going down hill. We had to pedal just as hard as we were going up! It was also scary in that it pushed us all over the road, into oncoming traffic. Which, during certain hills, would have been a much welcome gift (joking!). But we persevered and made it to another church camp in Wythville. After tomorrow we have an off day, which everyone is in of dire need!

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Sheena’s corner: today was a tough day, but I made it. So that’s nice.

Total miles: 57.5
Time on bike: 5:13
Avg MPH: 10.8
Max MPH: 33.8 MPH

Day 9 (June 6th 2016) Troutville – Christiansburg VA; 52 miles

Today was not as good of a day as yesterday, not in the least. Hills on top of hills. Some were rollers (Sheena was a beast on them) and some were unforgiving tear jerkers. But the scenery is at least still a stunning distraction. The weather was hot and sunny which didn’t help. What also didn’t help was taking a wrong turn, unknown, and going up more hills. Luckily it only added a mile or two to the total mileage. We missed the turn because we were concentrating so hard on tackling a hill, no time for map reading! During our detour we came across a sign, “I believe in God and guns. Trespass and you’ll meet both”, a true sign you’re in the south!

Last night we shared camp with a cycling group, Bike Across the US for MS. We rode with them throughout the day, mostly they passed us throughout the day. The are a van supported group so their bikes are not loaded. When one passed us, Sheena offered him her pannier. He refused her kind offer.

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When arriving into Christianburg, we noticed a bicycle at a pizza shop that stood out. I instantly recognized it as a bike used in the TransAm bike race, in which a bunch of crazies ride their bikes across the country as quickly as they can. I convinced Sheena and Catherine to go into the shop with me to talk to the racer. When we went in, he was paying and we were able to ask a few questions. He answered but politely excused himself, like he was in a rush or something (ha!). His name is Jason and he is currently in 2nd place going westward. He started Saturday and in those few short days he completed the same distance that took us 8 days. Makes us feel like complete slackers!

I was on dinner duty tonight with Catherine and Jake. We made rice and beans. Luckily the church we’re staying at has lots of room and we won’t be in close proximity with each other once the beans kick in.

Today we finished map one!! Only 11 left until we hit our destination!! Woooo!

Sheena’s corner: After a nice 40miles and an atrocious 10 miles, it’s awesome to catch up on game of thrones.

Shocker: Kentucky has a ton of steep hills.

Total miles: 52.45
Time on bike: 4:49
Avg MPH: 10.8
Max MPH: 36.0

Day 8 (June 5th 2016) Lexington – Troutville VA; 46 miles

One week in!! Today was surprisingly an easy day! It came as a much welcome surprise. When looking at the elevation map, today looked like it was going to be super tough with lots of climbs with steep grades. Lucky for us it was gradual climbs and rolling hills. The rolling hills were great because we were able to gather enough momentum to go up the uphill without putting too much work into it. As cliche as it may sound, it was just like a roller coaster. Except, if you raise your arms over your head, you’ll probably have a very bad day.

We started out early after breakfast into the rain. A few minutes into the ride we saw a bald eagle fly off, that was really spectacular. We did hit some bad hills, but we rode through them relatively strongly. Not sure if our legs are rejoicing in the fact that there are finallo done with the Blue Ridge mountains or if we’re actually getting stronger. I’m really hoping it’s the latter! We did encounter a couple “road closed” signs due to flooding, and they weren’t lying. We rode through a legitimate river and had to walk our bikes through to avoid getting washed away. It was actually a lot of fun and refreshing during the heat of the day.

We arrived into camp really early. We’re in Troutville in a town park which Appalachian trail thru hikers frequent. We met a few interesting hikers with crazy stories. After dinner a storm rolled through and left a beautiful double rainbow, it was the brightest rainbow I’ve ever seen.

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Sheena’s corner:
Today was my favorite day. I loved the rolling hills and only hated the last hill before Troutville.
Fun fact: Brown cows make chocolate milk and pink cows make strawberry milk. But they’re rare, they’re only found in like the Netherlands, I’ve never seen them in person. The tan cows though are rejects and they make milk duds.

Total miles: 45.72 miles
Avg MPH: 11.3 MPH
Max MPH: 37.7 MPH
Time on bike: 4 hours

Day 7 (June 4th 2016) Love – Lexington VA; 40 miles

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We have successfully crossed over the most challenging part of Virginia! We are still in the foothills of the Appalachians, but we have completed the most daunting part of the trip, for me at least. Today was another early day in attempt to beat the upcoming heat. We saw more of the same beautiful scenery as yesterday. After a few miles, we came across Vesuvius. It was just as steep and scary as I had anticipated, however, we took it easy and took multiple rest breaks. Not because we were physically tired, but because our brakes needed a break from constant use. I was warned that Vesuvius was notorious for causing brake issues/exploding tires from overheating from overuse on descent. We stopped for a brake break only a half mile in. I went to touch my brakes just to see if the rumors were true, and burned my finger it was so hot! Not my smartest idea. We had to stop any time it was safe to let the brakes/tire rims cool. But we made it down without crashing or any issues! Sheena had the bright idea of trying to get a top speed when descending Vesuvius, however, because I was ahead of her, I kept her in check. And probably saved her life.

We had lunch in a beautiful spot by a river and relaxed. When we set back out we hit a few more steep and long climbs, coupled by long and steep descends. Sheena was so worn out she thought that horses said, “baa”. We arrived to Lexington, our overnight destination, around 1:30, right when the sun was the most intense. But we were done and had the whole afternoon to explore the city. We did laundry and went to a couple coffee shops. We got stuck in the laundromat due to an intense thunderstorm rolling though causing flash flooding. A river formed in the street taking a picnic table with it. But after a few minutes the clouds gave way to sunshine. We’re staying at a church. Even though it was a short ride today, we are all still extremely exhausted from yesterday’s ride.

Sheena’s corner: I thought we were done with hills 😩

Total miles: 39.86

miles Avg MPH: 11.1

MPH Max MPH: 36.5

MPH Time on bike: 3 hours 34 min

Day 6 (June 3rd 2016) Charlottesville – Love; 48 miles

Leading into today, I had a horrible gut feeling, much like I do before a big track race like the Penn Relays. But instead of it lasting only a minute or two, it’ll last over 5 hours. I always heard that cycling over the Appalachians is the hardest part of the trail. In fact, before starting the trip, I was already dreading the day I would see them. Steep climbs on top of relentless hills was always the number one comment about them. However, as we rolled into camp today, I thought, “wow, that actually wasn’t bad”. The feeling of accomplishment and pride between me and my fellow group members was palpable.

Sheena and I started out early, in attempt to beat the heat of the day. We also realized that we would need frequent rest breaks, so we left a little before 7am to prevent getting into camp too late. Rolling hills were abundant, as per usual, but we encountered breathtaking views of the upcoming mountains peeking through the fog. As we approached the climb to the town of Afton, we realized that the Appalachians were no joke. We encountered multiple mile plus hills with a steep climb that even the granny gear couldn’t handle. I wish I had my clipless pedals, however, sweet little Addie chewed them up and I saw it as a sign to keep them home because I would frequently fall with them. As we climbed them I could only imagine what the actual mountain would have in store for us. However, when we ended those climbs and came to the Blue Ridge Parkway, our leader, Whitney, informed us that the previous mentioned climbs were actually the steepest and most difficult we would encounter the whole trip. A feeling of relief overwhelmed me knowing that we conquered what I was fearing since before the start, and I didn’t even know it!

The Blue Ridge Parkway was incredible. Words cannot describe the overlooks onto the surrounding mountains. During the 14 mile ride through them, we encountered all kinds of weather. From sunny to downpour to foggy, watching the mountains change with the weather was magical. At one point we could see rain patches move through different towns. We even watched one cell move right to us. I thought about taking pictures to try to capture the moment, but between the rain and little to no shoulder to pull over safely over on, I figured I’ll just try to remember it. Views like that are hard to forget.

The day off yesterday was much needed, woke up refreshed, although my muscles didn’t feel so well. It was nice to walk around Charlottesville and see the culture of the town, dominated mainly by UVA. In preparation for today’s ride, a lot of us shipped non essential items back home to lessen the load.

I had my first fall today. I’m pretty proud I held out so long. During the rain my shoelace got caught in my pedal. My only option was falling so I did just that. No harm minus a few minor scrapes to the knee, but it was pretty scary because I fell in the middle of the road in a downpour with low visibility. But crisis averted!

We talked to a few interesting people today. Of note was an Englishman, Chris. He also was making his way cross country. He started on Wednesday so I have a feeling he’ll beat us to the destination by a week or two… or more. We also ran into Greg, a local who does a lot of cycling. He said he was jealous of our trip. Sheena offered him her bike, but he graciously declined her generous offer.

Tonight we’re staying just west of Love, VA. We rented a house and it is comparable to the Taj Mahal, complete with a hot tub. It was a nice surprise after a very hard day. The only downfall is no cell service, which is probably why I’m going to post this a day late.

Tomorrow we’re continuing on the Blue Ridge Parkway and descending Mt. Vesuvius (no not the Italian one). It is a 4 mile stretch of steep downhill, which I am extremely nervous for. A wipe out on that would be not be pretty. But after tomorrow we will have successfully crossed over a mountain! A good night’s rest is most definitely needed. Sheena and her cooking crew made a delicious dinner of pasta, complete with wine. Fancy!

Sheena’s corner:
I am extremely proud of myself and everyone else on today’s ride. It was not easy but we did it!
What would my mother think seeing me sitting on the side of a highway eating a sandwich and sleeping on the gravel?

I fixed my bike computer! The engineer engrained in my blood made an appearance yesterday!
Miles: 48.6 miles
Hours on bike: 5 hours 13 min
Avg MPH: 9.3 (hills were killers)
Max MPH: 35.3 MPH