Day 12: Roanoke to Salem, VA (19 miles)

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

A few days ago, on our way to Mineral, VA, we got caught in a huge thunderstorm. By the time we arrived to our camp at the Mineral Volunteer Fire Department the rain had let up, but we were soaked. Even worse, our shoes were soaked. We all hate soaked shoes so we decided to head over to the laundromat and stick our wet stinky shoes in the industrial dryer. While we waited for the shoes to dry we went to eat sandwiches, pizza and ice cream, and when we went back to the laundromat we found a pair of shoes mysteriously on the floor and the dryer door was open. Turns out that the shoes were pounding the door and flung it open, so Tony and I had to take turns standing against the dryer door until the shoes were all dry. And when it was all over... our shoes had shrunk. The rubber insoles shrunk at least 5 sizes, and the toes of the shoes tightened up. Our toes got numb from wearing them. But the beasts that we are, we kept pedaling like that for days. Now we are in Roanoke though, which is an actual city with bike shops, so we decided to head over to the bike shop today and get new shoes.

To get to the bike shop we took Roanoke's Greenway, which is a bicycle & walking path that cuts across the city. It is a nicely paved bike path and refreshing to ride on since Aaron and I didn't have to keep looking in our rearviewmirrors every few seconds for speeding cars. I took this picture while riding - a real action shot:



Midway through the trip to the bike shop we got off the Greenway and rode through the dilapidated part of town - downtown Roanoke's west end. Always nice to see how the other half of Roanoke lives. It is filled with vacant manufacturing buildings, empty warehouses, and soup kitchens. According to a recent article in The Roanoke Times, this area is actually going through a "revitalization" (read: gentrification) which seems to bother some of the longtime residents. The manager of a local soup kitchen says "They're not going to want us here anymore. Our people don't dress well. Some don't smell too good." One of the developers claims to disagree though: "I feel we're sharing downtown. I'm happy to have them here."

The bike shop is on the complete opposite side of town. Once we were a couple of miles away we hit some very short but steep hills through a neighborhood street. Tony and I made our way up the worst hill and waited for the others who were close behind. That's when we saw Anna suddenly, slowly, fall over ... Timber! She wasn't hurt, but her handlebar was badly bent. Luckily we were close to our desination, and luckily our destination was a bicycle repair shop.

At the Roanoke shop, called East Coasters, Anna got new extra-thick handlebars - "This way, the next times you fall your handlebar won't get bent up." Anna and I got new bike shoes, and I got a new handlebar bag. From now on when our bike shoes get wet, we'll just stuff them with dry newspapers and let them sit overnight. Supposedly that works like a charm. Aaron asked about getting a kickstand for his B.o.B. trailer, since it's so hard to park. The bike shop guy said there are no kickstands specific to the B.o.B. trailer, but the company has a suggested parking method wherein the trailer and the bike form an angle and can stand up by themselves. Unfortunately the trailer is filled over the max capacity, so it's too heavy for that. Props to Aaron for pulling that much weight! That's why we call him The Mule.

The Mule.

After the bike shop we went across the street for smoothies, wraps, and iced coffee. The iced coffee was cool because the coffee shop (The Daily Grind) saves it's brewed decaf and uses it to make ice cubes. That way when you order iced coffee the coffee ice cubes don't dilute your drink. Genius.

By now it was already 4:00pm or so. Leaving the motel at 11:30 isn't good for the schedule. We decided to go to a nearby motel on our route, about 10 miles away, and just call it a day. We basically got across town today. Doesn't sound like much but we had fun and got some necessary bike shop stuff taken care of. On the way to the motel we decided to stop off at the post office to mail home some unnecessary items - extra tubes, street shoes, an extra stove - and got caught in a downpour. After whooping out my handy dandy weather radio we found out the storm had the potential to create 60mph winds and nickel-sized hail. Luckily we were waiting under the post office awning. After the rain cleared we realized that the high winds and hail were passing around our area so we decided to pedal on to our motel 10 miles away. And on the way, after mailing home some of our extra inner tubes, Anna got the first flat of the trip! The ironing is delicious.

The ride to Salem (where our motel was located) was actually clear, crisp, sunny and extremely beautiful after the rain died down. It was a refreshing ride. When we reached the motel, we met a nice motorcycle traveler named Vinnie. Vinnie was finishing up a week-long trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's much much easier on a motorcycle, but although he was motorized, we had a lot in common and I think we were on our trips for similar reasons. We could relate. When we tell people about our trip, some people respond with "Why???" and some people instantly understand. You either get it or you don't.

Well Vinnie got it, and we talked to him for at least 30 minutes outside of the motel before checking in, retelling our tales of people falling off their bikes and such, until we realized we should book our room. He was booking a room in the same motel (we gave him a coupon out of our motel coupon book), and we were having such a great time talking to him that we invited him to join us for dinner at the Mexican restaurant next door. He split a couple of pitchers with us and then we all went to bed exhausted. Vinnie had a 500 mile motorcycle ride to Connecticut ahead of him, and we were set to bike to Christiansburg in the morning. We all needed our rest.

Some chicken mole dish.

The whole group.

Vinnie. Gotta love that goofy smile!

Day 11: Buchanan to Roanoke, VA (20 miles)

After yesterday's rest day - which consisted of sitting by the pool (not in it, because it was being cleaned or something) and blogging in the sun, playing fetch with the motel border collie, watching Darma & Greg and Family Guy, and eating multiple candy bars - we woke up early and were on the road by 6:50am. One of our earliest days. That means we'll make some pretty good mileage!

Getting on the road early is good in theory. We used to want to get on the road by 6am, which would mean waking up by 5 or 5:30 for us normal bikers. Anna and Aaron, however, take 2 - 3 hours to prepare in the morning. I don't know if it's the B.O.B. trailer (Beast of Burden, aka "The Yak"), which is hard to pack and unpack, but they are slow to get ready. Tony and I can wake up late and be ready in 20 or 30 minutes depending on how much we rush. Anyway, we've decided that waking up before 6 is too difficult. Maybe it's all the TV watching at night. The motels, aside from being expensive, lend themselves to a lot of TV watching. None of us have cable TV at home, or even broadcast TV, so when relaxing in the motels we take advantage. So it's hard to wake up early. Most times we wake up between 8 and 10 and are on the road between 10 and noon. Not a great schedule. So this morning when we were on the road before 7am, we were pretty excited. But like I said, getting on the road early is good in theory, but it's actually pretty damn cold for bike riding at 7 in the morning. We put on our jackets for the first hour or so to prevent freezing.

We had a light breakfast, which means 1 banana, so we stopped at a country store for a breakfast sandwich. They had regular breakfast sandwiches, on regular bread, and breakfast biscuits which you could order with sausage or ham, egg, and cheese. My conversation with the lady at the counter went something like this:

"I'll have a biscuit sandwich, with ham, egg and cheese."

"Well do you want a biscuit or a sandwich?"

"I want a biscuit sandwich."

"A sandwich has bread. Sounds like you want a biscuit."

"Just open the biscuit and put the stuff inside of it."

Although they don't understand the nomenclature, they did make a great biscuit breakfast sandwich. With the sandwiches and chocolate milk as our fuel, we were off to Christiansburg, about 60 miles away!

On the way, we met some other cross country bicyclists. A group Brits who had SAG support (i.e. a support van following them the whole way with their gear) were riding the opposite direction. In other words, they are almost done with their trip. We can't wait for the day when we are the ones almost done with our trip, and come across a group who's just starting out. It wasn't the first time we'd heard it, but they warned us about the dogs in Kentucky. In general dogs haven't been a problem, except for one instance near Charles City, VA. Aaron went far ahead and then turned left into a dirt driveway to turn around and wait for us, but instead of stopping he suddenly started to pedal furiously towards us with 2 dogs chasing him. Luckily a truck came along and began to honk at the dogs and scared them away. Another time, we turned onto a road and saw a team of 4 or 5 dogs on the street a few hundred feet away. They were white with black spots, and from that distance Anna thought they were humongous - "They're the biggest dogs I've ever seen! I think they may be cows!" We decided to speed past them and hope for the best, and it turned out that they were the cutest little dogs you ever saw. They couldn't have been more than a year old. They made you want to just get off your bike and go pet them. Kentucky, however, has a reputation for unleashed angry dogs. We are planning to get dog spray just in case. These Brits assured us that dogs were not as much of a problem as people say... but I think we'll buy the spray just in case.

A little later we ran into another group of 4 guys who were riding cross country. They are going the same way as we are, only faster. They have an injury too, so they are taking it easy and are aiming for Christiansburg today like us.

After they left, we started to rethink our goals. We have an injury too. Anna has had a sinus infection for a few days now, and the Blue Ridge completely exhausted her. So we looked at the map and decided that Roanoke would be a good idea. We could be there by 12:30, book a room, and relax. The journey is more important than the destination, and if any of us are overworked then it just starts to feel like... well... work. So it's off to Roanoke! Only a few miles away!

In Roanoke we booked a room at the Howard Johnson (HoJo) near the Roanoke Airport. Then we rode our unloaded bikes to lunch at Red Robin for chocolate malts, burgers, and beers (both root and ale). Next to the Red Robin was a clinic where Anna received antibiotics while Tony and I napped on the grass outside. Hopefully Anna's sinuses won't get in the way of her bike riding anymore!


After our nap, we went to Wal-Mart for some groceries, biked to hotel to shower, and took a cab to the movies to watch The Incredible Hulk. After the movie was over we noticed that Get Smart was starting right away so... we had a double feature night. Then we went back to the Red Robin for dessert, where our waiter told us about his friend who was recently hit by a car while riding his bike through an intersection. This is the most common type of bicycle accident. The waiter was really interested in our trip and proceeded to tell everyone in the kitchen about it. We don't usually make it a point to tell every single person we meet about our trip, but maybe we should. Everyone we tell gets very excited about it. It's a good way to spread joy and excitement, and a great ice-breaker.

We called a cab to drive us home, but after waiting 45 minutes we decided to walk home the mile instead. Unfortunately I don't have too many pictures of this day - I guess I was having too much fun!

Day 10: Lexington, VA to Buchanan, VA (30 miles)

Tony with pigtails?

Monday, June 23rd, 2008
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 (rest day)

After yesterday's long night bike riding home from a late dinner, we of course woke up late. We ate breakfast next door at the Waffle House and had some amazing waffles. I don't know what they do to those things but we couldn't stop eating them. We were on the road around noon.

Riding on country roads is fun because there is very little traffic... until you come across an accident between a tractor and a tow-truck.

Anna and Aaron have a habit of pulling over and resting in the middle of the street. This morning we pulled over on a slow country road, right before a bend, on the opposite side of the street at a little gravel driveway. While the rest of us were off the road, Anna was stopped right on the street, in the path of oncoming traffic. She didn't worry since it was a quiet country road. But suddenly a car came flying around the bend and had to swerve to avoid hitting Anna! After that scare, hopefully everyone will rest on the side of the road instead of in the middle of it.

White fluffy mystery bug.

Our original goal was to make it to Troutville or Daleville, about 40 miles away. That would leave us only 40 or so miles to go the next day to get to Christiansburg, VA. Christiansburg has been a goal of ours for a while now because it is the last city on our first map. In total, there are 12 maps that make up our cross-country trip. The first map is from Yorktown, VA to Christiansburg, VA and is 360 miles long. Our unofficial goal was to reach Christiansburg by day 7. Now we were hoping to arrive tomorrow, Tuesday, which would be the 11th day. Oh well... it's about the journey, not the destination.

Unfortunately, leaving at noon doesn't make that an easy goal. Our overall traveling speed, including breaks, is around 5 miles per hour. Not too impressive! Leaving at noon, at 5 mph, for 40 miles means we'd arrive at 8pm. To make matters worse, Anna hasn't been feeling well. She thinks she has a sinus infection, and her legs are completely worn out from the Skyline/Blueridge climbs. So, we decided that our best option would be to set our sights on Buchanan, which is almost 30 miles from Lexington. This is not the mileage we were hoping for. It's hard to plan in advance a trip of this magnitude, and if you don't keep an open mind and accept changes to your plan, you will end up disappointed. This is what happened to me this day when I realized we would only travel 30 miles. I was disappointed because it was below expectations. In hindsight, that is the wrong attitude to take on a trip like this. When this happens, adjust your expectations. If people need to rest, then so be it.

A couple of miles from Buchanan we passed by the Red Mill Bed & Breakfast. We stopped to check the price since it looked quaint and we were already there. The man who opened the door, Chip, informed us that the B & B is no longer in service, but talked with us about our trip for a very long time. He told us about Natural Bridge, which was only a couple of miles away. Natural Bridge is a bit of a tourist trap, but probably well deserved. It is a natural bridge (not just a clever name) formed over time from erosion. Thomas Jefferson liked it so much that he bought a huge plot of land containing the bridge from the British and built his home on it (we're still relatively close to Monticello). At least that's what Chip told us. We didn't visit it because we just wanted to get to the motel and call it a day.

Anna, Chip and Aaron.

People in small towns are either very nice or very bored (maybe both) because he talked with us for at least an hour and made some phone calls for us to find out if the Train Car Inn was open for the night. This is a train car that was renovated as a 1-room inn, which sounded pretty cool but unfortunately the person who runs the place was out of town. So instead we got a room at the Mountain View Motel and ate at the restaurant next door. We decided that if Anna was overworked and needed to rejuvenate, a rest day would be the best way. So, we are taking a rest day tomorrow at the Mountain View Motel. More Dharma & Greg I guess! Ironically, I have watched more TV on this trip than in the past few years combined.

Day 9: Finally the Blue Ridge! (Afton, VA to Lexington, VA - 50.5 mi)

Sunday, June 22nd, 2008

This morning Tiffany and her mom drove me back to Elkton from Front Royal, VA. Since we rode for an entire day in the wrong direction from Afton to Elkton on Friday, we needed to get back to Afton ASAP so that we could actually ride the Blue Ridge Parkway. Sure, we could've ridden back, but that would have taken a whole extra day. We're on a tight schedule you know. So as it turns out, Bob, the owner of the Country View Motel in Elkton, VA was kind enough to give us a ride in his pickup, with our bikes in the back, all the way back to Afton. He's used to this sort of thing, although usually it's for Appalachian Trail hikers. Bob has a big heart, and the convenience store lady in Elkton even mentioned that some of the locals tend to take advantage of his helpful nature. It's not nice to take advantage of kindness like that, but thank God there are people like Bob in this world. This trip is about meeting people as much as bicycling, and we are all glad we met Bob.

Aaron, Anna, Bob, Dog, Tony.

Bob and the 4 of us would not all fit in his pickup truck, so Tiffany and her mom were kind enough to drive us to Afton as well, carrying myself and Tony, while Bob took Anna and Aaron. It was probably an hour and a half out of their way, so I can't thank them enough for the favor.

Tiffany & Mom.

Today's ride along the Blue Ridge was actually a bit nicer than the Skyline Drive ride. Skyline Drive had trees on both sides for most of the way, so it was like a nice ride along a country road with the occasional overlook for a view. Today was different. We could see the views of the distant hills and valleys as we rode, which helped make up for the massive hills.

Typical view while riding.

Going up a big hill, Anna fell. Again. It's not just her who keeps falling though. I've fallen once, Aaron's fallen... actually Tony's the only one who hasn't fallen yet. We should have named our blog "Legends of the Falls". It's comical watching it happen, because it's this slow-motion movement to the side, like a tree being cut down. The person falling of course is clipped in to the bike pedals and so can't put their foot down to stop it from happening, and in one smooth motion... "Timber!" Actually, this time it was less funny because the teeth on the large cog of the bike tore into Anna's calf and left a couple of gashes in her leg. Ever quick on my feet, I jumped to get my first aid kit and disinfected the wound and gave her a bandage. Disaster averted.

Right about this time, we noticed the dark storm clouds. Some of you are probably thinking "What do you guys do when it rains? Where do you go?" The simple answer is: it depends. How hard is it raining? Are there severe weather alerts? If there are no severe weather alerts (i.e. high winds, hail, tornados) we probably just keep riding, unless it's a quick-moving storm with heavy rain and there's shelter nearby. In that case we can just get under an awning or something and wait 15-20 minutes. On the Blue Ridge Parkway however, there are no awnings. There are no stores. There are just rocks and trees. There were no tornado warnings either so we just decided to ride on, and we got very lucky and only felt 2 drops of rain. Then the skies cleared up and it was smooth sailing. Disaster averted.

Dishearting view: We can see our uphill
continuing on in the distance.


Maximum Elevation: 3300 ft.

So happy to be off the Blue Ridge!

Good sign: Vesuvius only 3 steep downhill miles away.

Once we were off the Parkway, we headed for Vesuvius. We rode for 3 miles and descended over 2500 ft! It was the steepest, windiest hill we encountered up to that point. It zig-zagged so much ("switchbacks" in mountain talk) that we couldn't even go fast down the hill or we would have just flown right into the forest. We had to ride down the entire way holding down our brakes hard, and we were still going 25 mph or so. Possibly the least fun downhill I've ever ridden. I didn't take pictures of it because we were too busy clenching our teeth and holding on to our handlebars for dear life.

By the way, in the picture above, you'll notice a sign for Route 76. This is the Bikecentennial route which we are following. It was first mapped out in 1976, hence the route number, and only the state of Virginia has signs along the length of the entire route within the state. Hopefully the other states on our route will follow suit someday. Speaking as a Marylander, I'm growing to love Virginia more and more everyday.

We decided to shoot for Lexington, VA, which we thought was 20 mostly downhill miles after the Blue Ridge. Not true. We still encountered monster hills into the city, which were very unwelcome after the hills earlier in the day. We finally arrived at the Super 8 in Lexington around 6:30pm, completely exhausted. After showering, we for some reason decided to ride our bikes (unloaded) out to Main Street 2 miles away to a restaurant called the Southern Inn. Everyone in town raved about it. It turned out to be a delicious restaurant, but if I had to do it over again I wouldn't have ridden the 4 miles roundtrip. Anna and Aaron loaded the restaurant info into the GPS, and then the GPS led us on a big 1 mile loop ending right back at our motel (whaaaaaaa???). Turns out you don't need a GPS to find Main Street in a small town. Then, after dodging rain earlier in the day, we end up getting wet on the way to dinner after checking in to our motel. Then after a huge meal, we had to get back on our bikes at 9:15pm and ride back the 2 miles.
In the dark.
In the rain.
Not fun.
Lesson learned.

From now on, suck it up and go to the Waffle House or whatever is next to your motel.

Day 8: Rest Day in Elkton, VA

Saturday, June 21st, 2008

After yesterday's Blue Ridge fiasco, we decided to take a rest day. Anna, Aaron, and Tony spent the day in Elkton, VA - the fried chicken joint was having a huge barbecue with a pig roast today. I am the photographer of the group, so there are no pictures of their day. Oh wait, there is one from the morning before I left:

Candid shot.

I went to the wedding of Tiffany's sister Teresa. Tiffany's brother-in-law (not the groom... her other brother-in-law) was kind enough to pick me up in the morning. It was a very nice outdoor wedding at the house of the groom's father. Open bar, mountain view, the whole nine yards. It's not really bike-trip related so I won't go into too much detail about it in this blog, but I think this picture sums up the experience for me:

I had a good time.

Day 7: The Blue Ridge Fiasco (Afton, VA to Elkton, VA - 45.4 mi)

Friday, June 20th, 2008

Yesterday at Chile's Peach Orchard in Crozet, we bought buttermilk pancake mix (just add water!) and blackberry syrup.
We paired that with the Cookie Lady's generously stocked pantry to make a delicious breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon, orange juice and milk. That was just the kind of sustenance we needed to make the Blue Ridge climb (well, except maybe the bacon, but you only live once). So after that hearty breakfast, we prepared for our journey. Anna and I used our Trans-America map to finally write out some cue sheets for our ride. Couple that with our GPS and we were guaranteed some smooth navigation.

The first climb was brutal. And that was just to get into the parkway. You know, I've always wondered what the difference is between Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. To my mind they always seem to be used somewhat interchangeably. Oh well. Whatever!


The pictures of the hills don't really do the place justice. It's hard to tell, but in the picture above, Tony is finishing a long, slow uphill climb. This was taken in the morning, so his legs were still fresh. Soon they'll be on fire. We expect to climb above 3000 ft this day. Although it was difficult, it was a great bike riding because the air was crisp, the sun was shining, and the scenery was spectacular.


On our ride we saw a young black bear (although I could only get a fuzzy picture), and we stopped plenty of times to take in the view and smell the roses. This trip is more about the journey than the destination... we just have to keep telling ourselves that.




These hills were pretty steep, but more than anything they were long. We would climb uphill non-stop for what felt like 10 minutes at a time or more, although in my delirium I lost track of time and I could be totally wrong about that figure. Every time we would go around a curve we would see the uphill continuing, mocking us, but when you have the eye of the tiger nothing can bring you down. We continued undeterred. And every so often we would see a sign for an overlook with an elevation marker and our confidence would boost. Soon we would be above 3000 ft!

Let's do it to it!

Oddly enough, we never saw a sign for an overlook that was above 3000 ft. Disappointing, since a picture of it would have been nice for this blog. And strange, because our topographical map clearly showed us going above 3000 ft at least 3 times, and as high as 3300 ft at one point. Even by the time we had ridden over 30 miles on the parkway, still no sign of us being above 3000 ft.

I wish we hadn't gone the wrong way.

30 miles?!? We were only supposed to be on the parkway for 28 miles! Why hasn't there been an exit yet? Did we ... ? Could we've ... ?

Yep! We went the wrong way!

Earlier in the morning we reached a T-intersection. To the left the sign said "Visitor Center", and to the right the sign said "Skyline Drive". What's the difference between Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway anyway? Who knows, but we sure didn't want to go to some Visitor Center, so we took a right and paid the $8 entrance fee. How come our map didn't mention an entrance fee?

4 minds, a detailed map, hand-written cue sheets and a GPS just weren't enough. If we had looked at our map or cue sheets carefully, we would have seen them indicate a left at the T-intersection, south towards the Blue Ridge Parkway. Instead, we went north on Skyline Drive. So that's the difference!

By the time we figured all of this out it was nearing 5:00pm. Turning around wasn't an option, since it had taken us all day to get to where we were. The GPS was telling us that Elkton was just 12 miles further north as the crow flies, but it's hard to get motivated when you know you're going in the wrong direction on hilly terrain, and every yard you pedal will have to be pedaled back the next day. We considered camping illicitly on a patch of grass at an overlook, although water would be tight because Aaron and Anna sucked all of theirs up earlier in the day. Only Tony and I had any left. We hadn't had dinner either, and as I said before, this kind of cycling just begs for calories.

Pasta-face.

It was getting cold by this time, but we put our jackets on and kept pedaling the remaining miles. Finally we came to the exit off of Skyline Drive towards Elkton. Funny how a long day's climb of 3000 ft can be so quickly undone by one 3 mile downhill, and it's hard to enjoy when there are cars speeding past you. At around 6:45pm we made it to Elkton, VA, about 50 miles south of Front Royal, and booked a room at the Country View Motel for $45. After a day like this, we just wanted to shower, eat, and relax.

Worn-out at the Country View Motel, Elkton, VA.

The owner, Bob, ordered us some fried chicken from the nearby convenience store, which turned out to be some of the best fried chicken I've ever had! And as it turned out, my girlfriend Tiffany's sister's wedding was the next day, Saturday June 21st, in Front Royal, VA - just 50 miles away! I didn't think I was going to be able to make it there, but with this simple twist of fate I decided to call Tiffany and have her pick me up the next morning before the wedding. We all decided to take a well-deserved rest day.

This bicycle tour has been a metaphor for life. You have your ups, you have your downs. It's hard, but you keep pedaling. And it's about the journey more than the destination. Trite but true, and we have really been learning the meaning of these sayings on this trip.

Day 6: The Cookie Lady (Charlottesville to Afton, VA - 27.8 mi)

By special request, for Kinsey:


Ride now, ride now! Ride to Afton! Suddenly Aaron cried to the Randonee and the bike sprang away. Behind him his bike shorts blew in the wind, a brown horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his castle, but he was ever before them. Guillermo rode there on his trek, the white horsetail on his helm floating in this speed, but Tony could not be overtaken.



Behold! Trees of cherry sprang from the soil of Corzet! nourishing the battle-stricken warriors as the sun dried the clothes dripping from their metal steeds.

Crossing the hills of Corzet, Curry mountain awaited the riders. Back and forth, the steep and winding road was unforgiving and never-ending, but with a fire in their veins, their legs push them towards the Manor of the Cookie Lady. And then all the host burst into song, and they sang as they flew, for the joy of battle was on them, and the sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came even to the City of Afton.




After continental breakfast and some Dharma & Greg at the Charlottesville Budget Inn (we're really roughing it), we didn't get on the road until 10:30 or so. We stopped at the local Harris Teeter grocery store to buy provisions, i.e. pasta, cans of olives, sundried tomatoes, hot sauce, etc. You need some spice in your life.



The ride this morning was pleasant, although it was cloudy at times. Our goal was to get to Afton, to the home of the Cookie Lady, which is only a 28 mile bike ride away. We made this our goal despite the short distance because, for one thing, Afton comes right before the Blue Ridge climb, which has some of the steepest and longest hills on our trip. Also, the Cookie Lady has been hosting bikers at her house since 1976, when the Trans-America trail first opened. If we're going cross-country, we may as well stop there and become part of the tradition. So Afton it is.


In the middle of the ride we came upon an unexpected but pleasant surprise. Chile's Peach Orchard in Crozet, VA, believe it or not, had some of the best soft serve ice cream we've ever had! The vanilla had the perfect consistency and flavor, and the chocolate had tiny speckles of real chocolate in it. We ordered it in Sundae form, with fresh peaches and whipped cream.
On the recommendation of one of the employees, we then went out to pick fresh cherries which are in season this time of year. All in all, we spent at least an hour and a half at this place, but since our destination was so close, we didn't sweat it. The Cookie Lady was just 10 miles and one big hill away.

After leaving the orchard, we were on our way to the famed Cookie Lady's house. Things got progessively hillier, and all we knew was that she lived at the top of a steep hill, and after each hill we climbed we expected to see her house. After a steep, but short, hill, we stopped in front of someone's house wondering whether that was it. But there was no sign, no indication of either cookies or a lady. So we continued to climb. Then we hit a hill steeper than any other, and it curved, but after going around the bend, instead of flattening out as we expected, it just kept going up. And it kept curving. And after every curve, instead of flattening out as we expected it just kept going up. This went on for quite a while, and as we reached the top, winded and exhausted, we surely expected to see the Cookie Lady's house. Nope! Nothing but an antique store! So we called June Curry, the Cookie Lady, and asked her for directions. "We're near the antique store," we said. She didn't sound like she knew what we were talking about, which was scary because that meant we weren't too close. Luckily it turned out she was just old and either didn't hear us correctly or just plumb forgot about the antique store! She lived next door.

Unfortunately June Curry is very old now, 87 actually, and she had a stroke a few years back, so she isn't in top form. She is still sweet though, and buys groceries (yes, including cookies) for all of the bikers. She has a small brick house next door to her own which she calls The Bike House, and that is where all of the bikers stay when they spend the night. It has 5 rooms, and outdoor shower (cold water!), a kitchen fully stocked with dishes and food, and all sorts of bicycle memorabilia dating back to 1976. You can imagine the catalog of stories she has stored in her mind about bikers and the town she lives in. Well, she talked our ear off for a good 45 minutes about Crozet's railroad, and what it was like to date back in the olden days ("You and your date would go to church together because that's really all there is to do here in Afton.") Ms. Curry lives alone, and it's understandable that she just needs an ear every once in a while.

She was born in 1921 in the house she now calls The Bike House, and has lived there almost all her life. She was married and had a child, but her husband left her and she moved back with her father and uncle into the house she grew up in. She was living with her father in her 50's the first time they saw bicyclists pedaling up their hill. "We were suspicious at first. We had heard about all of the motorcycle gangs, and we thought 'Oh dear, they must've taken to bicycles too!" They gave them water, and before the first group was done drinking another group came up the hill and was waiting in line. They put up a sign which read "Water For Bikers" and they kept it going ever since. "Let me tell you something about bicyclists: When I had my stroke a few years ago, the doctor said I could go home after 10 days on the condition that I have a 24 hour nurse. The cheapest I could find was $10 per hour, which I couldn't afford on my $300/mo social security check. When the Adventure Cycling Association found out, they posted a bulletin on the internet and received donations from bicyclists from all over the world! People who had come and stayed at my house over the past 30 years! I received enough to pay for a nurse for the next full year. It wasn't friends or family, just bicyclists. You guys are a part of my family whether you know it or not."

Outside the bike house.




Tony says: "I am the walrus."

After a dinner of angel hair pasta with sundried tomatoes, olives and canned chicken, and of course some cookies and milk, we went to sleep so we could tackle the Blue Ridge Parkway....