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.