Day 18: Abingdon, VA to Council, VA (~60 miles)

Thursday, July 3rd, 2008

We were on the road late after watching Law & Order and were biking by 12:30pm. Right before Hayter's Gap we stopped by a little country store for a bathroom break, and of course to purchase some emergency Cowtails: caramel tubes with "oreo" creme filling. The locals at the store who ride their motorcycles around the county warnes us of the horrendously steep 3 mile uphill after Hayter's Gap. I like to call it Hater's Gap. 3 miles of incredibly steep winding roads that took us almost an hour to climb. That's right mathematicians! That's about 3 miles an hour! You know you've reached the top when you see the sign for the new county line. Counties apparently like to divide their territories at the top of huge fucking hills.

By 5:30pm we were near Rosedale, VA where we picked up cheap fried chicken for dinner later and slushies for right away. We could have stayed at the local Rosedale church - they welcome bicyclists - but they were having what appeared to be a wake, so we decided to push on another couple of hours and took off for Council. This meant another huge mountain climb. Tony wasn't happy about that and was grumpy and pouting the rest of the way. He wouldn't even eat Sour Patch Extreme Gushers, which he had never tried before. But when we reached the community park at Council around 9:00pm, his mood changed quickly. Shane, the lifeguard, let us camp near the pool and swim for a while, and then gave us free sodas and let us use the microwave. This was really nice of him since he had to stay there an hour and a half later just for us. The pool was enough to wipe the frown from Tony's face, and when he finally tried the Sour Patch Gushers he declared them to be his favorite candy of all time.

Sermons Sundays and Wendsdays.

Snack break: Doritos and Slushies.
We're going to try to eat healthier someday.

The pool we played Sharks & Minnows in,
and the lifeguard who let us.

My main man Shane.

Hoodlums-turned-pool-employees.

While setting up our tents after dark, a truck pulled up near us at the park. A group of teens - possibly hoodlums - approached us. Turns out they were park employees who thought we were the hoodlums until we told them we were camping bikers. My new beard must've given them the wrong impression: