June 26, 2022
Blue Ridge Parkway End 2 End Day 4- Fancy Gap to Horse Gap
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Josh
I didn't sleep great and ended up waking up around 0430. I laid in bed until there was enough sun to see wildlife in the field and then went and sat on the porch. Unfortunately, I woke everyone in the room up while doing this.
We pushed off a little after 0830 and really it was quite nice. We saw lots of turkeys and deer straight away. We hit a flattish section where G and I could work together a bit. We got passed, in serial fashion, by members of what appeared to be the "squad-direct.com" car club. They drive these souped up cars that sound like weed whackers and have all sorts of fancy-looking stickers on them. They were going quite quick, even around blind turns; but, I will say, they all pretty much gave us space and waved to us.
We met SAG around mile 30 at Little Glade Pond where they were playing in the creek waiting for us. After a quick stop we climbed about 5 miles to Mahogany Rock overlook. The pavement was super smooth which made it seem like a quick easy climb. We had lunch there as a team and I finally finished all the Ledo's pizza. I tried to get some cool drone videos but ended up crashing the drone! I had to go over the rock guide rail and down the mountain slope to to find it. I eventually did. It now has a damaged propellor but seems to be working fine.
That was a sign of things to come. Just as we finished lunch we started to feel some rain drops. It started to blow and rain pretty hard. This resulted in the ensuing descent being pretty damn sketchy with puddling water, cross winds blowing us around, and me wearing my regular sunglasses (to keep the rain out my eyes) making it even darker. I forgot how much rain stings when you're going at 40+ mph.
We made it to the bottom and then had some more bad news. There was another road closure. Danielle used a compass, map, carrier pigeon, divining rod, and google maps to find us a questionable-at-best detour straight out of the movie "wrong turn." But, we all made it through with our gullets intact and ended up only losing about a mile of the parkway. SAG dropped us off and we started riding again. It was raining even harder at this point, blowing, and the temp had dropped to about 58-60 degrees. A lot of cyclists struggle in this weather. These horrible conditions for some reason have always seemed to suit me (see Rule #9 https://www.velominati.com) , I speculate maybe because I'm bigger then a lot of other riders. In this cool weather my legs started to feel a lot better and I started pushing more and more watts through the pedals. It wasn't long before I rejoined the SAG team at the end and cracked a beer on the parkway to celebrate tomorrow's rest day.
Today by the numbers:
Wildlife: Deer, adult, 5. Turkey, 6.
Calories: 2419 kcal
Food Consumed: Ledo's pizza slices, 2. PBJ, 1. Ruffles, 1. Juice, pickle, 3. Coke, cherry, 2.
Fellow Cyclist: 4, all north bound.
WWII Willys Jeeps: 2
Max Speed: 48.0 mph, average speed 16.2 mph
Ride Time: 3:34:42
License Plate Situation:
USA: Rhode Island was the sole new one today (thanks to the car club).
Thus far we have seen: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, PA, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Colorado, Texas, Kentucky, Montana, Utah, California, Nevada, Alabama, Washington State, Washington DC, Oregon, and Rhode Island.
Canada laid an egg today, eh? We have seen Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia, and Quebec, salut.
No signs of the Swiss today.
George
I’ll start with a quick-quiz. What do I have in common with Greg LeMond, America’s greatest ever cyclist and 3x Tour de France champion? I wish it were cycling related, but I’m proud to say I share a birthday with my hero. And what a birthday it was!
Madeline gave me an inspirational sign for next year's big adventure- our Appalachain Trail thru-hike. She also gave me a cool looking mountain man gnome. Danielle got up early to sneak away from our amazing lodge (the Fancy Gap Campground) and came back with birthday donuts. Annabelle gave me a picture of a unicorn she decorated using my favorite colors. Josh towed me along for much of the first half of today and helped me achieve my quickest average speed- 15 mph. A stranger going northbound by bicycle hollered "Happy Birthday George" as he rode past. Turns out Danielle put him up to that! And even the BRP gave me something. Half of today's ride was on brand new silky smooth roads.
But it wasn't all cupcakes and unicorns. It rained steadily for the second half of the ride, which wasn't so bad on the uphills but made me pretty cold when descending. Then there was my chain which fell off 5 times and will need to be adjusted on tomorrow's rest day. I packed my tools along and can do it myself so I won't have to find a bike shop. There was also the detour Josh mentioned above. It didn't seem like a good idea to follow a detour of unknown length onto a crowded highway in a downpour with a burnt out tail light. Sag team to the rescue!
In the end I had a great day and a birthday to remember. While I miss my wife and son, the people around me showed so much love I am grateful and blessed.
Life is good.
Today's ride: 58 miles (93 km)
Total: 344 miles (554 km)
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