April 30, 2022
Day 8: Stepping further into the hiker ecosystem
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Day 8 stats
Starting point: Rural Retreat, Va.
Ending point: Damascus, VA.
The Daily Progress: 45.27 miles
Elevation gain: 2,648 feet
Lodging expenses: $50 (Lady Di's B&B and Hostel)
Food expenses: $25.30 ($3.50 at Dollar General + 19 dinner and beer at Damascus Dinner + 2.80 ice cream sandwich from gas station)
Day 8 highlights and ramblings
Chris, the trail angel who stopped me on the road last night and invited me to stay at his house, and his precocious seventh-grade son, Ryan, saw me off this morning just as it started to drizzle.
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The town of Rural Retreat — and much of this region of Virginia — is surrounded by farms. As I petaled slowly down the road past one of these farms, an old man getting into a truck, which had an old woman in the other passenger seat and a cow in a pen in the back, looked at me — a cyclist in a big yellow rain jacket, to say nothing of the rain pants and shoe covers — and he said earnestly, "You're gonna get wet."
I guess it's a fine line sometimes between being helpful and just stating what is blatantly obvious. "Yeah, I know," I replied.
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I almost titled this entry, "It's April 30. It's gonna be graaayyyyy." If you get the joke, maybe you're a super millennial. If you don't get it, you don't get it.
But I did not title this entry any version of "it's gonna be gray" because the gray skies actually cleared up. It was a beautiful afternoon and after I finally did make it past Troutdale, the ride was mostly downhill, which was a relief and a lot of fun at times. For much of the afternoon, I rode along streams cascading over mossy rocks. So peaceful.
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It's always great to end the day with a downhill cruise because it leaves you feeling good about the ride and not dreading the next one. Well, it's supposed to thunderstorm tomorrow and I made it to Damascus, which seems like a great place to take a "zero day," so that is my plan tomorrow (I will stay in the same town, making zero progress down the trail).
At the suggestion of Sligo (whom I spoke with, along with PT, over breakfast at the hostel in Catawba a few days ago), I landed today at Lady Di's B&B and Hostel. Having learned from my mistake yesterday, I called in advance to make sure they had room. Sligo (that's his trail name, in case it wasn't obvious) had told me Damascus is a big trail town, and someone else, maybe Chris, told me it was bike-friendly too and has the Virginia Creeper trail right outside town, so I was very interested to see it.
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Upon arrival at the hostel, it was striking how much of a hiker hangout it was. One guy who goes by Yellowstone was either packing or unpacking some gear on the front porch. Am inflatable sleeping pad was hanging over the porch railing. Backpacks, trail runner shoes and hiking poles were strewn everywhere. Cool. I had stepped into the world of the Appalachian Trail again.
Turns out, I'm the only cyclist staying here among maybe 10 hikers. While I know that Appalachian Trail is better known than the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail, I was surprised that most people I spoke to this evening had never heard of bike touring before. Considering how much it has in common with backpacking, that surprised me. One hiker named Marina had heard of it and said she'd been thinking of it, especially after all the backpacking she's been doing on the AT.
After I showered and dropped off my clothes for the free laundry service, a group of us — Crockett, Marina, Songbird, Yellowstone and Laurie and I — went to have dinner together. We settled at the Damascus Diner and compared bike touring and backpacking and I learned that it was fairly common to go without a stove and to cold-soak dehydrated food instead of rehydrating it with boiling water. I didn't think to ask them about deodorant, but it came up with one of my roommates, Billy Goat, who basically said hell no to deodorant — for hygiene, she carries a toothbrush, toothpaste, chapstick and eye drops (because of allergies) and that's it. Her pack is down to 12 pounds. In Catawba, the hikers were hauling at least 20 pounds, and often 25 or more.
Speaking of weight, I discovered at the hostel today that I could probably shed a couple of layers until I get to Colorado. Maybe I'll ship them out there so I don't have to carry them.
Today's ride: 45 miles (72 km)
Total: 423 miles (681 km)
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