May 18, 2006
Day 8: Troutville to Radford, VA: Hills, Headwind, and an achin' bum
Today was tough--harder than the day in the real mountains. I'm in Radford with Geoff and Cristey tonight, and we all agreed that the route in today was tough. Just grinding out miles--scenery was nice, but it didn't change much and the hills and headwind (and my achin' butt) made for an unpleasant day. And to top it off, I got wet when it decided to spit rain for a few miles.
Woke up at 4 something but couldn't go anywhere then, so went back to sleep until Dave, the MS fundraising rider, started rustling around. I must have fallen back asleep b/c the next thing I knew he was shaking my tarp and telling me goodbye. I wish him well on his trip--he's done lots of bike touring and is doing big mile days, so we probably won't see him again. He's riding a mountain bike in denim shorts--hardcore.
Finished off some chocolate milk I'd bought the night before and headed up the road a few miles to a convenience store for a breakfast recommended by Buddy, one of the park assistants in Troutville. It was good, but I couldn't finish it all.
20 miles in, I saw a guy on a motorcycle with his dog in a sidecar. The guy had done the TransAm in 1980, but I was too tired to talk much and Jasper didn't like all the people around, so we headed our separate ways. Then I got something in my eye and couldn't get it out, so that made for some time-consuming entertainment around Ellet.
Christiansburg is a bear. The signed route is different than the map--the route had apparently been ammended to avoid the @#!? of a hill I saw as I turned a corner there. I didn't even try to bike it, and it was a long, tough push anyway. I wish I would have had the reroute info accurately.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
More hills, more draining wind on to Radford, where we're staying with some trail angels. If it wouldn't have been for that, knowing we had food, showers, and laundry waiting, I'd have gotten a room in Christiansburg instead. Cristey got in about 30 minutes before me. The Lees just open their home to anyone biking through and told us to make ourselves at home. We rummaged through the cabinets for snacks (well, Geoff didn't rummage much--he went for his raw foods in the fridge), mournful of the fact that the oreos weren't opened. In about two minutes, we got over that and opened the mini oreos and had at it--oreos and milk. This is a good place.
As it is, we're out in a camper in Sarah and Thad's yard for the night. I'm tired and need a rest day soon. It was going to be tomorrow, but I think we may ride one more day first. We'll see. It's not so much that I'm tired, but my legs don't have any pep. Hills I normally would power up in the middle ring are sending me down to my granny gears. Me and my granny got real well acquainted today. And I set a new low speed record of 2.4 mph on one hill. I didn't know my computer registered that low--but yes, I kept my balance.
I'm up late tonight working on journal entries--so maybe tomorrow will be my day off. Everything is here, and the Lees said they don't mind if we stay.
7:14:33, 8.3 avg, 60.08 mi
Today's ride: 60 miles (97 km)
Total: 372 miles (599 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 3 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |