May 18, 2021
Day 6 - Crozet, VA to Vesuvius, VA
Blew ridge
We woke up in the backyard of our warm showers host and packed up. We immediately headed to the mud coffee cafe down the road to grab a drink and plan the day. After a nice latte we headed out towards Afton. When we got close to 690, the road was closed, but after talking to a local, we went around the barrier with no consequences. The hills started early today and making it up to the cookie lady's house was tough. We stopped there to have oatmeal around 1030 or so.
We prepped ourselves for the biggest hills yet and mounted up. It was Tuesday, so very little road traffic. We eventually reached the blue ridge parkway and kinda thought it would get easier from the point on... We were wrong. The rolling hills were brutal and it seemed to be a Gusty headwind most of the time. At least it wasn't rainy. It was partly cloudy and felt a little cold on top.
We kept stopping to hydrate and snack but our legs weren't keeping up and we were getting slower and slower. Chubs developed another annoying pedal tick. I wasn't sure how much more parkway I could take but finally, around 430, we pulled off the parkway onto 56. We stopped to don our jackets for the infamous descent. It did not disappoint. It seemed like we did 3 miles in 5 minutes. We got to the bottom around 5 and went to Gertie's store up the road to grab supplies. We hadn't picked a spot for the night, and it was getting late. We had heard the mallard duck campground down the road was closed so we were preparing to camp at any random church or ask someone at their house. When I went into Gertie's to ask about camp spots they offered their back yard! They also offered a shower at the nearby house! We instantly accepted since we were super beat and didn't want to continue into the unknown. We got some sweet potato fries and kombucha before the guy running the place showed us to the bathroom. We were so happy to shower after our toughest day yet and we get to camp over by a tiny creek. We ate the rest of our hummus and guac on bread, set up the tent and set to catching up on mobile. We shall sleep before sundown today, of this I am sure.
Altitude gain: unknown since Mary's gps watch died and we don't get a charger until Buchanan.
Mileage: 43
Today's ride: 43 miles (69 km)
Total: 260 miles (418 km)
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