May 20, 2021
Day 8 - Buchanan, VA to Blacksburg, VA
Prayer warrior
We had a fairly good night of sleep in Buchanan. The interstate is nearby and there is a very active train that goes through here, but ear plugs made it better. It was very foggy and everything was covered in dew. We ate overnight oats and packed up while things dried a little. After yesterday, we were thinking of sending some underused items home when we stopped at the post office today. Items we came up with were: camp chairs, monocular, thermos, misc small clothing, backpack, silicone bowl, and more.
We greased and cleaned our chains using a rag Mary found on the side of the road and I found the source of the clicking on my bike. It seems my left pedal has some play in the bearings. I tightened the outer tension bolt, so we will see if that helps. Our destination is Blacksburg and it will be 60 some miles of more up than down, so we are trying to get psyched up. Lessening our load should help.
We started off well, made it to daleville at 11 and we're accosted by a religious lady who asked us to go into a gas station to get change. I was rather mad, but Mary went and did it. Mary got back and the lady gave us 5 bucks so that was nice. She said the number 5 means grace and then prayed for us. It was a little weird and I had to stop myself from smiling because prayer is a serious business. We left quickly before anyone else could approach us and went to the food lion up the road for lunch materials. After an uneventful shop, we started down Cawtaba road. It was pretty, but I saw a sign for the land fill and then tons of 18 wheelers and dump trucks kept flying by.
We were riding along and the crazy lady from the has station was waving out the window going the other way. I thought it was pretty random we passed her again, but then a couple miles down the road, she was stopped infront of us and flagged us down. She gave us her number and said if we needed prayers then just call because she was a prayer warrior. I noticed her license plate said "presn-on" and thought we might be kidnapped. Fortunately I think we gave her the slip. We continued on Cawtaba road which turns out to not only have the landfill but the Roanoke concrete and mining company. Once we passed that, the trucks died down for the most part but it was extremely hilly, hot (89*). We stopped at a vacant church for lunch but there were ticks everywhere. With only 15 miles left to Blacksburg (warm showers host) we were wearing down. We stopped at a fancy house to steal water from their spigot and it tasted like sulfur. There are alot of towns around here named after sulfur too..
Unfortunately Blacksburg is on a giant hill, so there were 3 Mike's of climbs to get up. Once up though, we coaster through town, stopped at a Kroger for some dinner foods, and made it to our host at 530. It was just in time for them to leave for their Thursday night ride. Hopefully we can hang out with them more later in the evening. They are serious bike enthusiasts and even have a tandem mountain bike. I might not make it too late though, we are both even more exhausted. We have a short day tomorrow ~35 miles, so we are going to hit a bike shop in the am and get some coffee. I need to sort out my pedal clicking, but maybe later tonight, our hosts have all the tools so there is no excuse.
Mileage: 61
Altitude: 4222
Today's ride: 63 miles (101 km)
Total: 366 miles (589 km)
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