Climbing Peaks of Otter

July 2, 2016

Well, we made it to the Peaks of Otter Lodge! But cellular service was non-existent and the WiFi seems to be here mostly in name only. So the full update needed to wait till later (now done).

Today's ride to Peaks of Otter.

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Today's ride was spectacular. It was exciting to be "touring" again, if only for a short duration (like two days!). Our start was a little slow and we didn't rise till 8:00 AM and didn't make our way to breakfast at Market and Main, two blocks down the street, till close to 9:00. But it was a good breakfast . . . for me at least. Mark was having stomach issues and only wanted to eat yogurt and a muffin. We were both hoping that would be enough but he was also carrying food bars and I had four bananas and trail mix. There was no place on our route to stop for lunch and only the KOA Camp Store near the Parkway for drinks and snacks.

The interior of Market and Main. Already crowded by 9:00 AM, the food was good but also the only game around.

After breakfast, we still had to busy ourselves with getting ready, including putting some non-touring gear in the car (the hotel was kind enough to let us park there an extra night). So, by the time we shoved off, it was about 11:00 AM. Egads! Well, we are only doing 44 miles on familiar terrain and we have all day. Hopefully, Mark will not bonk!

The trusty Cannondale, loaded up with about 20 lbs. of baggage, my expected load for the Alps tour.

So the exit out of town was pretty effortless, all downhill. As we crossed the James River on the 5th Street Bridge, I stopped to look back at the city and snap a picture of the impressive hills it is built on. Something to tackle at the end of tomorrow's ride!

Crossing the 5th Street Bridge and looking back on Lynchburg.

And the James River. Gotta have that! This one looking downstream since that's the side of the bridge we were on.

But first, let's bike along the James River for a couple of miles! We took the first ramp on the far side of the river and descended down to, what else but, River Road.

River Road was a delight to bike along. Not many vistas of the river but almost no traffic and well-shaded. And hilly. But that was OK. We were in no rush and we just geared down to a comfortable cadence. We were touring now, not training!

River Road out of Lynchburg. Quiet with some hills and great vistas.

I wish River Road had taken us all the way to the Blue Ridge Parkway but alas we were forced onto Elon Road/State Road 130, a somewhat busy two-lane highway with next to nothing shoulders in some places and none in others. The scenery was delightful and the climbing a little easier as it was better graded than River Road, but both of us would have preferred something a little quieter. Regardless, both roads are signed for cyclists (Share the Road) and traffic was reasonably well behaved. But like us, for them, this is also an only option route, so more shoulder would be helpful.

Elon Road/SR-130 had some nice vistas as well but was much busier and had little or no shoulder.

We made our way along SR-130, passing through several small towns (Elon being one of them) but only stopped for pictures and this minor detour which added (thankfully) only 1/4 mile to our route!

Our first detour! I was concerned at first but quickly realized the detour was short, like not even 1/4 of a mile!

We also stopped at the KOA Campground located about a mile from the Parkway. By then we needed to refill water bottles and I wanted some Gatorade. They were also kind enough to let us use the facilities. As an after thought, I realized we probably could have stopped at the Otter Creek campground on the James River as well but I am pretty confident the KOA has the better camp store.

The Parkway entrance was on a nice downhill that continued pretty much to the river. It's a very nice crossing with great vistas in both directions. And, of course, that is where the climb begins!

Entering the Blue Ridge Parkway. Turn left at the Stop sign Mark!

Our second crossing of the James River, this one much more pleasant!

It starts out as a slow ascent but from memory I knew at the first switchback the grade picks up substantially. I was pretty much correct. Still, it seemed pretty easy. But we were still feeling fresh, only halfway through the ride today, and maybe feeling a little cocky.

Staring the long climb to Peaks of Otter.

Eventually though, we settled into our gear of preference. For me, that was my second chain ring, a 34, and my largest rear cog, a nice 30. That put me at a steady speed in the 5 to 7 mph range. At that speed, it would take us two hours to climb the 12-mile ascent, including breaks and photo ops.

We pretty much held that pace. It would pick up at times on the turns where the grade "flattens" a bit but mostly it was a pretty steady 5-7% grade all the way, just as we expect our Alp climbs to be. Except those will be longer!

So patience and endurance are the key here, not strength per se. I think I climbed this better than 8 years ago, probably faster and I know with fewer stops. And my legs never tired. In fact, I was well up the climb before they even felt a little sore. Occasionally, I would up gear one rear cog to my 26. A little variety is good otherwise it can get a little monotonous, especially if the section is long and straight.

Mark likes to get out of the saddle so he would gear up to create more resistance and then stand up to climb. For a number of reasons, I never do that. Probably because my bike is geared for touring and I can always gear down. And when doing loaded touring, standing is an iffy proposition due to balance concerns. But I do notice that I take the weight off my seat sometimes, which in effect is standing, I'm just not high out of the saddle. And being 6'-0" tall on a big bike, when I stand, I tower. Mark has a more compact build and often rides a traditional road bike so we just have different styles. But both work.

A stretch of long straightaway, which the Parkway can be famous for.

Near the top of the climb the views got very spectacular. Much of the climb is wooded so long view sheds are not that common. At the top it opens up more and you can see for quite a distance.

One of the few real views from the climb, which is heavily forested.

We also ran into another cyclist who was headed north. Dak had started from his home (at some point south of us, I'm not sure he shared that with us) and was headed to the northern terminus near Waynesboro, VA. From there, he will turn around, head for Gatlinburg, TN on the far side of the Smokies via Cherokee, NC (the southern terminus), and then return home, biking the length of the Parkway twice in one trip! Very impressive. It was already 3:30 when we met him but he only had to descend to the James River where he was camping that night. Later that night it opened up; I hope he stayed dry.

Chatting up Dak, a cyclist headed in the opposite direction.

From the top it was pretty much all downhill to the Peaks of Otter Lodge, another ten miles down the road. There were two "minor" climbs but they were put away relatively easily. We were at the lodge and checked into our room by 4:30.

Finally, Peaks of Otter Lodge . . . and the lake and the peak!

We had a nice, but pricey room. Great view of the lake and the Peaks of Otter (which are not at the top of the climb!).

We had a great view from our room of the lake . . .

The facility dates to the 1960's, and being owned and operated (through a vendor) by the National Park Service, needs some updating. They have cable TV (not used by us) and token WiFi. It took over two hours to sync and upload my pictures from today's ride to my RWGPS track! Hence, no pictures here until later! Dinner was OK. They rave about their fried chicken so I had that. It was good but not particularly the best I've ever had. So no pictures of food!

And while the restaurant food was only so-so, they had fine live entertainment.

Tomorrow, we descend after a little bit of climbing!

Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km)
Total: 44 miles (71 km)

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