Simple trip, simple plan:

1. Get in a "practice" mini-tour before our trek from Paris to Milan, and
2. Get in a "practice" climb with a long ascent at a grade comparable to the passes we will climb in the Alps.

I've done a lot of touring in the past two years . . . but Mark's last tour was through Italy back in September 2015. I've come to think it's a good idea to have a dry run to work out the bugs before a long tour, but also to rekindle the memories of riding with a loaded bike. Loaded bikes handle themselves a little differently than unloaded bikes . . . some would say better if you have a true touring bike . . . and being familiar with differences in handling and braking is a good thing to be familiar with.

At the foot of the climb to Peaks of Otter, there are almost no lodging options. There is a KOA Campground not far away but they have a three-night minimum for cabins (and camping I imagine). We did not need three nights! So we looked at other options including staying multiple nights at the Peaks of Otter Lodge. That would have worked if we wanted to do two out-and-backs, i.e. descend to the James River and return one day and descend to Bedford and return the next day. But those options don't really "feel" like touring.

So we settled on a hotel in Lynchburg, starting the tour there, heading up the James River to the Blue Ridge Parkway, where we would pick up the climb to Peaks of Otter and stay the night at the lodge there before returning the next day. Simple plan, true sense of touring, and enough climbing in both directions to make it worthwhile (and yes, even with the descent, we have plenty of climbing to do!).

Here are the routes: