Day 13: To Lebanon

September 21, 2014

I got on the road at 7:45, but only had a banana and granola bar for breakfast. After 5 miles I found a convenience store and got a biscuit with sausage, egg, and cheese.

Downtown Tazewell is very sleepy at 8 AM on Sunday morning. Probably sleepy most of the time. All the stores are on the bypass highway.

For most of the morning I pedaled on narrow 2-lane back roads. First on highway 91, then on county road 609 to connect to US 19. The terrain is very hilly, with 4 major hill climbs. Almost no traffic on a Sunday morning. No trucks.

The scenery is excellent. I'm still loving those isolated Allegheny mountain valleys. Elevation above 2000 feet all day, but the highest hilltop was only 2800 feet elevation.

The weather was 54F at 8 AM, but in the 70's by noon. Mostly cloudy with short periods of sun. Not bad.

Virginia Creeper supplies the first vibrant fall color.

I had never heard of this bike route, looked it up after the tour.

I found a map of the Heart of Appalachia bike route on RideWithGPS. It's 114 miles. Half paved, half unpaved. Select Terrain view to visualize the climbs.

Heart

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As expected the hills aren't as relentless on US 19, a 4-lane divided highway. The highway has a wide shoulder most of the time. Traffic was light at first, but heavier as I got close to Lebanon.

Today's route is sparsely populated and beautifully rustic. Just forest, pastures, and fields.

I took the highway 71 exit into the city of Lebanon and arrived at the Super 8 motel at 1:30 PM. They were kind enough to give me a room right away, even though check-in is 3 PM.

No mistaking what's served here! I like function-specific architecture.

The sky was threatening to rain as I arrived in Lebanon. The thunderstorm came and went while I took a nap from 2-5 PM. Afterwards I went half a mile to the supermarket. I grabbed a beer out of the refrigerated case and went to the cashier who told me that the county is dry on Sundays. No beer tonight. Welcome to the Bible Belt.

My home for tonight in Lebanon, VA. Totally vacant when I arrived at 1:30 PM.

Today's distance includes a 4 mile round trip to Ponderosa Steakhouse for dinner. Sometimes I get an easy day simply because the next motel is impossibly far away. The next two days will be longer and hillier.

Distance: 47.1 mi. (75 km)
Climbing: 2330 ft. (706 m)
Average Speed: 10.2 mph (16.3 km/h)

Today's ride: 47 miles (76 km)
Total: 597 miles (961 km)

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