It's been a good, restful few days! I was able to, finally, catch up on some restful sleep. I'm starting to realize the value of a nice warm bed and a temperature controlled shelter.
Dad drove me from Mineral to Staunton. The drive was a little over an hour. Far more than I had hoped to leave, but 76 was just so incredibly windy. I think I'll stick to Google here on out.
After a restful sleep, I got up fairly early and we spent the day talking and catching up. We talked about Joe and Ashley and what's new with them. It had been a since I saw them last. Ashley finished nursing school and is looking to go back to school soon. Joe is doing well and has a steady job as a mechanic. Dad was doing well and continuing to manage the Peebles stores in the area. We just basically affluent the whole day catching up. Holly made some delicious lasagna for dinner and all of us were able to sit down together to share it. It was the first real dinner that I'd had I since biker guy's spaghetti. I was so hungry that I ended up polishing off 4 pieces. Bed came early that night as I prepped to get back on the road in the morning.
It took a while to finally leave. About two hours later than I wanted, but I was able to say my goodbyes by 1pm. I felt bad for leaving so soon, but was excited to get back on the road. It took a while to break free of the urge to turn back around and stay for a while longer. But I had come so far already, I just couldn't stop now. It took about a full 15 miles, once I had rode down a fairly steep hill before
Felt bad for leaving after a shirt stay, but decided to make another trip later this year once the motorcycle is fixed.
The first 15 miles were the hardest, I felt like going back, but I had gone too far to stop.
About about 2 hours, I ended up in Lexington, where I saw the infamous VMI with which I was threatened to be sent to as a troublesome kid. But judging by the age of the students, they probably wouldn't have taken me when I was twelve, thanks Dad for inciting all of that terror earlier in my youth. After VMI, I was getting hungry, so I stopped by Macados in Lexington, it was Wednesday and 5:00pm , Mexican night! The first Mexican I'd had since I left Boone. I remembered later on why I had forestalled Mexican on this trip, but I remembered after I had eaten, and I got to understand later why jalapenos are not a good idea when you have limited access to bathrooms. Rest stops just don't appear nearly as fast when you are on a bicycle. I'll leave it at that.
Anywho, I left Lexington and still had a good 3 hours left of daylight. Google was spot on with this part of the trip. They took me on a route through done beautiful rolling hills and farm lend and then down right by a stream for miles. The sun setting beyond the mountains gave the day a prolonged golden hour and the water shimmered like crystal. Plank road was the name, 20 plus miles along this beautiful route.
A strange thing happened down this road. I started having an out of body experience. I no longer felt like I was the one riding, it felt like I was viewing everything from someone else's eyes. It was like I was in a tunnel assing through time at a different rate than everything else. Everything, the trees, the leaves, the gravel on the road, would start in the front of my view and then pass along my peripheral. It was like when you are speeding along in a car and you look down at the grass on the shoulder and it's all just a blur. It was eerie but at the same time calming, like the paper bag floating along in the leaves in that scene from American Beauty.
It was getting dark and I was about out of batteries. The area was very rural, but by now I was parallel with interstate 81, and, surprisingly, also back on the 76 bicycle route. I knew that I couldn't be too far from a gas station, and right as night fell, about 10 miles down the road, there was a small gas station. I stayed for a bit and talked to the old man behind the counter. By 10 I was on my way to find a sleeping spot. I wanted to stay by the road main, but I kept having to go further down a hill out of my way to find a camp site. Many of the places had no trespassing signs. One was especially creative and basically said that they shot first and asked questions later, painted on the side of their shed right by their big ole' confederate flag. So I kept moving, far away from them, further and further down the hill. Google said I was nearly in a national forest, by the town of Arcadia. So I trudged on more in hope of getting to the forest. Then I was there, and I found a decent bridge to sleep by, but there was no place to stash the bike. So I kept on, crossing the beginnings of the Johns river that I had to cross over for 10 miles back in Newport News. It was just a little more than the size of a creek at this point in it's journey. I thought about sleeping here. There was a small ramp for boats, but they fad signs posted that specifically said not to camp. So again I kept going...
Then I neared a small bridge that I thought was perfect, lo and behold, dogs started barking right as I slowed down to make camp. So on I went, and finally reached Arcadia, dead tired and miles out of my way, down to the bottom of a large hill. That night I slept on the bank behind the Arcadian church. Aching with my guts full of spicy Mexican food.
A few hours later, I heard cars and noises in the church parking lot. Surely they weren't going to church. It had to be about 5am. Then I heard dogs barking, and the distinct noise of guns cocking. At this point, I grabbed my bear mace and laid still in my hammock. They likely couldn't see me in my green hammock in the woods up on the hill, but their dogs must have noticed me, as they were going crazy and the hunters were having a tough time quieting them down . So I sat still and hoped that they were going elsewhere. I thought that coming out of the hammock would have likely been a worse idea, and if they were after me, I'd hear the rustling of the leaves first.
Keeping quiet worked. They weren't after me at all, they were just hunters meeting up at the church parking lot. I thought hunting wasn't allowed in national forests, then again, I was just on the fringe of it. They left in one of the trucks and I was able to conch right out again for a few more hours of much needed sleep. The hunters eventually cam back around 8:30/9:00. I was so tired that I stayed in the hammock until around 10.
It took a while to get back up the hill back to the gas station and the main road. I knew that it was going to be a trek up, and starting the trip uphill doesn't make for an encouraging start for the day. But I was excited to get back on the road. This was going to be a long day of riding, one of only two left and I was excited to be done soon. The area was rural for a long while, but eventually I turned back onto Lee Highway, now two lanes, and stuck to that for the majority of the day. The day was hot, and the 1 to 3 part of the days was just as hot as every other day had been... oh the dog days of summer. But I kept on, making it to Roanoke and then Salem by around 3.
The road after Salem was long and hilly, with steep troughs and grinding peaks. It was slow going, grueling, but I was feeling ambitious...forceful even. Throwing all I could into the hills. After a rather long downhill ride that took me near 40 mph, I saw it. One of the steepest inclines that I have even seen on a main highway. The trucks going up were traveling less than 20 miles per hour and were barely passing me by as I climbed. This was a test and I was determined. I was going to climb this ridiculous monolith and what's more, I was going to stay on the bike the entire way, no hopping off and walking up this thing as I had done when I was tired on the Blue Ridge Parkway. No, I was going to ride up this mountain. And so I did, slowly but surely, with a consistent rhythm. Left, Right. Left, Right. LEFT, RIGHT. The pace was slow. The climb was steep and lasted for over a mile and a half. And then, as I saw the crest, I learned something about myself. I CLIMBED A MOUNTAIN. And I can do anything, ANYTHING, I would ever want to do, as long as I have the mindset and determination to do it.
I have fallen back on this moment a countless number of times since then. When I wanted to quit my ride further on, I remembered that I climbed a mountain. When I was stuck one of my invention projects and was ready to give up, I remembered that I climbed a mountain. When I've been down and feeling pitiful, I pulled myself out of it by remembering that I can achieve anything when I'm in the right mindset. I climbed a mountain!
And so there I was, once again on flat land. A plateau in the middle of the mountains. Christiansburg, right by Blacksburg and the ski slopes. I had driven through this area on I-81 before, but it felt different now that I was taking it at 10 mph. It might have been the euphoria, but I really liked Christiansburg. The brick-lain downtown area was reminiscent of the 1800's, completed with a large spire church and clock tower right in the middle of town. It was getting to be twilight again by now and I was starting to wonder where I should camp for the night, but I kept going. The road once again turned to a steep decline that sent me flying. It was nearly dark by the time I got to the bottom, but decided that I'd keep traveling until I got to Radford.
By the time I got to Radford it was dark. Fortunately, I was in downtown and the city lights kept me well lit until I could find a decent place to make shelter. I was hungry and my phone was almost dead. I had been sort of craving and curious about one of those new guacamole burgers at Burger King (I know of all places right)...well I guess more curious about what fast food avocado would taste like. So I looked up for the nearest Burger King. Ugh, another 2 miles away. Well, I decided it was worth the effort, so on I went.
Alas, the BK was out of the guacamole. I gave the guy at the front counter a bit of grief in jest...telling him how I traveled another 2 miles after 80 miles just to get here, and I have to say, he did go out of his way to search for some, albeit to no avail. So I stuck to a salad and a sandwich. Oddly, the salad was just what I needed after today's trip. So I stayed and consumed probably another 1000 calories in soda alone while my batteries recharged. That night, I camped out behind an unused tractor trailer that was behind an abandoned Big Lots (maybe Kmart?) Fortunately, this time, I found a nice sturdy tree that held me high above the ground and I was pretty much out of the way of anyone who would notice. It was a chilly night, but being wrapped in the blanket kept me warm. I slept like a babe.
Dad drove me from Mineral to Staunton. The drive was a little over an hour. Far more than I had hoped to leave, but 76 was just so incredibly windy. I think I'll stick to Google here on out.
After a restful sleep, I got up fairly early and we spent the day talking and catching up. We talked about Joe and Ashley and what's new with them. It had been a since I saw them last. Ashley finished nursing school and is looking to go back to school soon. Joe is doing well and has a steady job as a mechanic. Dad was doing well and continuing to manage the Peebles stores in the area. We just basically affluent the whole day catching up. Holly made some delicious lasagna for dinner and all of us were able to sit down together to share it. It was the first real dinner that I'd had I since biker guy's spaghetti. I was so hungry that I ended up polishing off 4 pieces. Bed came early that night as I prepped to get back on the road in the morning.
It took a while to finally leave. About two hours later than I wanted, but I was able to say my goodbyes by 1pm. I felt bad for leaving so soon, but was excited to get back on the road. It took a while to break free of the urge to turn back around and stay for a while longer. But I had come so far already, I just couldn't stop now. It took about a full 15 miles, once I had rode down a fairly steep hill before
Felt bad for leaving after a shirt stay, but decided to make another trip later this year once the motorcycle is fixed.
The first 15 miles were the hardest, I felt like going back, but I had gone too far to stop.
About about 2 hours, I ended up in Lexington, where I saw the infamous VMI with which I was threatened to be sent to as a troublesome kid. But judging by the age of the students, they probably wouldn't have taken me when I was twelve, thanks Dad for inciting all of that terror earlier in my youth. After VMI, I was getting hungry, so I stopped by Macados in Lexington, it was Wednesday and 5:00pm , Mexican night! The first Mexican I'd had since I left Boone. I remembered later on why I had forestalled Mexican on this trip, but I remembered after I had eaten, and I got to understand later why jalapenos are not a good idea when you have limited access to bathrooms. Rest stops just don't appear nearly as fast when you are on a bicycle. I'll leave it at that.
Anywho, I left Lexington and still had a good 3 hours left of daylight. Google was spot on with this part of the trip. They took me on a route through done beautiful rolling hills and farm lend and then down right by a stream for miles. The sun setting beyond the mountains gave the day a prolonged golden hour and the water shimmered like crystal. Plank road was the name, 20 plus miles along this beautiful route.
A strange thing happened down this road. I started having an out of body experience. I no longer felt like I was the one riding, it felt like I was viewing everything from someone else's eyes. It was like I was in a tunnel assing through time at a different rate than everything else. Everything, the trees, the leaves, the gravel on the road, would start in the front of my view and then pass along my peripheral. It was like when you are speeding along in a car and you look down at the grass on the shoulder and it's all just a blur. It was eerie but at the same time calming, like the paper bag floating along in the leaves in that scene from American Beauty.
It was getting dark and I was about out of batteries. The area was very rural, but by now I was parallel with interstate 81, and, surprisingly, also back on the 76 bicycle route. I knew that I couldn't be too far from a gas station, and right as night fell, about 10 miles down the road, there was a small gas station. I stayed for a bit and talked to the old man behind the counter. By 10 I was on my way to find a sleeping spot. I wanted to stay by the road main, but I kept having to go further down a hill out of my way to find a camp site. Many of the places had no trespassing signs. One was especially creative and basically said that they shot first and asked questions later, painted on the side of their shed right by their big ole' confederate flag. So I kept moving, far away from them, further and further down the hill. Google said I was nearly in a national forest, by the town of Arcadia. So I trudged on more in hope of getting to the forest. Then I was there, and I found a decent bridge to sleep by, but there was no place to stash the bike. So I kept on, crossing the beginnings of the Johns river that I had to cross over for 10 miles back in Newport News. It was just a little more than the size of a creek at this point in it's journey. I thought about sleeping here. There was a small ramp for boats, but they fad signs posted that specifically said not to camp. So again I kept going...
Then I neared a small bridge that I thought was perfect, lo and behold, dogs started barking right as I slowed down to make camp. So on I went, and finally reached Arcadia, dead tired and miles out of my way, down to the bottom of a large hill. That night I slept on the bank behind the Arcadian church. Aching with my guts full of spicy Mexican food.
A few hours later, I heard cars and noises in the church parking lot. Surely they weren't going to church. It had to be about 5am. Then I heard dogs barking, and the distinct noise of guns cocking. At this point, I grabbed my bear mace and laid still in my hammock. They likely couldn't see me in my green hammock in the woods up on the hill, but their dogs must have noticed me, as they were going crazy and the hunters were having a tough time quieting them down . So I sat still and hoped that they were going elsewhere. I thought that coming out of the hammock would have likely been a worse idea, and if they were after me, I'd hear the rustling of the leaves first.
Keeping quiet worked. They weren't after me at all, they were just hunters meeting up at the church parking lot. I thought hunting wasn't allowed in national forests, then again, I was just on the fringe of it. They left in one of the trucks and I was able to conch right out again for a few more hours of much needed sleep. The hunters eventually cam back around 8:30/9:00. I was so tired that I stayed in the hammock until around 10.
It took a while to get back up the hill back to the gas station and the main road. I knew that it was going to be a trek up, and starting the trip uphill doesn't make for an encouraging start for the day. But I was excited to get back on the road. This was going to be a long day of riding, one of only two left and I was excited to be done soon. The area was rural for a long while, but eventually I turned back onto Lee Highway, now two lanes, and stuck to that for the majority of the day. The day was hot, and the 1 to 3 part of the days was just as hot as every other day had been... oh the dog days of summer. But I kept on, making it to Roanoke and then Salem by around 3.
The road after Salem was long and hilly, with steep troughs and grinding peaks. It was slow going, grueling, but I was feeling ambitious...forceful even. Throwing all I could into the hills. After a rather long downhill ride that took me near 40 mph, I saw it. One of the steepest inclines that I have even seen on a main highway. The trucks going up were traveling less than 20 miles per hour and were barely passing me by as I climbed. This was a test and I was determined. I was going to climb this ridiculous monolith and what's more, I was going to stay on the bike the entire way, no hopping off and walking up this thing as I had done when I was tired on the Blue Ridge Parkway. No, I was going to ride up this mountain. And so I did, slowly but surely, with a consistent rhythm. Left, Right. Left, Right. LEFT, RIGHT. The pace was slow. The climb was steep and lasted for over a mile and a half. And then, as I saw the crest, I learned something about myself. I CLIMBED A MOUNTAIN. And I can do anything, ANYTHING, I would ever want to do, as long as I have the mindset and determination to do it.
I have fallen back on this moment a countless number of times since then. When I wanted to quit my ride further on, I remembered that I climbed a mountain. When I was stuck one of my invention projects and was ready to give up, I remembered that I climbed a mountain. When I've been down and feeling pitiful, I pulled myself out of it by remembering that I can achieve anything when I'm in the right mindset. I climbed a mountain!
And so there I was, once again on flat land. A plateau in the middle of the mountains. Christiansburg, right by Blacksburg and the ski slopes. I had driven through this area on I-81 before, but it felt different now that I was taking it at 10 mph. It might have been the euphoria, but I really liked Christiansburg. The brick-lain downtown area was reminiscent of the 1800's, completed with a large spire church and clock tower right in the middle of town. It was getting to be twilight again by now and I was starting to wonder where I should camp for the night, but I kept going. The road once again turned to a steep decline that sent me flying. It was nearly dark by the time I got to the bottom, but decided that I'd keep traveling until I got to Radford.
By the time I got to Radford it was dark. Fortunately, I was in downtown and the city lights kept me well lit until I could find a decent place to make shelter. I was hungry and my phone was almost dead. I had been sort of craving and curious about one of those new guacamole burgers at Burger King (I know of all places right)...well I guess more curious about what fast food avocado would taste like. So I looked up for the nearest Burger King. Ugh, another 2 miles away. Well, I decided it was worth the effort, so on I went.
Alas, the BK was out of the guacamole. I gave the guy at the front counter a bit of grief in jest...telling him how I traveled another 2 miles after 80 miles just to get here, and I have to say, he did go out of his way to search for some, albeit to no avail. So I stuck to a salad and a sandwich. Oddly, the salad was just what I needed after today's trip. So I stayed and consumed probably another 1000 calories in soda alone while my batteries recharged. That night, I camped out behind an unused tractor trailer that was behind an abandoned Big Lots (maybe Kmart?) Fortunately, this time, I found a nice sturdy tree that held me high above the ground and I was pretty much out of the way of anyone who would notice. It was a chilly night, but being wrapped in the blanket kept me warm. I slept like a babe.
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