TRANS AM...CHARLOTTESVILLE to BEREA

I was excited to depart Charlottesville, VA and commence on the completion of my 2016 Trans America bike ride...my "Gap Year"...climbing the first day back onto the Blue Ridge Parkway that I had only descended two days previously. The Trans Am traverses the BRP for less than 30 miles before descending the Vesuvius grade that has 8-12% pitches. I was grateful to be going down. I had to stop though halfway to allow my wheels to cool down from the friction effect of the rim brakes. The wheels were too hot to touch but for a moment. This can be a serious problem as the hot wheels heat up the air inside the tubes. Ever-expanding air will eventually seek a point of weakness, otherwise known as a blowout...not good at high descending speeds.

A sometimes breakfast

Carter family from Richmond, VA heading out on Trans Am

Third day out the route skirted a mountain range west of Roanoke. There were an unrelenting series of consecutive little climbs of 8-10% grades...like a washboard of gargantuan proportions. The last several miles into Christiansburg also had similar steep grades to cover. This was a 75 mile, hot day of riding. Combined with the short, steep climbs I bonked. I had taken in plenty of water and stopped for a large Mexican lunch but the over exertion resulted in a following day of misery. Perhaps not helped by a cheap breakfast diner buffet of frozen, rewarmed scrambled eggs, microwaved bacon, bad pancakes, foul fake syrup, bad orange juice, and weak coffee which my body rejected, I had no interest in eating the entire day. Stopping in Draper at the Mercantile Store & Restaurant where Jenny and I had a fantastic Mother's Day buffet a few years before, I met up with two Adventure Cycling cyclists on the Trans Am. As they finished their good lunches I could only settle on toast as a possibility of nourishment. I forced myself to take but one bite and then proceeded to give even that up. This night called for a hotel. It was difficult eating almond butter on English muffins with a dry mouth. Water intake obviously wasn't the problem as I got up every two hours through the night to water the porcelain.

Don't know if I will ever catch Laura

The next day wasn't greatly improved and as I considered options..."Should I abandon the ride in Damascus?"...I decided to cut the day's ride short in order to stay in my first (and possibly only) church-hosted hostel. There is a wonderful, gracious, kind service churches of all denominations provide for the biking tourist along the Trans Am by opening their facilities at no cost to the wanderer. They do this as a service to the stranger. Sometimes these facilities have been constructed solely for the traveler and they always include a hot shower.

Troutdale Hiker/Biker hostel

Hikers shuttle

The hostel in Troutdale also served Appalachian Trail through hikers. On this day I arrived to a two room, eight bunk shelter where for thirty minutes I imagined I would be the only guest until the caretaker notified me there was to be a church picnic to share with the forty or so through hikers soon to be shuttled from the various trail heads in the area. Troutdale Baptist Church sponsors this smaller Trail Day every year three days following the well-attended Damascus Trail Days where there can be thousands in town for several days. Troutdale has drivers who pick up and return hikers from the trail heads as needed.

This onslaught of new people on a similar objective gave an uplift that was felt. Our shared stories of endurance, grit, fortitude, and suffering-overcome broke the barrier of the bonk. This was followed by a picnic of grilled hamburgers, hot dogs with chili, Mac n' cheese, beans n' weanies, potato chips, deviled eggs, salad, fruit, desert, and soda. The through hikers are more! Most hikers shuttled back to the AT after dinner leaving a dozen camped out and five others sharing the bunk house. My next morning was a short 25 mile ride into Damascus and a scheduled day off.

What a difference a day and change of mind makes! Now with the physical anguish behind me I could focus on the beauty abounding. The morning was cool with mist rising in front of mountains serving as backdrop to the lush, green meadows. A deer gazed at me from the middle of the road and then bounded into a field. The road was sweet, twisting up and down along rushing mountain streams that made the serene sound of cascading water. The air of the surrounding forest smelled wet with the morning dew and temperatures were wonderfully pleasant. I arrived into Damascus just after noon (quite early for me) and found a hostel where the AT hikers stay, as well as the organized Adventure Cycling group of 13 headed to Oregon that I was able to have dinner with. All was very good.

Forest road into Damascus

Stream outside Damascus

Virginia Creeper Trail option into Damascus

The Adventure Cycling group included the two I had met briefly in Draper. Our mutual off days were overlapping so on their last night and my first we went to The Old Mill Restaurant in town for dinner. I splurged  on the filet mignon that others raved about. Very tasty!

The Woodchuck Hostel where we were staying served a robust breakfast of blueberry waffles, home fried potatoes, boiled eggs, cereal, fruit, juice, and coffee. After a morning send off to the Adventure Cycling group I sat down with Rob from Concord, MA to speak with more in depth. Rob at 67 is completing a through hike of the AT that he had to pull off from last year. He was taking an extra day or two to recover from a chest cold that was making him sluggish on the trail. Situated on chairs side by side on the front porch, the proprietor Chuck remarked that we must be brothers for the resemblance was great. "No" was the short answer...though I wondered at Chuck's insight into any mother's intelligence who would name her two sons Rob and Robbie!

Brother Rob

Old mill

Sometimes it does rain

Breaks state park at VA/KY line

Baby snapping turtle

New state crossing

BIKE STATISTICS

582 miles ridden
11 ride days
2 off days
8 indoor nights
5 tent nights
62 saddle hours
9.38 average mph
42,874 accumulative feet climb
many climbs of 8-10% grades
4 days wearing rain jacket