Virginia, Generosity and The End

Day 62, September 1, Hindman to Elk Grove, 68 miles, 4700 feet ascent

Darin and I left at slightly different times, agreeing to meet at the end of the day. I think both of us very very used to riding alone at this point.
The good thing is that since I have entered the Appalachian mountains, the dog issue has largely disappeared. You get an occasional one, but almost all are either on chains or in kennels. Sometimes hard to see a large dog in a very small cage, but still better then on the road. As I said to a woman in Kentucky the issue with the dogs was culture, not money or logistics. She was not pleased.
The roads are very steep in parts. Dotted by really nice homes with some barley standing barracks. More than once I was thinking that a home is abandoned only to see a car or children toys later.
The people are much friendlier than Kentucky. I really like this part of the country.
This is coal country. Lots of trucks with it on the road. I spoke with several people I met about coal.
I stopped to rest in the afternoon, when a man stopped his car and asked me if I needed a place to stay for the night. He introduced himself as the major of the town and offered city hall for me to stay. I gratefully accepted and spent a comfortable night spread on the carpet and was able to use their little kitchen. It was great. Thank you Elk Grove.


Day 63, September 2, Elk Grove to Damascus, 87 miles, 9700 feet ascent

I left early to ride to the campground that Darin and I had agreed to meet at last night, worried that she may thing something happened to me. The campground was huge, and I did not see her.
A beautiful ride. Lush forests with some agriculture. I caught with Darin again. We rode together for a bit. I rode behind her, when I had another flat tire. It took 11 minutes to fix. By the time I got into the next town, I was surprised to find she did not wait. I did not see her again. Also got lost again.
It did not want to go that far, but could not find a good place to stay. I crossed the first of two mountain ranges that make up the Appalachians. It was beautiful. The main climb all in the afternoon shade.
When I arrived in town, some people helped me to a hostel. In this town, my route intersected the Appalachian Trail (2000 mile long hiking trail), which meant good options to stay and eat. I stopped at Subway first and wolfed down two foot long sandwiches, watched  by the employee with surprise.
The keeper of the hostel was a disarmingly honest man with a colorful history. I liked him quite a bit.
We talked for almost two hours. I had a single room and slept well. Maybe from the most climbing of this trip in one day.


Day 64, September 3, Damascus to Wytheville, 60 miles, 5400 feet ascent

I had dense fog for the first two hours, and it was cold. This was also the day Dietmar found out what it felt like to over eat. I had a big lunch in front of a grocery store.
A very big lunch. I also had bought 1/2 gallon of rice milk. I filled 1/3 into my water bottle and attempted to drink the rest. I was kind of hard to get it down. I did succeed, but at a cost. I found myself standing there with rice milk forming a standing column half way up my esophagus. Do not try this at home! I landed up walking gingerly through an adjoining lawn for 45 minutes, trying to dislodge air in my stomach. It worked. Even when I ate a whole fried chicken the week before did I not feel this full.
I did not manage to ride fast that afternoon.
I stayed in a motel that night, could not find any decent camping spot.




Day 65, September 4, to Wytheville to Catawba Mountain, 79 miles, 6200 feet ascent

I got very lost in an effort to secure good food. The town was Christiansburg. I landed up in Blacksburg, nearby. Part of the problem was that the maps I have give me little sense of surroundings, and there were mountains between me and the correct trail. I did not want to backtrack.
I had another flat, patched it, but I was out of water. So I did the unthinkable. I knocked on someones house to ask for water. Nobody was home and then I slipped on the stairs coming from the house.
The step was not wood as I thought, but plastic composite. It was like somebody pulled the rug.
I fell with my back onto a low concrete retaining wall. I got very lucky, just a painful scrape on my left arm. For the first time on this trip, my ego launched an attack on me: This is hard, people are stupid for having plastic steps, asking for help is dangerous and so on. This lasted a few minutes. I stepped in, and put an end to it. First I told my ego, I should have taken my shoes off, knowing how slippery my clip on shoes are, flat tires happen and I could had bought more tubes. If I needed water, go ask.
I rode to the next house, looking for an open garage. I walked up in my socks, did not slip, was invited in, got ice-cold water and directions. Case closed.
Being lost takes time. I ran out of daylight. The horse took time too. I saw him grazing about 100 feet inside this beautiful property. Something about this horse made me get off. I landed up being one of the most beautiful encounters with an animal in my life. I stood and called him. He ignored me, but I noticed, that he was grazing slowly in my direction. He never lifted his head. Ten long minutes later I was caressing his head. It is hard to communicate what connection I felt to this animal.
I continued with darkness approaching. The road linking me to the correct path was very steep. I rode it in total darkness with my headlight. It was densely wooded and quite serene.
Being on a roll knocking on strangers doors, I did just that again. I asked some owners if I could pitch my tent on their property, having no other options (heavy vegetation). I was invited to stay in their beautiful home. I have rarely in my life felt so comfortable in someone else's house. They were smart, balanced and generous souls. I easily had the best night sleep of this trip.


Day 66, September 5, Catawba Mountain to Lexington, 75 miles, 4800 feet ascent


I had another flat. I was out of new tubes, so I decided to patch all three I had. In order to find the leaks I had to run down to a creek, which lucky me was close. It still took two hours and six patches. During this a man passed me on a motorcycle with a side car. He turned and came back. We talked for an hour. He was a local judge and full of wisdom and grace. It is encounters like this, one of many, that makes this kind of travel so enriching to me.
I was resting along a beautiful creek, when a lady stopped and offered me her home for the night, after warning me about snakes where I was sitting. OK everybody, I just look trustworthy! For the only time on this trip, I declined, I had no way of getting food for dinner, she had none. Virginians have been incredibly generous to me, all the way.
I got lost in Lexington. I asked for a grocery store at a fire station. One of them guided me there. Really nice. I stuffed dinner into my trailer, and found a great spot behind a commercial building just out of town. I was dark by then. I saw something glittering in the grass. I was a big spider. The body was reflecting light with little sparkles. I do not know if it was water reflecting from the body which looked very rough.
Zip tent tight, go to sleep.


Day 67, September 6, Lexington to Rockfish Gap, 51 miles, 6500 feet ascent


 I woke up to lawnmowers buzzing by at 6:00 AM. When do those people sleep? Lucky for me, the stretch along the creek, they were mowing, was so long they did not come back for an hour.
I found a beautiful spider as I walked to the creek to answer nature's call. It had a yellow triangle on it's back. This being a photo moment I rushed back to my tent, without paying enough attention (for the first time in my life) and ran, well hmmm... right through said spider net. Yes it was head level.
I tore off my T-shirt and brushed my hair with my fingers....for a very long time. I do not mind insects, but this was too close. Way too close.
This was the day, when I crossed the second spine of the Appalachian mountains. It was 3.5 miles of some of the steepest climbing on this trip. Lowest gear out of saddle, going 2.5 miles per hour.
I had lunch in the tiny town of Vesuvius at the foot of the mountain, prior to the climb. A local farmer, chatted me up while I was reading my book, which is a big behavioral Faux Pa in Dietmar's world.
But he was nice. Outside he offered me a beer. I told him not before the climb, give it to me on top.
He did. I arrived panting at the top with him parked with an outstretched hand holding a beer. OK I drank two. We talked for a couple of hours, and I was able to ask him a question, that had been bugging me all trough Kentucky and Virginia. Why would somebody mow 1-3 acres of lawn. I was hesitant to bringing up the carbon footprint for fear of giving away my west coast credentials. He informed me that his neighbor mows 50 acres meaning that he is pretty much on the mower all sunny days. It is prestige, fear of snakes and the ever present, driving me nuts argument (worldwide), that this is tradition. Never mind there were no lawn mowers 100 years ago. In my new friend's defense, he thought it was silly too.
I had 2 more flats and a low front tire as I arrived in Rockfish Gap. I was starving but there was no real food in this hamlet. I ate some good pop corn and two hot dogs, I bought from a very friendly black couple. They owned the trailer with a thriving business. He gave me a discount, just nice people. It reminded me of how few African Americans I have seen in the last few month.
I stayed in the worst motel of the trip. The first one that with stained sheets, but I simply could not go on, in the dark with a front tire I had to pump every five minutes.



Day 68, September 7, Rockfish Gap to Charlottesville, 46 miles, 3400 feet ascent

I bought tubes, real thick ones. Since the store did not open until 10AM, I got a late start.
In the afternoon I was studying my map alongside the road, when a woman stopped and offered her  home to me for the night. (STOP all of you, I am just cute....?). She knew her husband had brought home strays before and would be OK with it. This was 20 miles before her hometown of Charlottesville. This would make it a short day, but I could not refuse. I experienced the by far greatest concentration of aggression towards me as a bicycle rider through town along this trip. I almost T-boned a kind of driver that causes a lot of problems in my hometown area as well. The other incidents, too much to write. Her husband who owns a bicycle store and rides 350 miles a week, told me it was not normal. Good reminder of how one visit to a place can give you the wrong impression. The couple was super nice and I felt at home right away. They and the last couple that invited me a few days ago, give me hope for what beautiful intimate relationships may be possible. Both live a very healthy life and my head is bowed  to their beauty.



Day 69, September 8, Charlottesville to Sherwood Forest, 146 miles, 8400 feet ascent

This was the day I chose to go as far as my body would take me. I made myself available to family and friends for about 2 hours by phone and stopped for lunch with some minor breaks in-between. Other than that, I rode, sunrise to midnight. Shall we agree I arrived tired?
It was surprised as to how much forest there was near the coast. I was was told by several sources, that virtually all forest in Virginia was second growth. The early settlers had clear cut just about everything. Many people (who are still grieved over their loss of freedom) were asked to remove their cattle from land, they did not own anyway, some were paid, in many of their opinions, too little. I am encouraged by the result. The epic battle between individual rights or greed and the common good (or bad) played out here and just about anywhere else in the world.
I found a pretty good spot to camp next to a field and slept decent.


Day 70, September 9, Sherwood Forest to Yorktown, 61 miles, 3300 feet ascent

My last day riding. It felt odd to have the end within grasp. I had anxiety creep in, which I beat back.
I got very lost in Williamsburg, the last town before Yorktown. And then I finished, after getting lost one mile before the end. It was 2PM. I was very proud.
After, I realized, that I had no real exit strategy. I mean I had a ticket home for the 14th, knowing I wanted to spent a few days adjusting, relaxing in Washington DC. I was not really fond of riding more that day. I did my trip. OK? I was smart enough to call a friend gifted in opportunistic thinking. It took him exactly one second to come up with a solution, no exaggeration. He said rent a car from Enterprise, because they will pick me up and then drive, one way. Said and done. They picked me and my equipment up and drove me to Newport News (what a funny name). Their system was not working, so they drove me free of charge back to Williamsburg, 20 miles. They were super nice. In Williamsburg, no train or bus would take me and my bicycle, at least that day. So I spent the night camped behind a church. Before I could leave in the morning the groundskeeper came.
I left out the back through somebody's driveway. I am assuming they were suprised seeing a guy on a bicycle and a trailer come OUT of their driveway at 7:00  in the morning.
I rode the 60 miles to Richmond, VA (not counted in milage total) and shipped my bicycle and trailer through a Bike store ($75.- +shipping). I left the store with two plastic bags of stuff, feeling utterly lost
without my bicycle. I walked 1.5 miles to the Greyhound station, buying a backpack on the way.
I arrived in Washington DC at 8:00PM. Life is good. This happened to be one of the better things I ever did. I am better for it.
THE END.


Total miles: 3,985
Total ascent: 266,800 feet, or 51 miles



Your mileage will vary...

I have done my very best to be accurate with all I wrote. Logistics not being my talent I may have made mistakes. I doubt there were any big ones. I apologize for the ones did make.
On the other hand, driven by my temperament, as all of you are with your individual ones, what mattered always to me, was the meaning of this trip, not it's numbers.
I counted all miles ridden in a day, including miles to get food or to find my way back from wherever my legs took me while my brain was taking in my surroundings.
I still rather get lost, than to miss a spider or a cloud....
I used few things to enhance my performance. One cup of coffee in the morning. Three pain pills  during the whole ride and last, I think three energy drinks.
I sometimes used towns near where I stayed as begin or end point for the day, having no other reference point.


What this trip helped me understand better, taught me:

I am calmer.
I know more about this country that I ever had.
I find asking for help easier.
I learned how good I can be by myself.
Endorphins make me talk (even) more.
More people could do this than they think.
The human body is an awesome machine, if maintained properly.
I want to do it again, in 9 years.
I will loose 15 lb riding 3,985 miles on a bicycle.
This country has a huge infrastructure deficit.
I have really good friends.
It takes a lot of time to eat well, once out of home turf.
I am stunned by the amount of climbing I had to do.
I never met another person doing this who used a road bicycle (just touring ones)
My best guess is, that 250 people did this in 2013.


Biggest mistake(s) I made:

Not bring spare tires, or buy them when I could.
Leaving without spare tubes for trailer
Starting the trip with a bicycle seat, designed by the Marquis De Sad.


Best Equipment I brought:

Jetboil cooker
REI Folding chair
3 Inch thick sleeping mat
Quality head light


Most difficult moment of the trip

Watching the woman in the fruit and vegetable market in the process of braking her little girls spirit.


Scariest moment of the trip:

The time I was cut off by Idaho militia as I was fleeing the Mormon and Indian attack.


Best moment/time

Too many best moments to start. Best time was when my body was beaten down enough, after about three weeks, in order for my creative mind come come alive. (does this sound too new age?) Oh well.