Day 8 Wytheville, VA to Damascus, VA

Yorktown, VA to Damascus, VA completed 492 miles

Ride Detail Wytheville, VA to Damascus, VA

Great ride today. Headed out to Rural Retreat on 4 lane highway which eventually turned to two lanes. Mostly easy riding with only a couple of 12% stingers. Stopped for a break at Sugar Grove. They had a gas station there which is famous for their 24 flavors of soft serve ice cream. I chose German Chocolate on a waffle cone. Not a lot of flavor though. Also had a Ho-Ho which was good. There restroom was out of service so Margie had to drive a mile away to use another. Unfortunately it was out of service also. So you know the rest of the story.

From Rural Retreat we had two climbs eventually hitting 3,700 feet elevation. From there we had an almost constant decline for 18 miles into Damascus. Staying at the Old Mill which also has a brew pub but is closed on Monday and Tuesday. Pics will come soon.

Starting the day with breakfast

Gas pumps waiting for a gas station

Ho Hos for lunch

Famous for 24 flavors of soft ice cream

Not any more

We followed close to these streams all day

Met Jeremy heading to Maine on the Appalachian Trail

Margie entering Laurel Valley Community Church (all logs)

Damascus bike shop

Several of these passed today

Me and Andreas taking cover for rain shower

Me, Andreas and Stephen at the church stop

Margie stopped here

Lots of picturesque old barns

Lots of moo cows

Virginia back country

Not sure what these were (click to enlarge)

Christmas tree farms

Me and Jen at 24 flavors store

Probably a 3 on Yelp

Hit 3,750 elevation on this climb

Pretty farms

Bubbling brooks

This is Virginia

Log homes too

Split log pews inside

Beautiful church

Letter posted by relative of builder

Another Pic of Log Church

The Old Mill Inn

A little water fall right outside our room

Day 7 Christianburg, Va to Wytheville, Va

Yorktown, Va to Wytheville, Va   432 Miles Completed

Day 7 Detail Christianville to Wytheville, Va

Very similar ride to yesterday's. Lots of up and downs but ride seemed a little easier. Got some bonus miles when I turned left instead of right near Radford, Va. You'll notice a little squiggle of my route on the map above. Had two loaded hot dogs at a little county store for lunch. The loading included cold slaw, chile, onions, relish and ketchup and mustard. Sounds strange but they were pretty good.

About 25 miles into the ride I started having some pain in my right knee. Margie gave me two Aleve and I moved my saddle up 1/4 inch. That seemed to fix the problem and I finished the ride strong and without the pain.

Discovered I left my tennis shoes somewhere along the way. Stopped at a shoe store in Wytheville and picked up another pair. Staying at the Ramada Inn tonight. The Schnitkers and Jen are at the KOA about 7 miles out of town.

Saw this on the way to Wytheville (I think they make GatorAid there)

Heading up tomorrow from Wytheville

The real Poor House

Here it is!

Welcome to the Poor House

Many towns aren't even on our maps

Typical Country

Getting my two Hot Dogs

Hot Dogs Anyone?

Stephen and me in front of Max Meadows Store

We've ridden by hundreds of churches like this

Some pretty nice digs

After ride refreshments

Nice landscaping

Cemetaries too!

Just before the road drops

End of day laundry in the bath tub

Day 6 Troutville, VA to Christianburg, VA

Yorktown to Christianburg 374 Miles Completed

Day 6 Detail

It's a steady rolling climb out of Troutville for 2 hours and 45 minutes. Lots of 9%-12% climbs followed by some lesser declines. Hit one 16% thigh burner that really hurt. Started out as a smaller hill that then switched back into a higher grade. Luckily it was short. We hit a peak elevation of about 2,000 feet and then started down for almost an hour. Lots of smaller inclines of up to 8% followed by some high speed declines. Max speed was 42 MPH but did have some headwind today. At the 3 hour and 45 minute mark, the grade started up again right in to Christianburg and was pretty intense with lots of 10% plus hills. By the time we stopped for a pizza lunch my legs were toast.

Margie and I met a nice couple at a small convenience store. They are doing a self-contained trip following the Transamerica trail and had seen us in Troutville. He had broken a spoke on his rear wheel and they were transported to the store by a local farmer in a pickup truck. He used my new Leatherman tool as a wire cutter to cut the spoke clean so he could ride to a bike shop in Christianburg to get a new spoke. They were both layed off from a chocolate factory in California so decided to take some time and ride across America while looking for new work via the internet.

Leaving the Holiday Inn Express at 7:00 am

Stephen, me and Jen

Learned this morning that Dennis decided not to continue the ride. He called his son in New Jersey to pick him up at the city park where he is camped. Jen is only riding a few miles each day when she feels like it.

Day5- Love, VA to Troutville, VA

Love, VA to Troutdale, VA

Cycling Detail Love, VA to Troutdale, VA

Left Love, VA cabin with a little more climbing to the top of the Parkway. Hit a max speed on the decent from the Parkway of 43.6 MPH. After leaving the Parkway there was a very steep decline into Vesuvius, Lots of switchbacks and breaking for about 4 miles. After hitting the bottom we followed a river with a gentle 1% decline for about 15 miles on a lonely road to South River where we stopped at the grocery and gas station for a late breakfast of fresh egg and sausage biscuits. I did consume 4 bottled Starbucks ice coffees. This is as close to having a latte as it gets in these parts. Then we biked to Buchanan not stopping in Lexington since there were two College graduations going on (VMI and Washington and Lee). Had lunch at an old time Pharmacy and soda fountain in Buchanan and then straight to Troutville where we are staying at the Holiday Inn Express.

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View of the Parkway

Near the Summit

Vesuvius is at the bottom of the decline

Holding my iced coffee drink and talking to local farmer

Horse Country

Lonely roads in Virginia

Tunnel over Creek

As close as you can get to a latte

The roads we bike

Lunch at the Pharmacy in Buchanan

Downtown Buchanan, Va

Nice enough to dip my toes

Andreas, me,Dennis, Stephen, Jen

Andreas's Bike Friday look alike

Bike is made in England and can be folded up in 9 seconds