IMPRESSIONS

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MONDAY   JUNE 2, 1997

MILES	DESTINATION	AVG MPH	WEATHER	TOTAL MILES
42	JAMESTOWN	11.5		42

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS!!!

THE GATHERING

What a diverse group we are! If nothing else I will relish the ability to share more than just a few days with folks outside the military community. Having shared dinner the evening prior, we got a chance to get to know one another. So for those of you reading this, who are we? Since you asked, here you go:

VILMAR (the author): 45 years old, retired from the USAF, trying to self actualize. My motivations for making the trip are several: 1.) Because I can; 2.) To see if I can; 3.) To sort out some "life" issues; 4.) Because I always wanted to do this.

MERLE: 62 years old, retired from a trucking company and trying to see what retirement really means.

HUGH: 67 years old, retired from NASA and had wanted to do this for a really long time.

KURT: 25 years old, the youngest of the bunch and CPA with a major accounting firm. Able to do what many of us wanted to do while working --- taking a paid sabbatical to challenge himself.

DICK: 48 years old, retired auto parts distributor and an avid biker. Just wanted to do it.

DENNIS: 33 years old, quit his job while his wife took a temp job in another state and filled his time without her with us.

The "group of six" met around 12 noon to begin the journey. As it turned out later on in the journey, our group name became appropriate because as we ran across East bounders they mentioned hearing of the "group of six" going West. We got quite a send off from Hugh’s wife and friends, Dennis’ family, Merle’s daughter, Julie, and Kurt’s lady friend.

Earlier, as I waited for the guys to show up, I chatted with an Adventure Cycling group headed West. There were 12 in the party and I did not get a warm fuzzy from them. I don't know why. Maybe it was the weather, maybe they were nervous. I don't know.

After our group met up at the Victory Monument in Yorktown, we toasted to our trip with some wine I’d brought along in my camel-back bottle. That was fun! We took tons of photos at the monument, at the waterfront getting our bikes’ wheels dipped in the semi-Atlantic, etc. Finally hit the road about 115 PM and got to Jamestown at 430 PM. I was feeling a bit tired as I’d pedaled my ass from Langley AFB to Yorktown -- 20 miles. My legs were a bit sore but that’s to be expected.

Although the weather did not cooperate too much, we did not get rained on. At least that was good news. So we set up camp and had dinner. Later on I called my parents to tell them that should anything happen to me, I loved them and for them not to take it hard as I was doing something I loved. You just never know when your time will come and I felt that it would not be fair to them if I did not tell them how I felt. Wanted to do the same thing for my son but could never get in touch with him. Teenagers!! Can’t live with them, can’t shoot them.

As the day progressed we felt each other out a bit (huh-huh) and personalities developed. I did observe that Dick, Dennis, and Kurt have a sense of humor.

TUESDAY    JUNE 3, 1997

MILES	DESTINATION	AVG MPH	WEATHER	TOTAL MILES
56	RICHMOND	11.1		98

TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF ROAD TRAVEL

My body does not like being subjected to the abuses I’ve put it through the last couple of days.

Last night I kept getting up every hour because my side hurt. I could not find a comfortable way to sleep and my side kept going numb. After a couple of days, though, all these aches went away so it was a matter of getting used to.

Kurt said there was quite a bit of log sawing going on as well as quite a few other "indiscreet" noises we later came to accept as unforeseen methane releases. Sometimes they were preceded with warnings, other times they came unannounced but definitely detected by our olfactory senses.

It was at the time we began our nicknaming effort. Dick was our first and we nicknamed him "Tooter." He took great pride in that.

As we left Jamestown it started to rain. A light drizzle at first but enough so that when we had to cross the Chickahominy River on a steel bridge, we walked our bikes across. The roads were really good and the trees formed a canopy above us that acted as an umbrella. They also formed a green tunnel for us to ride through. Route 5 is very nice to ride on. Took a break at the I&S Food Store and grabbed some snacks.

The temperature never quite climbed above 62 degrees and actually ended the day lower than it began. The rain then began to come down very hard and at a 45 degree angle aided by nasty winds. UGLY!! UGLY!! UGLY!! My leg started to hurt and the muscle in my right knee was acting up, too. Mr. Butt was not a happy camper, either!

We did not feel like camping so Hugh called his friends, Tom and Rosemary Tyson, who said we could stay at their place. Rosemary got off work early to wait for us and as we pulled in she pulled up. To kill time before getting to their place, though, we hung around a mini-mart eating, drinking, and getting warm. While inside, I took off my outer jacket and water poured out of it. Fortunately my inside wind breaker stayed relatively dry as did my shirt but my shoes were drenched and my feet were cold. Lucky me.

Soon as we got into the Tyson’s it began to pour. We dried our clothes, took a shower, got warm again then sat around trying to figure out which one of us pissed off God enough to cause him to pour rain on us. We watched the weather channel and it looks like a rain cell will follow us for the next 150 miles.

After Tom got home we went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant and bought both of them dinner. In moving about from house to car to restaurant I realized just how sore my knees were. I was hoping like hell they’d last for the trip. I was also able to get the old ticker up to 160 BPM but for the most part it stayed in the 125-140 range. My goal is to get it down a bit more than that but only time will tell.

The fastest speed I got today was 26 MPH.

WEDNESDAY    JUNE 4, 1997

MILES	DESTINATION	AVG MPH	WEATHER	TOTAL MILES
20	AMERICAMP	11.1		118

THE BEGINNINGS OF A ROUTINE

There is no doubting that, as human beings, we need a certain amount of routine in our day-to-day. It’s no different with cycling across the USA. Up early, out early is the first routine of our group. Not all groups do this but we decided that the earlier we started the less risk we’d run with hot weather and temperamental winds.

Thanked Rosemary and headed out. It looked as if the weather would turn decent so we were pleased. Then at 930 we saw our shadows. Felt like groundhogs! Couple of other good things were that my knees did not bother me nor was my crotch crotchety. Mr. Butt was pleased, too.

We did witness lots of traffic on Route 156. Must have been people going to work. HA HA. We all laughed out loud at that revelation. Then again, there are those that would rather work in an office than do what we were doing. And there were times I felt like that, too, on the trip. But those were fleeting thoughts.

Another routine is to not pass up good food stores for you never know where the next one may be. Since we are beginning to eat like pigs we stopped at the Food Lion near Ashland and stocked up. Prior to that we’d stopped in Mechanicsville (one of three, same name, towns in Virginia!!) and mailed back some stuff, bought stamps, and went to a local drug store which had a lunch counter operation. AAAHH, this is rural America at its best!! These stores are getting rarer and rarer. I had a great breakfast for only $3.50. Eggs, sausage, toast, hash browns, coffee. Yum! Yum!

The sun finally made its appearance about 1030. What a glorious sight to see. We were so thrilled. Sure does not take much to excite us! Considering that the temperatures have been 20 to 25 degrees below normal, then maybe it is not so surprising to have us get excited.

Made it to Americamp which is a really nice campground, paid our $5.60, washed some clothes, showered, and ate lunch. A park worth a return visit, this place was extraordinarily clean, had a pool, all the sites were nice and had running water, plus the park had clean rest rooms and showers, too.

The entertainment of the day was Kurt buzzing his head with Dennis’ electric clippers. We each brought some thing that others would not have bothered lugging the weight of. Dennis brought clippers and boy! were they well used throughout the whole trip.

Another routine we are attempting to perfect involves placement of all our shit in our panniers. It’s such a pain in the ass to need something and not remember where you put it. This necessitates opening all the bags and rooting through them. As it turns out, it was much later into the trip that I actually got this particular act together.

Did a little bike maintenance, mailed off some cards, and took it easy the rest of the day.

THURSDAY   JUNE 5, 1997

MILES	DESTINATION	AVG MPH	WEATHER	TOTAL MILES
54	MINERAL	11.1		172

WHY? BECAUSE WE CAN!!

Slept well and awoke at 6 to 48 degree weather and sunshine. Snarfed down some breakfast and got underway.

Today was the first morning when the ride was as I’d envisioned it: warm, sunny, wonderful aromas of grass and wildflowers, birds chirping, ruined only occasionally by a bloody car going by. Otherwise, just beautiful.

The ride was a bit brutal today with considerable hills. I got up to 29.7 MPH but just as quickly lost all momentum and slowed to 2.5 MPH going up the other side. I thought I was going to die! Actually had to resort to switch backing to make it to the top of many of the hills.

Since I am in the habit of keeping my micro-cassette recorder handy to jot down thoughts, I’d do so at all times of the day. Later in the evening I’d review them for topics to write about. Today was one of those days when, in listening to the tape, I was able to "HEAR" how hard the day was: huffing, puffing, panting for all I was worth.

As the day progressed we realized we needed a theme song for the state of Virginia and decided to use "On The Road Again" by Willie Nelson. Hugh came up with lyrics:

On the road again
on the way to Oregon
through the Appalachian Hinterland
we’re on the road again.

Again, cheap thrills.

Stopped at Coatsville General Store and was introduced to the store dog, "Pee-Wee". Weird dog. If you say "bye" he starts up such a barking ruckus and charges you from wherever he is. Seems he does not want you to leave without him. Cute wiener dog.

On a bike, time passes a bit more slowly and you should have the opportunity to think about weighty issues of life. Love, death, money, etc. All I could think of this morning was how great I felt knowing I did not have to put on a uniform to go to work. Funny how after 26 years I would have expected to wake up thinking it was time to punch the clock at the salt mines but that never happened throughout the whole trip. It’s quite a liberating feeling. I did, though, feel pity for those I saw on the road in suits and ties, gabbing on their cell phones, putting on make-up, eating breakfast, reading a newspaper, and trying to quiet the rowdy kids in the back seat. All rushing to their jobs.

Don’t get me wrong. There are many people that enjoy doing this and will do so until they die. That’s fine for them. But I did it for as long as I needed to and I no longer need to. Life is too short for that silliness.

Virginia has lots of Bike Route 76 signs all over the place. I am fairly certain the route number commemorates the first trans-America ride in 1976. You’d have to be blind in one eye with no ability to see out of the other to miss these or lose your way. That’s not the case in all the other states, though. I never was able to determine why Virginia seemed to be in the lead for its abundance of signs.

Another good method to keep on the right route is to follow the banana peels left behind big groups like Adventure Cycling!!

Could not go by Bumpass, Virginia without taking a photo of the sign. What a hoot! We took photos of one another covering the "P" to indicate the portion of our anatomy that was feeling "more fatigued" than others. I also went into the post office and had the postmaster hand stamp a bunch of postcards for me. They got a fairly decent reception at their destinations.

The end of the riding day brought us to Mineral, VA. The climb into town was brutal as it sits on the top of a bunch of hills. It seemed as if every time we crested a hill there would be another one in front of us. AARGH!! There we camped behind the Volunteer Fire Department. A collection was taken up and we left an envelope for them in one of their ambulances as they were closed down for the day. The Adventure Cycling group was there also and as a group we voted on losing them as quickly as possible. Not because we did not like them but because having too many bicyclists appear in a town diminishes your chances of getting a decent reception, finding accommodations, and, most important of all, finding food.

Mineral is a cool little town of 430 people where 830 PM brings a slow down in virtually all activities---except the local hot rodders goofing around, burning rubber and revving engines. You can still see kids playing baseball in backyards, people sitting on porches, etc. There sure are a lot of birds in this neck of the woods and boy!, do they make a racket! A pleasing one to me but not to the other guys who are light sleepers and can’t fall asleep. And these birds chirp and squawk and sing well into the night. I thought birds slept at night. Goes to show what I know.

As a group we also spend a lot of time discussing routes and stopping places. This allows those that are slower to catch up or for those that are faster it gives them a place to rest and let the rest of the group catch up. It also lets everyone know where to be in the evening in case one of us decides to do the tourist thing somewhere along the line or breaks down and takes longer than normal to get back on the road. So far, Hugh and Dennis seem to be the more enthused map readers with Hugh having more knowledge of this area; Dick likes to ride alone, Merle is very quiet and Kurt is struggling with bike and equipment problems.

We all set up tents but if I had been thinking properly I’d have popped up on one of the picnic tables that were under the shelter. It was supposed to be clear at night and I ended up wasting time setting up the tent and will waste just as much in the morning tearing it down. Routines! Routines! Routines! Plus the shelter would not let dew form on my bag as it is sure to form on the tent.

So far on the trip we’ve climbed about 2900 feet (not to be confused with being 3000 in elevation above sea level.) It is a sum of all the inclines we climbed. It will not be unusual for us to begin a day at 2000 in elevation and end at the same elevation but to have climbed 2500 feet during the day.

Our first two days we climbed only 750 feet each with 1400 feet today. Tomorrow we are supposed to do 3000! I am bummed - - and my bum will be, too!

In our travels we’ve come across quite a few people who ask us what we are doing and why. So we decided that our answer to the "why" portion would be, "Because we can!" Which is true. A little pompous, maybe, but still true.

Phoned home and all is as can be expected with elderly parents. Mom’s getting treated for an arthritic and painful foot, Dad’s dealing with Parkinson’s. He paid off my Visa bill using a check I’d left but forgot that I told him I pay my Visa bills through an automated service at my credit union. So I had to make some quick phone calls to sort that out. Called him back to let him know not to worry and that all was well again. No big deal to me but to him that seemed like a crisis about to happen. Called Danny to let him know where I was but, again, he wasn’t home.

The old ticker is also acting up. Must be the adrenaline rush from the excitement of the trip. I need to be careful not to over stress myself under these conditions. Especially going up hills what with all the damned hills we have to climb the next three weeks! YECH!

As part of a continual process, I am learning about gearing, weight distribution, loading, and proper ways to climb hills. Most of this comes from Dick, Merle, and Hugh. They are all experienced riders having done this kind of thing before. The gearing on my bike is not what I would want it to be. Some of the guys have such low gearing that while I crank once on the pedals, they crank twice. It makes spinning so much easier and the name of the game is spinning. If you can spin at 80-90 RPM you generate much less wear and tear on the legs.

As it turns out my legs were real tired today and muscles I’d not used in a long time got a work out climbing hills today. Things will only get uglier!

FRIDAY   JUNE 6, 1997

MILES	DESTINATION	AVG MPH	WEATHER	TOTAL MILES
58	CHARLOTTESVILLE	10.4		230

HILLS, HILLS, HILLS

Something else that takes some getting used to is the volume of water needed on a daily basis. I personally do not like drinking water and even much less so when I know that it will wake me up in the middle of the night and disrupt my sleep. Such as it did this morning and will do so for every morning from here on out. Fortunately I was able to get back to sleep but at 6 we were all up and about. Went to Joe’s Place for breakfast and on the road at 740 AM. When we walked in we got some pretty strange looks since we were all in tights. We then ran through a scenario where we’d walk in, spring into an ABBA song, and pirouette into the bathroom. Now, THAT would be bizarre.

Kurt is maintaining contact with the outside world through his lady friend, April. So he calls her every day, several times a day, earning him the provisional nickname, Ma Bell.

Passed lots of beautiful pastoral scenery today heavy with cow smells---if you catch my drift. The roads we were on tended to be the crests of hills and so the farmland would fall away to either side of us as we rode.

The hills, however, for those on a bicycle, were brutal. Add to that the FUCKING dogs lunging out of the woods, barking and snarling, and I was not too thrilled. As far as I am concerned, if the dogs can not stay in a yard or leashed to a tree, they should be shot. What I experienced today was only a precursor to what I can expect in Kentucky.

Over the hills, down the hills, up the hills. That’s what we did today. I got up to 35 MPH---what a rush! In Palmyra Dick got a picture of me cresting a hill with my tongue hanging down around my navel, panting like a dog in 25 heats.

Along the way we stopped in Ashlawn, home of James Monroe, 6^th president of the US. His house was designed by Thomas Jefferson. We also stopped at the Riverside Diner in Palmyra where I snarfed down a decent lunch.

Made it to Jefferson’s house in Monticello about 10 miles from Charlottesville. It had to be the worst climb of the trip. And with more to come I am beginning to feel some anxiety about my ability to do so. Felt like I was going to die; sweating like a pig, totally drenched. The only saving grace was that it was not 85 degrees like it normally is this time of year. As a matter of fact it only got to 66 today. LUCKY US!

We ended up climbing 2500 feet and are supposed to do 5000 tomorrow. I am dreading it. As I write this my legs are killing me. So sore. I can just imagine what they will be like tomorrow.

Only at the last minute did we realize it was graduation weekend for one of the Universities and we were concerned we’d not be able to get a room. Merle arrived in town first and got us a reservation at the Super 8 Motel. We did not feel like taking on tomorrow without a decent night’s rest, getting our laundry done, etc. so therefore the reason for the Motel. Cost us $62 a night per room. We divided each 3 ways and one of us slept on the floor.

Send another "go-back" box to Florida which freed a lot of room in my panniers and hopefully will give me a psychological edge on tomorrow.

For dinner, Dick, Hugh, and Merle went out to eat. The rest of us fixed spaghetti in the room. THAT was a sight to behold!

SATURDAY    JUNE 7, 1997

MILES	DESTINATION	AVG MPH	WEATHER	TOTAL MILES
60	TYE RIVER CAMPGROUND	8		290

THE RIDE FROM HELL

I slept well at night but the exertion from the day’s efforts left my body’s engine working overtime to cool me off so I stayed hot well into the evening. With the A/C on and only wearing underwear I still could not get inside my sleeping bag because it made me sweat.

Up at 6 and with a cool 60 degree day to begin with, I took off, got air in my tires, and stopped to have breakfast.

As we approached Greenwood we began to do some serious climbing. Hugh, Kurt, Dick and I got warned by a painter (who used to bicycle until he injured himself) of a Rotweiler and a Shepherd near the top of the next hill as well as a couple of other dogs towards the bottom. It was certain we’d not be able to outrun the former but the latter would be easy. So we stayed in pairs as we climbed this tortuous hill. Fortunately no dogs showed up.

Got to Afton and visited with the Cookie Lady (June Curry.) What a horrid climb to get to her place, though! Listened to some of her stories about other cyclists and then met up with Merle and Dennis and got our pictures taken. June is 76 years old and has been doing this for 22 years. She keeps two houses. One for her and one for the riders. There are places to sleep and eat. She offers cookies, soft drinks, PBJ sandwiches, fruit, etc. I ate a couple of cookies, a PBJ, and had lemonade. Left her some money as a donation and finished the climb to Rockfish Gap, elevation 1850. Went over one mile at 3.5 MPH and climbed 750 vertical feet in the process. UGH!!

At the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway, some of us stopped at the HoJo for lunch. By this point we’d done 30 miles and thought the worst was behind us. WRONG ANSWER, HOME BOY!!

At 330 PM I was climbing as I’d never climbed before. Long, seemingly never ending, hills rising to a crest only to continue rising to the next. Hoping to have reached the top around the next curve only to find the Hill gods had it in for us really pissed me off.

That said, however, the views are stupendous and it is easy to see why the Blue Ridge Parkway is called what it is.

Lots of times, though, I did not have time to enjoy the views because my head was down and my legs were pumping away for all they were worth in dogged determination to not be defeated by the climb.

I was absolutely tired, exhausted, thoroughly drained. Felt like I’d reached my stamina breakpoint. And this with 21 more miles to go! I told Dick to send out a search party if Kurt and I did not make it to camp by 7 PM.

It would not have been so bad if this leg of the trip were later on where I’d be in better shape to tackle it. Maybe get a bit more acclimated to grueling hill climbing. But to do so as early as we are is really disheartening. My butt hurt so bad and my shoulders were sore and fatigued from the stress and strain. My hands were numb and I was a walking (riding) disaster area.

Got to Rock Point Overlook, elevation 3115 feet and I dictated the following into my cassette: " It’s 1617 hours and looking pretty FUCKING grim." Took a break to look down into the valley and the cars were soooo… small.

As Dick said, "we could look at it as the high point of the trip or the low point." HA HA That’s Dick, the comedian. It WAS funny, though. He’s been great, Dick has. Mine and Kurt's personal daddy rabbit. Hanging around when he didn’t have to in order to make sure we make it OK. Dick has no problem powering up these hills since he’s used to riding in Oregon.

Here’s another jewel from my cassette: "(pant, pant) got picture taken (pant, pant) at sunset cliff (pant, pant) where the people in the town below, (pant, pant) White Rock, look up (pant, pant) and when they see the sun (pant, pant) on the cliff during the summertime (pant, pant) in June/July (pant, pant) they know they have no more than 20 minutes until dusk (pant, pant) (pant, pant) to do their harvesting.

"Fucking climbing never ends (pant, pant) (pant, pant)."

As if it weren’t bad enough we were trying to get this ordeal over with, a Park Ranger drives by and announces a warning on his loudspeaker that we need to stay on the right hand side of the road. If he was doing what I was doing he’d not be in the right hand lane, either. Just doing his job, I guess.

By 6 PM I still had 9 miles to go. It seemed to be taking forever. I’d go from periods of intense overheating to serious cool-downs on the steep descents. Never did figure out the 25 MPH wind chill effect on an overheated, sweating, wet body in 55 degree weather. Damned cold, though.

The high elevation of the day was reached at Bald Mountain overlook (3252 feet). The fastest descent was 39.7 MPH and would have been a bit faster were it not for my loose fitting and flappy wind breaker.

So far I’ve not had to walk the bike up any hills. Wonder if that is a point of pride or just sheer stupidity. The next few days will tell. Then again, walking up those monster hills pushing an 85 pound bike is not an easy task and would call into play totally different muscle groups than what I’ve been using.

Felt the need to do so and let out several primal screams across the valley. Sounded cool as they echoed!! The sun teased all day by popping out from time to time while nasty clouds loomed over the mountain tops. Towards late afternoon the sun stayed out and made things more pleasant.

To date, only one member of our group (Dennis) has almost gotten run off the road by an impatient driver. The driver kept honking, then passed, then sharply cut in front of Dennis. Must be a "lack of penis" thing with these assholes. Also heard bikers get bottles thrown at them, get spit on, get doors opened on them, etc. I came to the realization that people in general piss me off. When riding where there is little traffic all is well with my world. Go into a big town and the morons are out in droves! Who lets these assholes out, anyway? The world would be a great place if it weren’t for all the asshole people in it!

Finally made it to camp at 1850 hours. Had to negotiate some very steep downhills on Route 56 to Vesuvius and stay constantly on the brakes such that my rims got hot to the touch. Now, THAT’S some down hill! And the C-G is only half way down the mountain.

Camped at Tye River campground and even the campsites were situated at the bottom of serious downhills. Damned if it did not get cold and windy in there. Dennis got there early and Merle missed the turn so took a room 7 miles away. He was not about to climb back up to the campground from the bottom of the hill. The location was full of trees and hilly. If the weather gets inclement the owners allow you to sleep inside their game room.

We had planned to lay over here but since the store was inadequate we voted to move on tomorrow. Fortunately, to make it more pleasant this C-G has a stream babbling over some rocks not too far way so it creates a pleasant sound to fall asleep to. Very peaceful after such a strenuous day where we climbed about 5700 feet.

As with most evenings we sit around talking about our day and what happened to each of us. Kurt relayed that he was so tired at one point he just laid down his bike and lay down on the grass spread-eagled. The next thing he sees are three vultures circling overhead eyeing him out. He quickly picked up his bike and hightailed it out of there. That was funny. I can just picture it.

SUNDAY,   JUNE 8, 1997

MILES	DESTINATION	AVG MPH	WEATHER	TOTAL MILES
42	NATURAL BRIDGE CAMPGROUND	10		332

WAITING FOR THE SCHOOL BUS SIGN

Our seventh day on the road.

I left camp with Dennis about 7 AM because we were cold and did not want to wait around for the other guys. Fortunately we came across Julie just before leaving the park and she gave us directions to where Merle was supposed to be. It didn’t sound like a bad ride so we headed out. When we reached the bottom of the hill at Vesuvius who should be there? Merle—waiting for us. It’s a good thing, too, as the road to the restaurant was long and hard. We then learned another lesson: never fully believe what you are told about the severity of a hill if it comes from the mouth of someone who does not ride a bike!! Julie, bless her heart, never made the mental translation of a pleasant 5 mile drive in a car to what is really a nasty hill on a bike.

We chatted a while and Julie returned to volunteer to drive us to the restaurant. Dennis, Merle, and I left our bikes chained to one another behind the Vesuvius Post Office and off we went to stuff our faces. The hill to Steele’s Tavern in Raphine was a bitch and we’d have been upset to have to climb it so early in the morning. I had two orders of pancakes (one normal, one buckwheat) because I was hungry and the waitress said they were small. Au contraire, mon frere!! They were huge. There was no way I could eat them. Oh, by the way, the buckwheat pancakes sucked.

We waited and waited and became concerned when Julie did not return. We were afraid she had an accident or one of the riders had an accident on the way down the perilous hill. 40 minutes later Hugh shows up with Merle, Julie, and Julie’s boyfriend, Dan. There was some missed communication between Hugh and Kurt. Apologies were rendered later and all forgiven. No harm intended. No harm done.

By 1100 AM the sun was out and the temperature shot up to 62. Ideal riding conditions. For the first 15 miles the ride was "mahvelous dahling!" No traffic on the roads, we rode along a river, and the sun was out. Who could ask for anything more? I made sure to thank God for these moments. There were instances where the only noise we heard was that of our tires singing on the pavement and the river rushing alongside us.

I, though, committed a big screw-up. Decided I could take my camera out of my handlebar bag while riding along at 15 MPH. That’s right! I dropped it. All I heard was this thunk, thunk, thunk as it crashed along the roadway. Stopped, picked it up, and it still worked! The wonders of technology. I will write Pentax to thank them for a job well done.

Whereas the first 15 miles were gorgeous, the last 13 were killer. We had to deal with long hills until we reached Natural Bridge Campground. We cruised downhill for 4 miles to get to it. Of course, we now have 4 miles of uphill to do when we leave. What a pain in the ass.

After a while I began to look forward in anticipation to road signs which said, "School Bus Stop Ahead." This usually signified that I was quite close to the top of a hill and be able to get a break from the climbing.

The campground was very nice, clean, well laid out and we had a choice of camping by the trees or the river. The tree sites were cheaper. The place even had a recreation hall. We celebrated by having beer.

For the day we climbed 2600 feet giving us a total so far of 14000.

BACK PEDAL

PEDAL ON TO WEEK 2

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