Day 8 – Meadowview, VA to Lookout, KY

Welcome to Kentucky! As it turns out, Virginia is a really wide state. It took us 8 days to work our way (just barely) in to Kentucky.

Our route started about 8 miles from the hotel so we took the MCC to the start point just after 7am. Well, we tried to, but I got us lost in the first 2 miles. As I started to make the Uturn, Heidi asked me to stop the MCC in the middle of a 4-lane divided to snap this wonderful shot of the morning.

No fog this morning, but still chilly. Even with a vest and armwarmers, I was actually shivering. J “I’m a furnace” P wasn’t bothered by it. Heidi took the early morning light to snap photos of vehicles she wants.

Our first climb was just outside of Hayter’s Gap. 1,500′ of climbing in 3.5 miles. LOTS of twists and turns. The GPS tells the story of the switchbacks.

On the climb, we saw 3 other TransAmerica riders… tho they were going the other way so we really didn’t get a chance to chat. They seemed happy enough, but I think mostly because they were going down this pitch we were working our butts off to climb. It was a bear, but we both made it. This was definitely the most serious climb JP has ever done, and he finished it strong.

Today we both had our first mechanicals. JP’s front brake started sticking towards the end of the ride. Likely it’s just gummed up and started sticking from the heat and crud. He’s currently got degreaser on working on the brakeset and it should be back to normal by the morning.

My issue was a bit more adventurous. About 40 miles in to the ride, I couldn’t shift in to my large front chainring anymore. It seemed like the derailleur was moving correctly but it just wasn’t hitting the chain to cause it to shift. I thought maybe the derailleur had turned or shifted somehow, but everything seemed tight. I adjusted the limit stops and kept riding.

About 20 miles later, I stopped for lunch. When I went to get back on the bike, I realized my left crank arm was loose. That was the real issue. My right crank had slid over about 5mm due to the play in the left arm. I took the crank apart, reassembled, and everything seemed perfect. The derailleur worked like it should have and the crank was tight. I started riding again… about 2 miles later I realized I hadn’t tightened the crank arm enough and it was almost falling off the bike. I clipped out from the left and pedaled with my right foot until I had a safe place to pull over. I reset the crank (again) and tightened the hell out of it. Everything seems OK now.

In hindsight, I think the crank had been loose since I got the bike. I felt some “play” at the top of the stroke on the left side, but I thought it was due to something wrong with my pedals (they were a new set of Ultegra pedals that had never been ridden). Now that everything is tight, the play is gone. Lesson learned.

Towards the end of the ride, there were 3 serious climbs coming in to Breaks Interstate Park. It was approaching 90 degrees and it was sort of cruel and unusual punishment at that point in the day.

Of course the “Welcome to Kentucky” sign came on a downhill. Both Heidi and I missed it on the first pass and had to loop back. But, here’s the proof we made it 😉

 For some added fun, I got chased by at least 6 different dogs in the last 10 miles of the ride… including 2 dogs who were out in the middle of nowhere on a really steep climb. I ended up off the bike walking past them with a blade out in case they came at me. Seriously, Kentucky, put your dogs on a leash.

We’re staying pretty far off route in Pikeville KY. Given how long the day went, our evening has been dinner at Steak n Shake, some shopping at Walmart, and lots of prep for tomorrow. Tomorrow, we’re off to Buckhorn State park. Wish us luck.

 

 

Day 7 – Wytheville to Meadowview/Abingdon

For day 7, we had to leave the wonderful town of Wytheville behind and head to Meadowview… or Abingdon… or rather, Abingdon by way of Meadowview.

Another cool, foggy morning today. Looking at the weather for the next few days, I think it may have been our last before summer seriously sets in. Started out the morning with the GPS fully charged and the NiteRider 650 on “super blinding seizure blink” mode. Seriously, the 650 is a bright light. On blink mode, it brings out the candy ravers.

Not kidding, it was foggy. You can sorta see the end of the parking lot.

The fog broke by about 9am and it was a beautiful day for a ride. I think I’ve said it about a dozen times already, but this route is beautiful. There were some amazing views today and lots of wildlife, flowers, trees, and run down barns.

We had two fairly high peaks to reach in the Jefferson Nat’l Forest, but thankfully the pitch was very manageable. We were done with both major climbs by 11 and had an early lunch. JP and I reached the summit of the second climb together, but Heidi wasn’t quite ready with the camera. What you see below is a recreation of the event after we finished lunch.

The remaining 30 miles was mostly downhill. We rode through Damascus VA which apparently is a big town for fishing, canoeing, and bike tours on the Virginia Creeper Trail. There were 100’s of people on bikes there, mostly rentals. As JP pointed out, however, we were the only road bikes in the bunch.

The ACA route takes us through Meadowview (our stop for the day) but sadly there is no hotel on the route. The closest hotel Heidi could find was down the road in Abingdon. JP hitched a ride from Meadowview with Art. I decided to push on the last 8 miles on US 11 and ride to the hotel. I was pretty spent, but US 11 was _fast_ in that stretch and it was nice to be out of the hills for a bit.

Abingdon has a lot to offer. It’s home to the Virginia State Theatre (the Barter Theatre). There’s a rich music scene here; in fact there was a music festival going on downtown. There’s also quite a number of artists that call the Abingdon area home. We stopped by The Arts Depot and chatted with a few of them… they were very hospitable and  loved the kids. Bobby took time and voted for his favorite photos in their photography contest. One of the artists called him a “budding art critic” which may have embarrassed him a bit.

Afterwards, we had milkshakes made from cupcakes… let that sink in for a second. Babycake Cupcakes in Abingdon will take a cupcake, put it in a shake maker with ice cream and milk, and blend it in to a shake. It was seriously unbelievable. Like, potentially the best shakes any of us had ever had. Crazy.

We finished off with dinner at the Barter Cafe. Light fare but yummy. JP and I worked on our plan for tomorrow. We are climbing Hayter’s Gap. Aptly named as its a 3.5 mile climb with 1,500′ of vertical. For those doing the math at home, that’s an average 8% grade. Yep. Can’t wait. Till tomorrow…

Day Six – Rest Day, Still in Wytheville

I know y’all are wondering about our first official rest day.  After letting everyone sleep in just a little bit, we ate a quick breakfast and headed up to Big Walker Lookout.  Art and JP stayed behind to catch up on laundry but soon headed up to the lookout themselves.  As you can see, this thing is crazy tall.  If you look real close you can see the boys standing at the top.

The view was spectacular – or so the pictures show.  Only Bobby and Terran went up making fun of their chicken parents on their climb.  Bruce and I were quite happy to keep our feet on the ground.

We headed back down the mountain and went for a quick walk around the Chautauqua Festival, grabbed a bite to eat in town and then it was back to the hotel.  Bruce and Bobby decided to go for a quick ride with Daxton.  Here they are getting ready to pull out of the parking lot.  Terran and I took advantage of this time to clean out the RV.  Turns out the backroads of Virginia can be a bit dusty.

The parking lot was still empty when they got back so Bruce took advantage and cleaned up his bike.  I guess someone stopped by and asked him if he was setting up for some kind of show.  No such luck, I’m afraid.  When that was done we took the kids to see Monsters University.  Fun times.  Now we’re all back at the hotel.  Bobby got out the video camera and interviewed the crew.  We should have a short something for you in a day or two about our first week on the road.

Day Five – Christiansburg to Wytheville

Five days of riding. After some relatively long days the last few, today was a nice break. 50 easy miles through the hills of southwest Virginia.

Another cool, foggy morning for the start. Our hotel wasn’t on the route… in fact it was about 2 miles away via a 4-lane divided highway. So Heidi took JP and I to the start of the day via the MCC. We rolled out from the Christiansburg Library parking lot.

The ride was relatively uneventful. There was definitely a fair bit of climbing with a number of pitches >10%. The scenery was beautiful (again) but definitely more rugged. We got chased by two “silent” dogs which was probably the most exciting thing to happen all day. I read a blog post a few weeks ago where the author categorized loose dogs from least to most dangerous. At one end of the scale were old dogs who mostly just lay in the yard and bark because they really don’t have the energy to give chase. Next are the playful barkers who are generally interested in asserting their dominance of their territory and will give chase but are really just having fun. Then come the puppies. These critters are dangerous because they don’t understand the risks to chasing cyclists… they’ll jump out in front of you and endanger themselves AND you. The most dangerous dogs are the silent ones… these dogs are actually after YOU. They don’t give away tactical advantage by barking; rather they get up to speed in the grass behind you and only really make themselves known when the paws hit the pavement just behind your bike. We had 2 of those today. Luckily we got away (and one of the silent dogs was too small to be a real threat).

Also, the kids are getting marginally better at taking pictures out the window of the MCC. I think the picture below is me (?).

JP and I rolled in to Wytheville around 2pm. The final climb in to town wasn’t as bad as climb into Christiansburg, but it was still an attention getter… mostly because of the heavy truck traffic and ZERO shoulder.

So we’ve got a down day tomorrow here in Wytheville, and I’m not sure we could have timed it better. They’re having a Chautauqua Festival this week with music, performances, and food in the park downtown. For those readers in NY, yes, _that_ Chautauqua. Apparently the institute funded the creation of a park here in Wytheville and helps organize this yearly festival. Tonight was bluegrass night, so Heidi, the boys, and I ate ourselves silly and listened to some great music. The VW Boys (below) were mostly bluegrass with an attempt at comedy. Definitely amusing.

I should note that the festival had “fried kool-aid.”. I’m not sure how exactly you fry koolaid, but after eating some, I’m fairly certain that’s not the way you’re supposed to eat it. It was not good.  Art and JP stopped in just as we took off to dunk the kids in the pool for a bit.  We were nice and gave them fair warning regarding the strange concoction.

Tomorrow? Classic rock. I think Heidi is going to do up her bangs and get some leg warmers on.