Blue Ridge Parkway

We left Charlottesville on Wednesday morning in nice weather and headed for Afton, VA.  This was a very scenic ride mainly on rural roads that are usually paved nicely without shoulders but no potholes.  On the way we stopped at a country store and of course all of the locals had to get the info on our ride.  To say some of the old timers were skeptical about our ride would be an understatement.  But we have found that the folks in VA are really friendly and more that willing to give us good directions and info.
To get to our overnight lodging with June the Cookie Lady we had a 70 ft climb with grades up to 12%. Our Hostel was in the middle of this climb that would be resumed on Thursday with another 500 ft be fore getting on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Back to the Cookie Lady, June Cutter is now 90 years old and has been operating the Hostel since 1976, over 10,000 riders have singed the register.  Now the Hostel is filled and I mean filled with postcards, cycling shirts, water bottles, an old tandem, and tons of other information and items.  Every inch of wall, ceiling and shelf space is cluttered.  I slept on a couch by putting down the ground cover for my tent and then my sleeping bag.  I do not think that I picked up any bugs or other critters.  But it was inside and made for less packing in the morning.

And, yes that is the couch that I slept on.  Linda wound never even sit on this one, she might not even come into the room once she saw it, but on this trip one needs to be flexible.

Thursday began with a climb to the Blue Ridge and then a lot of additional climbing along the 27 miles that we were on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Wonderful scenery but with cloudy skies and some fog the views were limited, Getting off the parkway brought the riding highlight of the ride so far, a 3 1/2 mile downhill with switchbacks and lots and lots of curves.  Jules would have loved this one.  We were all careful after learning that a Trans Am rider last year crashed and broke his leg, thus ending his ride.  My top speed only got to 35 thru good breaking and it was still a blast going down.  After another 8 miles we pulled into Mallard Duck Campground that is run by Adam, a true western VA mountain person (read Hillbilly) It was raining when we arrived and I put the tent up in the rain and actually did OK and things did not get toooo wet. Another rider and I had cooking duties tonight and we put together a good pasta dinner under a great pavilion.
No cell or WiFi in these here hills.
Friday found us riding 48 miles first into Lexington, where VMI is located and this city exists because of this school.  We did stop and get a really good cup of coffee before heading out and riding some more back country roads, with very little traffic. Our next big stop was in Buchanan, a dying city where the supermarket is the Dollar General. With the limited choice, it was canned stew and salad tonight.  We are camping at camp Bethel which is run by a church group and no alcohol is allowed, we do have a few upset folks who like their beer.
Life is Good
Bobo