More of Virginia

Riding through the hills and mountain areas of this state is really nice with rolling roads all well paved and the country roads have little traffic.  On Saturday we rode to Christiansburg and stayed at the Presbyterian church with turned out to be very nice with a large kitchen and carpeted area for sleeping on, and it was dry.  the last few days have been cloudy cool with temps in the 50's and occasional rain during the day.  Not the best riding weather but we pedal on.  Stopping at local country stores is always a treat, everyone asking questions about where we are going, why we are going and how long it will take; but it is a lot of fun and everyone has been very friendly.  Now that we are into western VA the dogs are on the loose and a few have come out but no one has had a major problem.

A typical stop  at a country store.

On Sunday we rode to Wytheville and again cloudy and rainy. The ride itself was full of short steep climbs with many grades of 10% to 14%. The last climb into Wytheville was the toughest of the day and of course just as we got to the top of the climb the skies opened up and we had a torrential downpour, with no time to put on rain gear so we rode it put to the Methodist church where we were staying Sunday night.  Again a great choice with full kitchen facilities and carpeted sleeping areas and HOT showers..  Lots of laundry to wash so over to the local laundromat and got that done.
Monday found us on the road to Damascus VA, very close to the Tennessee state line.  This was a ride with three climbs that rose over 900 feet each with grades from 3% to 12%.  the climbing was actually fairly easy since most of it was done at around 4%, but the downhills were fabulous! On the last good decent I had to slow down for a car that did not like to take the curves and switchbacks very fast.  I did get up to 40 mph and on a loaded touring bike that is a good speed to take curves. We are staying a layover day in Damascus and we are at the Iron Horse Campground.  It was built in 1996 and no one has done a lick of work on the place since then.  Sjef and I got in early and rented a small two bed cabin for the two nights.  Others who got in later are camping in a shelter or out on the lawn. Damascus is a big town for Mt biking and is also a crossroads for various trails on the Appalachian Trail system.  There are a number of bike shops and hiking outfitters but no good restaurants that we have been able to find.  But the do have the Dollar Store.  Today (Tuesday) is cold and rainy so here I sit in the local coffee house typing away on the blog.
Who knows when I will see a good wifi spot again, tomorrow we head toward Kentucky and should cross into that state on Friday.  We will also have the toughest climbing days of the entire trip late this week. 
Life is Good   Bobo