Wednesday, August 1, Meadowview,VA

Of all the days on this trip, the one that I dreaded the most was this one.
While we had one less climb than I had originally planned (this because of
the abbreviated day on Tuesday, it was still a daunting day.

We had two climbs that were nothing but up on steep switchbacked roads for
two miles plus numerous hill climbs similar to those on Sunday and Monday.
Some additional adversity was thrown into the works when we were about 3
miles from tonights destination when we came across a road closed sign and
forced to take a five mile detour.

Unfortunately,  the detour did not bring us back to the road we were
traveling on but into another town.  Meadowview was still miles away and
did not have all of the services advertised.  By the time we got here both
Kyle and I we our of water and running short on fuel to sustain the body.
Kyle was not a pleasant person to be around.  Topping it all off was the
fact that there was no designated camping around the area.  One again, for
the second time in four nights, we door knocked to find a home that would
allow us to camp in their yard and use their outside water for a hose
shower.  Kyle feels like we are "hobos" when we do this.

It rained all night last night and we awoke in a cloud of heavy dense fog.
Everything with us was damp or wet.  To add insult, a critter somehow
managed to eat the wheat bread out of my trailer without getting into the
trailer.  Because of the fog and rain, we delayed our start this morning to
wait for the roads to dry and the fog to lift.  Despite not leaving Breaks
Insterstate Park until 9:00 AM, we still pedaled 70 miles.

The scenery today was spectacular, at least during the times when I could
enjoy.  We had one 4,5 miles switchback decent near Hayter's Gap that was
priceless.  We also saw a priceless view at Breaks Interstate Park when we
were walking the trails that was priceless as well, at least until a bolt
of lightning stuck on the opposite of the canyon which served as a quick
reminder that we needed to get away from our perch lest we be the next
attraction for a lightning bolt.

While it is hard to believe there is a marked difference between KY and VA.
There appears to be more wealth in VA, the homes are nicer, and the dogs
are not trained to attach bicyclists.  We did not have one dog attack
today.  What a relief!  We also had a nice lunch in a feed store about
midway through the ride today.  We enjoyed good food and great talk with
the locals.  It should be noted that a confederate flag hung above the
doorway and one of the locals stated "don't consider this prejudice, but
Abraham Lincoln would not have freed the slaves if he had spent a day
behind a jack hammer".  Ah, the confederacy is alive and well.

All in all, it was a great day.  We ended the day by eating at the Harvest
Table.  It was the only place to eat in town.  It was a fine dining
restaurant with a duet playing continuously.  It was the perfect way to end
a great day, although I suspect the 38 oz of local beer helped (this was
the first of the ride).  Life doesn't get any better than this.

Tomorrow has two major climbs before noon, after that, with the exception
of climbing to the top of the Blue Ridge Parkway early next week, the major
climbs are behind us.  By the way you may remember reference to Big A Hill
on the first day of this ride.  Today, we crossed Big A Mountain.  Need I
say more.

Dick