Gloria
We woke up to rain. The forecast stated that it would be gone by 8:00. The rain stopped around 7:35. Since we had made plans to start around 8:00, we kept to that plan.
We woke up to rain. The forecast stated that it would be gone by 8:00. The rain stopped around 7:35. Since we had made plans to start around 8:00, we kept to that plan.
Right before leaving, we packed our panniers into Pam's car. Jennifer met us at the car to retrieve the keys. Pam & Jennifer had a busy day planned but were going to meet us for lunch somewhere on the road.
Pam grew up in this area, so she is partly here to SAG and partly here to reminisce. Blacksburg was on her "to do" list today. Her family lived there many years ago.
Once we bikers got started, we found that the roads were still wet but doable. We rode without rain for about two and a half hours. The terrain today had lots of short uphills and too few long downhills.
Right before we hit the rain, we met up with Pam & Jennifer and made plans to meet for lunch. Three problems developed after that. 1) We took the New River Trail path and had difficulty getting off the path and back to our route. We had to ask a homeowner to allow us to ride our bikes on his private property in order to return to our route. He was nice enough to say yes.
2) Immediately after we got back on our route it started to rain. 3) We arrived in the place where we had made plans to meet Pam & Jennifer and they informed us that it didn't have any restaurants. We took refuge under the roof of the Newbern, Virginia post office. We snacked a bit and finally decided to meet Pam & Jennifer at the Dairy Queen (our new favorite eatery) 2 miles down the road. While we were eating lunch, the rain stopped.
2) Immediately after we got back on our route it started to rain. 3) We arrived in the place where we had made plans to meet Pam & Jennifer and they informed us that it didn't have any restaurants. We took refuge under the roof of the Newbern, Virginia post office. We snacked a bit and finally decided to meet Pam & Jennifer at the Dairy Queen (our new favorite eatery) 2 miles down the road. While we were eating lunch, the rain stopped.
After lunch Pam & Jennifer dropped our panniers off at our hotel, then drove to Blacksburg. Michael, Eric and I slogged up more hills and finally made it to our hotel in Christainsburg. Our total mileage was about 57.
The scenery today was beautiful. Sometimes it's difficult to enjoy it with the traffic. However, there is nothing like going downhill and having the privilege of seeing lush green farmland with cows and horses. Ok - sometimes there are also dogs, but these days most are tied up or fenced in. Makes admiring the scenery much more enjoyable.
Jennifer & Pam treated us to a delicious dinner at Texas Roadhouse near our hotel. It was a great ending to another wonderful day!
You may remember our companion, Jayden, who was with us when the accident in Kansas occurred. Well...he made it to Yorktown, Virginia today! When we talked to him tonight, he was waiting at the Greyhound station for his bus to Pennsylvania. Congratulations, Jayden & very well done!
Only 9 more days before we get to dip our bikes in the Atlantic. That will be a great day indeed!
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