We had a short ride from Afton to the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Let me give you a small taste of our ride experience today. Climb long mountain grades, rain enough to get thoroughly wet, sub 50 degree temperature, then screaming down mountain grades at 25+ mph. Do you know how cold that gets you? We do, and it's chilled to the bone cold. But it was still a blast and a great day.
Let me give you a small taste of our ride experience today. Climb long mountain grades, rain enough to get thoroughly wet, sub 50 degree temperature, then screaming down mountain grades at 25+ mph. Do you know how cold that gets you? We do, and it's chilled to the bone cold. But it was still a blast and a great day.
I'll just let the pics below speak for the beauty of our surroundings today. Twenty-seven of our miles were on the Blue Ridge Parkway. As usual, the pictures do not do the views justice.
I met Neal (pic below), a touring cyclist from Quebec City, Canada, at a visitor's center on the Parkway. He is riding from Quebec City to Dallas, Texas. We rode together for about 20 miles today. He is posting his adventures on the Crazy Guy on a Bike website under Quebexas.
Below is a photo of Mark (on left) and Corey, who are touring on the Parkway as a "shakedown" ride for a cross country bicycle ride next year on the Adventure Cycling Association Northern Tier Route. Mark is really "chomping at the bit" to retire. And Neal, who has been retired for about 5 years, and I were really encouraging him to do so as long as he can financially afford to.
We made to the Duck Mallard Campground, and were able to pitch our tents under a pavilion to help keep everything dry in case it rains. The water in the shower was very warm and we 3 probably drained the 90-gallon hot water heater trying to warm up after our ride.
Total miles for the day: 43
I know how cold it gets. On my first BRP tour it was raining by lunchtime and rained all afternoon (and evening). Not only was it cold, but the rain on my face hurt from its driving force.
ReplyDeleteHey Dean. I was there with y'all on that climb to Mt. Pisgah. I remember sitting under an overhang at the campground guard kiosk cooking spaghetti, shivering, and wondering what the heck I was doing there.
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