Friday, March 1, 2024

Day 7: 3/1/24: Max Meadows to Dublin, VA

Well, this is it - the finale of this tour.  The forecast is for a cold rain starting around noon, so I decided to alter my plans and ride fewer miles.  I called Lisa and we changed our meet up location from Roanoke to Dublin.  

Since the miles are significantly less today, Tony and I had breakfast and hung around his house talking bicycle stuff for a couple of hours.  We then left and he rode with me almost to Dublin before he turned around and headed home.  

Tony lives close to U.S. Bike Route 76, which is a cross country bicycle route that is ridden by numerous cyclists each year.  He told me he has had over 100 people stay at his house as Warmshowers guests over numerous years, some nights having multiple guests, due to his close proximity to that route.  We have been members of Warmshowers a little over a year, and have only had 2 requests to stay at our house, one guy from Oregon and a couple from Germany,  Unfortunately, we were not able to host them as we were in Pennsylvania both times.  Due to where we live, we were surprised that we have had any requests.

I made it to McDonald's in Dublin just before the rain started and that is where I "parked" myself all dry and warm inside for about 2 hours waiting for Lisa to arrive.  I was even able to pull all my gear off the bike and carry it inside to keep it from getting wet (pic below).

I probably used my tent the least amount on this trip than I have on any other multi-day trip.  I only camped 2 nights, and stayed indoors 4.  I may start liking this indoor lodging stuff.  However, I haven't slept in a bed the entire trip even though I had the opportunity to at all indoor overnight stays.  I used my sleeping pad and sleeping bag every night.  

Lisa made it, and I loaded my bike, gear, and myself in the van and we are all on our way to PA.

Total miles today: 24.6

Day 6: 2/29/24: Ceres to Max Meadows, VA

Happy "leap year day" or whatever it's called.

I had a tremendous nights sleep last night.  Slept soundly from about 9 p.m. to 6:30 this morning.  I woke up feeling totally refreshed.  Since I rode farther yesterday than originally planned, I would have less miles to ride today.

Knowing this was going to be a light, low mileage day, I did not leave the Hostel until about 9:15 a.m.  This allowed the temperature to rise a little before I headed out.

The ride today had some beautiful mountain views (pics below).

The weather was much better than yesterday.  It was pleasantly cool with a sunny sky.  

Tonight I am staying with a Warmshowers host, Tony, in Max Meadows, VA.  Tony saw I still use an "old school" cycling computer on my bicycle so he gave me a couple of them he no longer used because he upgraded to a Garmin with GPS technology.  The ones he gave me are an upgrade from mine because they are wireless whereas mine is wired.  It's like Christmas in February:)

Total miles today:  38.2