Day 8: 10/6/2022: Afton to Fredericksburg, VA

 I slept indoors at the Afton Bike House last night.  The house is old and was built very close to the road.  When a car would pass the house, the windows would rattle.  I thought that would keep me awake, but nope.  Also, there was a regular sound of tin or something creaking.  I thought that would keep me awake, but nope.  I slept soundly. Biking is definitely a good sleep medication.  

I left the house before sunrise this morning.  I've had a lot of opportunities this trip to admire the night sky.  Pics of sunrise below.

Below are some pics of the 1910 Montpelier Train Station exhibit in the time of segregation.

After yesterday, today's ride seemed like a rest day.  There were no major hills and a slight tailwind assisting me along.  These made for a fairly easy day of pedaling.

Scenery pics below.  The hills are definitely smaller. :)

The towns I went through today included Ruckersville and Orange.  Below are a few pics around Orange.

I rode through a portion of a couple of Civil War battlefields, Wilderness and Chancellorsville.  Pics below of plaques telling some information about each battle.

Below is some information about a historical figure in Spotsylvania County.  I don't recall this name from high school history class, but I'm sure there are a lot of historical figures I don't remember from high school.

I made it to Spotsylvania Fire and Rescue Station 10 (pic below) where I will be camping tonight.  I also stayed here during a bike trip in 2018.  Tonight, they let me take a shower and do my laundry.  They also let me pitch my tent on the covered patio - no wet tent to roll up in the morning:) What a great group.  They also offered to include me in their nightly meal, but it included venison, so I politely declined.

They had the meal almost ready to serve at about 6:30 p.m., and they got an emergency call.  A female on which a warrant was being served, stabbed herself with a steak knife.  The knife went in completely to the handle.  They got back from the call about 7:45 p.m. and finally got around to eating supper about 8:15 p.m.  Right after they got through cleaning up the supper table, another call came in about 8:35 p.m. and off went the calvary again. The only other call they went out on was before midnight. First Responders definitely deserve to be recognized.

Total miles today: 89.7

Day 7: 10/5/2022: Troutville to Afton, VA

 Today I knew was going to be a "gut check" day for me because of the distance and amount of climbing.  Because of that, I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and was on my bike riding by 5:30 a.m.

I stopped at a local cafe in Buchanan for breakfast.  I couldn't let a trip go by without posting a pic of least 1 breakfast.

Pic below of the James River at Buchanan.

Pics below of a portion of downtown Lexington and Stonewall Jackson's gravesite at Lexington.

I ran across the 4 guys pictured below outside Lexington.  They are biking from Vienna, VA, to Asheville NC.  They have been on the road a few days and said today was their first nice day to ride.  They had rain from Hurricane Ian.  They are sleeping in motels along the way.

The road below led to my hardest climb yet this trip.  It began in Vesuvius and was about a 2.5 mile steep climb to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

I made it to the Blue Ridge Parkway and rode on it for about 30 miles.  Blue Ridge Parkway riding consists of long slow uphills followed by long fast exciting downhills to the next gap, etc, etc.  Below are some pics along the parkway.

Tonight I am staying in Afton at the former home of June Curry.  She was well known by cyclists biking USBR 76 because she allowed many cyclists to stay at her home and she provided many with cookies.  She was affectionately known in the biking community as The Cookie Lady.  She died in 2012, but her home is still the Afton Bike House, a hostel for cyclists. The walls inside the home are decorated with lots of  post cards cyclists sent her in the past. Some pics around the house below.

Total miles today:  90.6

Day 6: 10/4/2022: Draper to Troutville, VA

Brian, my host last night, is also a host for Harvest Hosts, which is an online network of places that allow RVers to stay on their farms, etc, for free.  An RV came to the farm after dark and stayed at the farm overnight.  They were a nice couple from around Atlanta that were heading to Intercourse PA to visit an Amish community.

Woke up to a downright chilly morning.  Had a cold ride to Radford, where I had breakfast.  Sat at the restaurant for about an hour drinking coffee to warm up and letting my phone recharge.

Some pics below of sunrise.

I think my inflatable sleeping pad has developed a hernia (pic below). I guess it's time to start shopping for another one.  It'll be a sad day when this one goes by the wayside.  We've been through a lot together.  I hope having a hernia is not the beginning to the end for everything :)

A couple of pics below of the Cambria area of Christiansburg.

I was on USBR 76 the entire day today.  Almost all of my riding was in the Ellett and Catawba Valleys with the Blue Ridge Mountains as my view.  Below are some scenery pics from today.

Change is a coming (pic below).  I am starting to see more and more Fall colors as I ride.

Pic below of a bicycle yard decoration along the route.

I made it to Troutville and will be camping in the city park.  I also camped in the park in 2018 when a couple of friends and I cycled from MD to VA.

There is a local grocery store right next to the park where a lot of cyclists stop for food.  Below is a pic of Page who owns the store.  She said the store has been in her family for 3 generations.  She keeps a handwritten log of cyclists who stop in her store and she has years worth of comments in them.

Pic of my supper, a lot of which I bought from the local grocery store.  I'll just call it my version of a charcuterie board:)

Pic of my campsite at the park.

Sunset pic.

Troutville should be about the mid way point of my trip.

Total miles today:  78.0