Day 91: Charlottesville, VA

Day 91

August 15, 2015

Miles: 77

Lexington to Charlottesville


Di and I got up a little before 6am to try and get an early start on the day's ride.  Today we ride up Mt. Vesuvius, the last mountain climb of our trip.  We had heard from a number of sources that it would be a difficult climb to the top, so I was looking forward to it.  I know that sounds a little strange, but its fun to have a ride that challenges you physically, and sometimes mentally, every once in a while.  You just don't want to have that every day.

We ate the sandwiches we had bought the night before and were on the road at 7:30am.  That's early for us and, not surprisingly, we were unaware that the early Virginia morning is often filled with mist.

Heading out of Lexington

Misty morning in Virginia

The road heads towards the mountains

A contemplative Di

By 10am we had ridden the 20 miles to the town of Vesuvius and went to Gertie's to get second breakfast.  Di and I both agreed the pancakes were the best we've had on the trip (so far).

Pancakes and eggs again

I'm obviously pleased with my pancakes

Leaving Gerties

We left Gerties around 11:30am and had a nice half-mile ride before the road became very steep.  Once it became steep it stayed steep for the next 3.5 miles.  We rode steeper sections out west and we also rode longer climbs, but this was the longest climb of such sustained steepness.  We stopped for a break after every half mile and even with those breaks it was a really difficult climb.  Until this climb, I was unaware I could breathe that loudly.  Or that engineers actually made such steep roads.  Or that one could develop an irrational hatred of gravity.  Despite all those things being true, Di and I eventually made our way to the top.  Wahoo!

Just before the start of the climb

One of our many breaks

We made it!

Di going under the Blue Ridge Parkway

Me just getting on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Me, firmly ensconced on the Blue Ridge Parkway

There were many places to stop and take pictures and I had to restrain myself from stopping at all of them.  We had planned on a 58 mile day and it was already getting a late in the day, so I had to choose my photo ops judiciously.

I asked somebody to take a picture of Di and me and he took this cool panoramic shot.

I took this (non-panoramic shot of Di)

Di wanted to take a shot of ourselves expressing the joy we have felt on this great bike adventure.  This is the result:

That's unbridled joy

Here are some more shots from the Blue Ridge Parkway once we resumed riding:

All of a sudden, we saw a group of people on the side of the road as we rode by.  The Blue Ridge Parkway is not designed for pedestrians, so it was very surprising to see anybody walking around up there.  To make it even more surprising, the group was comprised mostly of youngsters.  There were two young women who I assume were the moms, two infants, and three young children.  As we rode by, one of the moms yelled, "Do you know where the blah-blah parking lot is?"  I yelled back that we didn't.  She then asked if we had a map of the area.  I said no.  Di and I were now well past them and I was going to continue riding, but Di said we had to go back.  She thought she detected some nervousness in the woman's voice.  So we rode back to the group and learned they had parked their car somewhere and had hiked on one of the many walking trails in the area.  They thought the trail was a loop that would bring them back to the car, but it just ended out in the middle of nowhere.  They then bushwhacked their way back to the road and, thinking the car was just a short distance away, started walking.  So far they had been walking for four miles on the road and they weren't sure how much farther their car lay.  I should also mention that all the kids were either screaming or crying or both and were showing great reluctance in continuing their forced march back to the car.  Di learned they had run out of water, so we filled their water bottle from one of ours and gave them an extra Gatorade we were carrying.

The two older kids wanted to know everything about my bike

I had to open every bag and show them what was inside

I even had to open my tool kit!

We had done all we could for those folks and continued on our way.  About a quarter of a mile later, Di and I  pulled into a scenic overlook and I saw there was another couple that was just about to leave.  I asked them which way they were going and they were going the same direction as Di and me.  "Oh, that's too bad", I said.  "If you were going in the other direction, I was going to ask if you would help out a family that might be in trouble."  I then told them about the two moms and the five kids walking along the highway.  "I saw that family", the guy said. "I thought it was strange they would be walking along the highway, but they were all laughing and skipping along."  "Well, they are all crying and dragging now", I said.  The couple became very concerned and actually ran to their truck to head off and try to help the moms and kids.  Di and I were glad they were willing to go out of their way and help.  About 15 minutes later, the couple pulled up alongside us as we were riding to tell us they got everybody safely to their car.  We were so happy we needed to express our joy:

So happy everybody is safe and sound

Why does Di insist on causing anxiety (in everybody except herself!)

We stopped in Love to grab some lunch.  Who doesn't stop for Love?  Di had the ham sandwich and I the BBQ sandwich.  By the time we finished eating it was after 3:30pm and we had only ridden 34 miles so far.  We needed to ride another 24 miles to get to the campground and we were already tired from the big climb up Vesuvius, so we probably weren't going to make good time.

Lunch

More scenes from a Blue Ridge Parkway

The parkway provides good shade

The Shenandoah Valley

Di on the edge. Again. To nobody's surprise.

We rode steadily until we were about 3 miles from the campground.  At this point, Di requested a meeting, so we stopped by the side of the road to hold a conference.  Di proposed that we not ride to the campground that was 3 miles away, but instead, we ride to a Hampton Inn in Charlottesville that was over 20 miles away.  It was already 5:30pm and we were tired from the day's tough ride, but I can't say I was totally shocked by Di's suggestion.  I know she will go through great lengths to avoid staying in a tent.  So off we went, riding like mad cyclists to beat the dark.  We made it to Charlottesville and the Hampton Inn a little after 8pm.  We rode 77 miles on a day already difficult because of the climb up Vesuvius, but it was all worth it for Di to be once again comfortably housed in her beloved Hampton Inn.

Di and me expressing our feelings about being in the Hampton Inn

Tomorrow, we explore Monticello in the morning and ride in the afternoon.