Saturday, June 25, 2005

Roanoke, VA

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June 25, 2005

Blue Ridge criusing
As usual, we got a late start after a quick breakfast in the room. When we're with the car we can haul cereal, bowls, and soy milk for our usual breakfast. We were finally on the road at around 9 a.m. When we got to the first rest stop, it was closing at 10:30. There was moderate relief in the first stretch, but we passed several people walking their bikes. It was going to be either a long day or long sag for those people. Only one or two people passed us, as we were about the last to leave. The Action photo man was even packing up as we passed exclaiming: I guess there are still people coming. It paid off for him as we later bought two photos on CD for $25. His assistant put all three onto the CD with cropped copies as well.

Kerie leaving Boones Mill
At Boones Mill VFD there was a bin of blueberry bagel pieces which was all that was left of the rest stop food. There was plenty of Gatorade and water. Just before the stop we were on Route 220, a major 4 lane road. It helped that VDOT and the police had cordoned off one lane for us using safety cones. They were taking them up just after we passed, much to the chagrin of the cyclists behind us.

Rest Stop 1, Antioch
Church of the Brethren
We rode a little harder to the next rest stop but still arrived there as it was closing. There were more people resting and more food available, including some delicious pound cake. The stop was at the Antioch Church of the Brethren, who believe in "...peaceful action, plain and compassionate living, and a shared search for truth".

Pulling in to lunch
Just after the second rest stop was the turnoff for the optional 7.3 mile loop. Since we were so late, we decided to head straight to lunch. It was a good decision, as lunch was already winding down as we arrived at around 12:30, although there was plenty of food and they would still be open for another hour and a half. Lunch consisted of pasta salad, regular salad, beans, veggie burger, and lemonade.

Looking back at the lunch
site during the climb
Although we didn't stuff ourselves, it felt like we had eaten too much as we headed up the steepest climb of the day right after lunch, climbing from around 1500 feet to around 2300 feet in about two miles. Many, many people walked their bikes. We slowly crawled to the top, passing an EZ tandem on the way.

The descent was one of the best ever, steep and a little technical with many short curves. People were going really slow, some in the center of the road as we zoomed past. Kerie reached 50 mph and I maxed out at 49.

There were no more rest stops and we mostly flew downhill into town. At the end of the ride we ran into Walter and Dennis, who were waiting for their friend Bruce who we had seen at the top of the climb, warning cyclists of the steep descent and switchback turns.

Our motel was a short 2 miles away. After our showers Kerie discovered that one of her fender stays was missing, causing her wheel to rub against the fender. We called the local bike shops and the Peddle Shop owner said he had a Pyramid fender. We arrived just before closing at 5:00. The fender, a yellow one, used a different type of stay that we couldn't use. The mechanic at tent city helped out by giving us a couple of spokes that we could fashion into a makeshift stay. So much for a nap after the ride.

Wildflour Restaurant was closed, so we went next door to another Awful Arthur’s for some decent steamed shrimp and fish and chips.

Later we rode the shuttle bus up to Mill Mountain to check out the illuminated star and to view the city from above. It was a very hazy day, I assume mostly due to humidity and some smog.

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