Monday, June 27, 2005

Lexington loop, VA

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Today was century day but not for us. It turned out to be a very hot 90 degree day and our 50 mile ride just about did us in. We got a late start even though we were in bed by 10 p.m. It seems that we haven't slept much in the first part of the trip, and today we slept in until after eight. Well, Kerie did anyway; I was up at six or seven. I lost track after being woken at 5:30 by the the noise of century riders in the hallway who were getting an early start. I ventured out to eat the Hampton-provided breakfast of eggs, bagels, muffins, cereal, juices, coffee, english muffin, etc. It was very good for a motel-provided breakfast.

We got started at around 9 a.m. and it was already hot. We joined the route on state road 631 just north of town. From there we climbed some steep ascents until just before the first rest stop at Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church. The church is a beautiful stone building with an old, revolutionary era cemetery next door. The carrot cake muffins were the best I've ever had.

On the way to the rest stop we passed the man in yellow riding a yellow long-wheelbase Vanguard. He was heavyset and pushing hard to make it up the climbs. We also passed a man about our age walking his lightweight carbon frame upright. Seeing us pass him on our bents, he said he wished he had brought his Lightening P-38 from Miami. It didn't look like his road bike had a triple chainring.

As we continued on the hot, rollercoaster ride we came across three light colored turkey chicks sitting in the road, begging for handouts, an odd sight to say the least. As Kerie was shooing them into the woods, the other cyclists standing around said they had already tried that trick to no avail. They must have been domestic turkeys that had somehow gotten loose. We took a picture and reluctanatly left them to fend for themselves.

A short while later an older woman on an upright road bike was on the side of the road complaining about her front derailleur. The housing was bad and there was too much slack in the cable. I adjusted it as best I could and she rode for quite a while in her small chainring, as the adjustment couldn't overcome the housing problem. We saw her later asking Cycle Ed for advice.

Wade's Mill, a working water powered flour mill built around 1750, was the location of the second rest stop. It's listed in the National Register of Historic Places. There were some good treats even though it was past the 11:30 am closing time.

We walked around and through the mill and took several pictures before continuing to climb toward lunch. At Rockbridge Baths VFD we ate pizza, bland potato salad, and green beans and lemon cake for desert. Some of the riders nearby were exchanging bee sting stories. One guy was stung yesterday at the James River bridge, another had a hornet fly down his shirt that stung him four times. I could relate, as earlier, when I helped the woman with her derailleur, I sat back onto my recumbent seatback and was stung by something that was either on my shirt or seat.

After lunch we rode part way up Goshen Pass. It's a beautiful natural area through which the Maury River passes, with steep cliffs flanking the clear, rocky river bed. Kerie and I had been here on bikes before when we rode the Milepost Zero century one year that started in Waynesboro. This was an optional out and back ride but which most people appeared to have decided to ride.

The profile map made it seem that it was all downhill from lunch, but that was far from the case. There were many, many short, steep climbs in the hot sun. The tar in the road was melting, which could have lead to some slippery conditions. Several times when riding on patches of tar I could feel the front wheel slide a little. And once it felt like riding through glue.

I applied sunscreen several times, but still felt as if the tops of my legs were getting burned. They felt very hot. One of the differences between riding an upright and a recumbent is that one's legs are more directly exposed to the sun on a recumbent.

We dragged ourselves in to tent city on our way to the motel. There wasn't much there we wanted to see. As we were about to leave, what turned out to be a reporter asked us if we rode the entire century. As we talked about our ride, his intended interview subject appeared and he soon left to talk to her. The rumor we had heard earlier turned out to be true; Governor Warner had ridden with the group earlier in the day and had fallen, cracked his wrist, and was taken away in an ambulance. Mary Turnbull, Alan, and others were riding with him in a paceline. He was on a new bike, didn't brake in time, and took a bad fall. Guess we'll have to read about it in the papers tomorrow. Our friend Bruce, on whose bike the governor was riding, will likely take some ribbing for a while.

To get to downtown required riding on Route 11 for a short stretch, long enough that a semi trailer nearly side-swiped me as he passed without veering from his (my) lane. After getting back, the cool shower never felt so good.

Afterwards I walked back in to town to check out a couple of bookstores. Second Story Books, located in the basement of an old building, was having a burst pipe moving sale. Bought Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance in hardcover for $3 and heard about the shop owner's life in the country amidst the babbling brooks and barn swallow nest where the 3 chicks were stung by wasps, the 4th chick survived but refused the leave the nest, and the parents dive-bombed it, later with help from others, to get it to leave.

At All Booked Up bought Old Master Landscape Drawings for $2.50.

After a short wait, I had a good dinner of marinated and sauted portobello mushrooms, black bean salsa over yellow salty cake of some sort, at Bistro on Main in downtown Lexington.

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