Perfect day, perfect bike ride

Tuesday, June 7  Day 3  Peaks of Otter to Meadows of Dan, VA  90 miles, 8740' of climbing

About to ride under a highway near Roanoke. The bridges all look so cool with that stonework. We had sunny skies all day, and the scenery was spectacular. Our 90 miles represented riding from Mile Post 85 to Mile Post 174 ( a little extra here and there gave me another mile), and we climbed about 8700 feet. Along both Skyline Drive and the BRP, there are mileage posts every single mile, so you always know how how far you've gone.

 Early this morning, I took a little walk and got these two photos of Abbott Lake and its surroundings.

Those were the room units, while the lobby was to my left (the 50-yard walk that, during the rain, kept our group from being able to communicate the night before).

The bike ride was so scenic that I will just post many of my photos here and below:

Today we were ABOVE the clouds instead of in them! This was looking west. One of the fun things about today's ride was that we truly were riding on the crest of the Blue Ridge Mts, such that around one bend we'd get a view to the east, and around the next bend we'd get a view to the west.

 

 There's a view to the east, with Chuck.

Chuck took this one of me toward the west, after the clouds had lifted in the valley.

We descended down to where there were some towns, which was new for us so far on the BRP. There's a train going by in this photo if you look closely among all those trees. The only bad part here was the increased traffic. Most of our riding on the 174 miles of the BRP and on Sunday's 105 miles of Skyline Drive has been serene with hardly any vehicles, but not for several miles near Roanoke.

"Our own bike path", which is the title of my chapter from Head Over Wheels about the BRP. How can you not like riding here?

Chuck shot this as I rode past him. Due to my fused neck, I still ride in a very upright position most of the time.

 This is looking up-river from the bridge over the Roanoke River.

And this is looking down-river. A very pretty spot! And at this point, we'd ridden only 30 miles. There's poor cell phone coverage on most of the parkway, but there was strong service here so I got to have a nice conversation with Janet!

 Jill and I are about to ride under another one of those cool stone bridges.

A new housing tract down there being built.

Today we also rode past many ranches and farm land. That's Chuck in front, just after we departed lunch. I should continue to mention that Suzette and Carol lay out the fixins for fabulous snacks and lunches. We will likely gain weight on this tour!

Alvin, Bryan, Chuck and I rode together for a long way after lunch, but I just had to stop to take this picture at what used to be a mill site. The little dam created a pretty pond.

Just another scenic spot on our bike path, with about 15 miles to go.

This cemetery was right next to the BRP, but was accessible by car only from another road. There are very few points along the BRP to get on or off. It was never meant to be a regular commuting road, only a "vacation" parkway for tourists to enjoy. The maximum speed limit is 45 mph, and there are NO stops nor services like stores or fuel stations for the entire 469 miles.

 Love those split-rail fences, which are in other of my photos above, too.

Now THIS was a story! Only five miles from the end of our ride, I stopped to view the scenery at an overlook. Another fellow was telling me how he and his wife had seen us over the past two days as we leap-frogged down the parkway. Then a motorhome pulled up with an expensive, high-end racing bike on the front rack. Out popped this fellow and we got to talking. He's 72 and he had just competed in an international race for firemen and policemen. He was from Montreal, although he and his wife were born and lived most of their lives in France. I asked his wife if she'd take our photo. He quickly ran into the motorhome and emerged wearing his jersey and holding his medal he had just won. He put the medal around my neck for the photo!

Carol drove up with the truck/trailer while this was going on, and met them too and also took pictures of us. After I left, the wife apparently told Carol that at one time, he competed in the Tour de France!

Another funny story: After I went on and had only three miles to go, I ran into Jill fixing a flat tire. She was glad to see me because she had no CO2 cartridge, nor a pump. I secretly was wondering why any cyclist would not have the means to fix a flat tire. But when I gave her my CO2 cartridge, it was used! They are good only once, and apparently I never replaced my empty cartridge the last time I had a flat, which was over two years ago. That was pretty bad of me, but at least I had my pump. Well, it didn't pump any air! It was broken. So, I've been riding over two years without the means to fix a flat tire! Sure has been lucky that I haven't had a flat all that time, since flats are so common. But my attempt to help a damsel in distress fizzled miserably. I had to ride the remaining three miles to let Alvin know, who was out on the road waiting for her, and he drove back to be the knight in shining armor.

When I arrived at the motel, I realized it's where we stayed when I was riding the BRP seven years ago. That's Suzette and Chuck relaxing on the benches. There's a pretty pond just a few yards from our rooms, and I described in Head Over Wheels how we threw sticks into it for three dogs to swim out and bring the sticks back to us. One of those dogs was Abby, Dave and Sandy Thompson's dog, who met us to ride day 3 with us back in 2008. It's all in my book! Such fun to be here again, because this time I have my camera with me.

On bike tours, the riders typically need to wash their clothes to wear a 2nd or maybe 3rd time. Usually the washing is done in the sink or bathtub. The challenge is to get them dry. Here's Bryan's jersey and shorts hanging in the sun hoping to dry out.

 

And see all those clothes hanging on a line? With a strong chance of rain tonight, they may not dry out! In my case, I brought seven sets of bike clothes, so I am not planning to have to wash anything on this tour.

Dinner here at the motel was just for our group, out on their patio overlooking the pond. Nice evening! That's Suzette, Chuck, Bryan, and Terry. Luckily the motel's Internet connection has been strong enough for me to write yesterday's and today's postings. Now it's time to go to bed!

Tomorrow will be a bit shorter, 75 miles, and less climbing - about 6000 feet. We will stay in Laurel Springs, North Carolina. The weather forecast, however, calls for more rain. Maybe it won't.