Day 40 (6/6/22): There’s Still Gas in the Tank

Start:                  Fort Chiswell, VA

End:                    Daleville, VA

 Mileage:             88 miles

Elevation:           5,830 feet

 Today was a day to cover some ground.

There wasn’t a lot to see, although it was nice enough (see accompanying picture), so my focus was on knocking off the miles.  Two other factors helped here as well.  First, while the elevation gain was respectable, all of it was undulating short hills that you can attack by pushing real hard on the preceding downhill portions.  This is a perfect use of Smoke and its electronic shifting as it requires constant, quick, and precise gear movement.  The bike performed beautifully after a week off.  Second, right at the halfway point, the clouds started to look not so friendly.  I had been holding back a little to that point, but decided to push hard to beat any rain that might come my way.  Again, having the light road bike was perfect for this, but I was real happy my legs were up for the challenge. Made it to Daleville an hour earlier than anticipated.

There was one big highlight worth mentioning.  I was lamenting to Tish last night that I so wanted to find a real bakery or coffee shop so that I could have a real bagel, croissant, or scone.  Hadn’t seen one in weeks.  Also, I’ve eaten a lot of pre-packaged “Bon Appetite”-brand cheese croissants that you find at some (not all) small convenience stores/gas stations on the route.  They’re not as awful as Hostess junk, but trust me, they’re close.  As I pulled into Radford, VA, there it was…a true coffee shop!  I don’t drink much coffee but figured they must have some baked items.  I was not disappointed.  The blueberry scones had just come out of the oven and one had my name on it.  When the young lady rang me up and said $4.38, I told her I would have paid $438.  She laughed.  Best scone I’ve ever had.

We’re planning around the rain again this week.  I have a 6 a.m. start time tomorrow to hopefully get me to Lexington, VA prior to the rains coming.  We really want to figure out our arrival date, but have to be flexible.

What I’m Grateful for Today

I had hoped to say I was grateful on this 78th anniversary of D-Day that I saw no confederate flags on my ride.  All was going well until mile 42.  Oh well.  It was the only one I saw today which I believe is the fewest since my first day in Missouri.

I’m grateful I bought both of my bikes.  Sorry for the materialistic statement, but they were both purchased for two very distinct purposes:  Miles hauls stuff and climbs.  Smoke covers long distances in short periods of times.  They’ve both been pleasures to ride on this trip. 

My brother Joel has taken it upon himself to plot the best way to cross the Delaware from his house in Bucks County, PA.  I can use all the help I can get navigating that last day. The route is not on any map and will be completely made up.

Tish got to ride today as well.  She loves riding just as much as me, but just not as far. She did 10 miles on the Huckleberry Path near VA Tech this morning.  She really liked the scenery. It looked great.