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| (Doe, a deer, a female deer!!!!!) |
I will admit I have been dreading today's ride for days. It has been haunting me for days. You see, normally I don't take much credence anymore in the horizontal profile printed on the back of the Adventure Cycling Association maps. When I first started the Ride Across America I believed in them religiously and they did seem fairly accurate at first. And then I came to that stretch where they either didn't really reveal all the big climbs that were really there, or they seemed to show climbs to be much steeper than they actually turned out to be.
However, the climb that would hit me from Vesuvius, VA to the Blue Ridge Parkway seemed to be a monster. Not since Wolf Creek Pass, CO has there been a profile like this. Everywhere I researched the agreement seemed to be this climb would be a monster. I heard stories of Eastbound cyclists giving away their possessions to Westbound cyclists just to lighten the load they would have to carry up this mountain. The profile seemed to indicate a rise of 1700 feet in the space of 3 miles and lots of switchbacks. And it didn't help when I heard from a few local cyclists in Lexington that it would be a killer. I got an early bed time and I made sure to eat a good breakfast to give me some energy. Because of the climbs, Sarah would not be joining me today for the beginning. We were hoping she could join me after the descent from the Blue Ridge Parkway.
But I also had some serious motivation to ride today. Since we have a rest day tomorrow in Charlottesville, VA and we're going to visit Monticello, today would be the last day I would be riding for the campers of Sunrise Day Camp. Don't get me wrong, I will still be riding for the campers and hoping to raise more money for the camp, but today is the last day that I will be riding for a specific group - or rather groups. Today I would be riding for the Boys and Girls of Leadership, the CIT's, and the staff! So with images of the faces of so many of these campers and counselors running through my head, I mounted up and headed out.
After an initial flat that lulled me into false complacency the hills began - a steady 2% that went on for ten miles leading into Vesuvius. I turned right to head up the hill and immediately tackled a 15% rise! Ugghhhh! I stopped at the parking lot of a local church to collect my wits when a woman stopped and asked me if I needed help. I had really been hoping for a gas station to refill with water but she told me that was five miles away. However, there was a place just down the road called Gerties Country Store that was open and they served hot food! There was the ticket. Turns out it is a place where cyclists usually stop and even camp out in the back! I had an egg and bacon sandwich (with mayonnaise, yum!), some coffee and refilled my water bottles - NOW I was ready to tackle the beast.
I won't go into the mundane details of the next hour and a half here except to say I am Irish and as my wife can attest, I have a stubborn streak as wide as the Irish Sea! I was determined not to do two things - 1) stop until I reached the top and 2) walk my bike at all up the hill. That only meant one thing - I was going to have to keep pedaling!!!! And I did. I kept pedaling and I kept thinking of the kids of Sunrise and every time I came around another switchback to see the mountain still climbing before me I just dug down deeper and I thought of another face of someone for whom I was riding.
Eventually I reached the top, totally covered in sweat, totally wiped and with half empty water - but I had reached the top without stopping. Being such a big musiacl theatre geek, all I could see in my head was Julie Andrews dancing in the Alps as the song "Climb Every Mountain" spun through my head. So, since no one was around excecpt the wildlife, I starting singing at the top of my lungs. Sorry, the video was destroyed on the grounds I looked totally stupid! But I did manage this one instead;
Eventually it was time to push on. I knew there would be more climbs today but the big one that I had been dreading for days was done done. I headed out onto the Blue Ridge Parkway. I'd been hearing and reading about this magical route for years and how amazing the ride was, despite the constant up and downs. Since I had the advantage over my fully laden bretheren and sisteren I decided to have a go at it. Its amazing to find yourself pedaling and look out to the side and see that you're cycling above the clouds like this;
I guess that's why they feel the need to put up signs like this one;
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| (Wheeeeeeeeeeee - splat!) |
Eventually, I arrived not too worse for wear and extremely happy with the prospect that I have now finished the last of the major climbs I'll be doing in the Ride Across America. It's heartening but also sad at the saem time. I'm so excited to see everyone at Sunrise Day Camp on Friday, August 24th but I'm starting to feel sad that I won't be seeing much more from my three foot high perch. Its been a journey, I've met some incredible folks and if it will help the kids of Sunrise (or others like Elijah Dalton) then I have indeed done what God intended.
And one last note, as I was doing a little mechanical work on the bikes outside in the parking lot of the English Inn this evening a couple starting talking to me about the Ride Across America and what we were doing. It turns out that they are retired High School teachers and they felt so touched by what Sarah and I are doing that tthey made a donation on the spot to Sunrise. So my thanks to George and Dorothy Lilly of Grosse Pointe, MI and to all the others we have met along the way who have made spontaneous donations - we will forever be in your debt! Thank you for helping us inch just a little higher up the mountain!
And today's report;
Flattened Fauna Record - 2 deer, 6 raccoons,46 possums, 2 turtles, 10 birds of indeterminate species, 1 fox, 1 cat, 6 UFO's
Random Refuse Log - 3 half full bags of dog food (I'm starting to see a pattern here!)
Stay well and I'll update more from the road!
For another perspective on our journey check out Amy's blog at http://www.crosscountrymama.blogspot.com//
To help us get the kids to Sunrise go to https://www.wizevents.com/register/register_add.php?sessid=1809&id=1056
Check out our website at http://www.connorsarmy.org/
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