Day 7 / July 6, 2015
And on the seventh day, we rested. The weather was on and off since the cliche rooster woke us up this morning, so we hung around and did a lot of nothing. Chris and I played chess about 3 times every hour and we ate everything we could. I just turned around and saw him eating the remains of a party sized bag of Doritos with a spoon. Today was a good day.
The most interesting part of the day was getting to know the hikers on the Appalachian trail. The hostel we are staying at is open to cyclists, but its primary guests are hikers. A reason for that is that the founder/owner of this place was a hiker on the trail himself. He's a tree sized guy with a gray beard and hair that would rival Zeus'.
The hikers come and go, but they all seem to know each other from the trail. They're all friendly enough and primarily keep to themselves. It's obvious that they're all looking for something in the mountains, but I guess that's not too far off from my trip. I know that after I get to San Francisco, I will be getting back to New York for good; the hikers seem like nomads for the most part.
I'm sure living traveling the mountains changes you a tremendous amount, but I didn't expect that it would also change your name. I don't know any of their birth names, but I've met Earthling, Hardcore, Scavenger, City Slicker, and my favorite- Sir Duke Smellington. I was half expecting someone to introduce themselves as Pony Boy or Sodapop. It comes with the trail I suppose.
Tommorow we move on to the town of Draper, Virginia as we start our second week.
Day 6 / July 5, 2015
A lot of people have been asking me what my favorite part of the trip has been. The honest answer is that it's whenever I'm not biking. That may sound absurd for someone who's biking across the country to say, but it's true. When I'm biking, it's just to get to the next point. The vast majority of what I've seen the past 350+ miles has been farm land. Horses, rolling hills, hay stacks, and cows are all cool to see, but they all look the same. The best moments so far are when we are able to talk to different people, eat whatever we want, and find a place to rest up.
My mother sometimes comments on my generation (I think we are called millenials, but that's a dumb term) saying that we need instant gratification and that we tend to have a slight sense of entitlement. I think most of her reasoning is that we have pretty much anything at our fingertips. I mean I'm currently writing this from a phone that can access just about any information I would ever need. Though I don't always agree with my mom saying that, I think that there is some truth to it.
Today was probably the second hardest day so far (nothing will top the first). We did 70 miles along the Blue Ridge Mountains going between towns that are so small that they wouldn't appear on most maps. I dealt with pickup trucks that didn't seem to see me (probably because they had too many confederate flags waving in their line of vision), a downpour of rain, and several navigational hiccups, but it was all worth it when I got to the hostel that we are staying at. The feeling of success that I've been experiencing isn't one of those triumphant hands in the air kind of deals; it's a very relaxed sense of accomplishment. It's as though I earned the shower and the cot. The struggle of today was instantly washed away when I cleaned up and sat down. You always tell me you want it in writing when I admit you're right, mom, so here it is: you were right.
Some random notes:
- Although the motel 6 last night was a very good 4th of July, I had been imaging spending the 4th in a small town with 1950s Chevy pickups, sparklers, grilling on the front lawns, ladies in sundresses- pretty sure I was just picturing something I saw in an outdated history book. Today we passed through the town of Buchanan and it was exactly what I was picturing; it even had a few old school Chevy pickups in front of a movie theatre that seemed to have not been renovated since the transition to color movies. It was surreal and felt like I biked through a time warp or movie set.
- I've noticed a bunch of mailboxes in the middle of no where. They aren't even attached to a farm or anything- they'll be next to a creek or next to a rock; maybe it's a Virginia thing?
- I went to Catholic school from pre-k-college, but I still find it a tad bit strange how some restaurants and establishments will only play Christian rock music down here.
- We are staying at this very special hostel in Catawba tonight. It's free to stay in and survives on donations. It is a popular spot for hikers on the Appalachian trail. It's very humbling coming across places like this that exist just to help people out.
Sorry for the long winded post, but I think the storm tomorrow is forcing us to have our first off day, so I have a bit more energy tonight.
Day 5 / July 4, 2015
Yesterday's successful ride warranted a late alarm clock today of 8:00am. After doing one last sweep through the Cookie Lady's house, we got back on our bikes and pedaled up the mountain.
The misty morning made for a surreal beginning. We were high enough that there should have been a view from the road, but the mist blocked out anything more than 10 feet away in each direction. The sides surrounding the road looked as though an artist painted the trees and bushes but left the rest of the canvas completely blank.
After a few hours, we found ourselves descending into the town of Vesuvius. There was one small food spot in town, but when we walked in they announced that they were closed. Noticing our helmets in hand, they asked if we were biking across the country. When we said yes, they offered us either a ham and cheese or barbecue. I was curious what ordering generic "barbecue" would entail, so I went with that. It turns out that it was incredible pulled pork and that that may not have been the best decision while still biking.
We continued on into Lexington, VA and decided to treat ourselves to a motel room on this Fourth of July. I'm not sure if this is actually the nicest motel 6 in existence or if I'm just blindly ecstatic about the shower, bed, pillow, TV, AC, sink... You get the point.
Tomorrow we continue to roll on and get another day closer to leaving Virginia. It's been real, VA, but I'm ready to get onto the next state.
Day 4 / July 3, 2015
Today was an uphill battle, but it was extremely rewarding. We left the "census designated place" of Palmrya (I guess you can't be considered a town if you have only 104 residents) around 6:15 today. The hills blend together, but I do recall seeing Thomas Jefferson's home of Monticello.
When we arrived to Charlottesville, we had our best meal of the trip so far- breakfast at Fox's Cafe. We biked around in the city for a little and did a quick pass through of UVA's campus. I do wish we had more time to explore the city, but the 1-2 hours spent there were enough to entice me to go back.
We biked for a while longer heading to Afton, a small town a little above the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The plan was no stops until we got to Afton, but a peach orchard changed that. After a quick "dondae" (peach ice cream over an apple cinnamon doughnut with fresh peaches and whipped cream), we got back on the road.
When we finally got up a bit on the mountain and arrived in Afton, we stopped in to the post office to see if there were any places to grab food. The post office employee told us that the closest option would be an antique store at the bottom of the mountain (no shot we were biking down there again) that sold soda and candy. To our amazement, she offered us the use of her car to pick up dinner from a brewery that was a few miles away. This woman didn't even know our names, but she was kind enough to let us borrow her car to get food. I can't really picture something like that happening in New York.
After we picked up dinner, we arrived at our lodging for the night: the Cookie Lady's house. The Cookie Lady was a woman that took in bikers from the Trans American trail for decades. She was so well known that her house is listed on our trail's map as a destination for housing. Although she passed away several years ago, her family decided to keep the house open for cyclists on the trail.
Walking into the house was very overwhelming. The first things you see are old bike jerseys with notes on them, newspaper clippings, old tires, and a journal signed by everyone that has stayed there. The entire downstairs of the house is covered wall to wall with thousands of different things left behind by bikers that have passed through. My first thought was "if only these walls could talk," but then I realized that they could. There are Polaroids of guests, newspaper clippings about people that have stayed here, post cards from every end of the world, and even a guitar. The main decoration is a thank you note to the Cookie Lady; there are an incredible amount of poems, cartoon drawings, and other well deserved thank you notes addressed to the Cookie Lady. Although she was not here to let us in, we are thankful that her door remained open for us.
Tomorrow we bike to the top of the montain. I did notice a telephone number on the fridge for someone that will tow your bike and give you a ride to the other side of the mountain, but that wouldn't be as good of a story to tell.
Day 3 / July 2, 2015
You would think that a full day of biking would allow you to think more and gather your thoughts for writing a post like this. As I think back on the day, though, I've realized that the days are already blending together. I am fairly positive everything I write after this happened today.
The day began at 5:30 on the dot. We cut down on the time that it took to break down our campsite by 15 minutes, but I still don't know how it took us 45 today. The misty morning we set out into lasted the whole ride, which made the heat much more bearable. We experienced the hills of Virginia today, which brought the best views so far but also the toughest riding. We should be crossing the mountains in two days, so I guess I shouldn't complain. I'm still waiting for that biker's high that I've heard about, but I'll settle for the sense of accomplishment for now.
Our campgrounds for tonight are behind a supermarket in a town that is so small that its DMV is literally situated inside of said supermarket.
It's 7 right now, so I guess it's my bedtime. Tomorrow we will be passing through Charlottesville, which will be the biggest city we've passed through so far. We've ridden about 160 miles so far, but still have a few thousand to go.
Day 2 / July 1, 2015
We had planned to start the trip today, July 1st, all along. Anticipation and some upcoming fearful weather guided us to start yesterday, though. Now, 100 miles in, it's like we did a century on the first day; that's not a bad start at all. We are waking up at 5:30 am, so I'll just leave some scattered thoughts from the road:
- You may not be able to find food, water, or gas for a long time, but there will always be a church every few minutes.
- Virginia has more museums and memorials on random streets dedicated to the Civil War than days fought in the war.
- We slept through the wildest storm last night. I don't think I've ever been closer to lightening; my entire tent would become illuminated like someone kept flicking a switch on every few minutes
- It seems like everyone that has done the Trans American trail has stories about witnessing human kindness and being taken in. Two days in and we already have our first story. We stopped into a bike shop just a few minutes off the trail to pick up a few things. While talking to the owner, he invited us to camp out back of his store. That was nice, but him letting us take showers at the shop was even better.
- We are passing a town named Bumpass tomorrow. There are only two ways I can think to pronounce it and I'm not sure which would be worse.
Day 2 is in the books.