Saturday, September 5, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
Ride Map Day 24: Pulaski, VA to Troutville, VA
Yeah, I know "Troutville"... I expect the town to be full of people who resemble, well, trout! It's like a Douglass Adams story... so long and thanks for all the fish... so sad it's come to all of this... Whew! Guess I need some more sleep.
Anyway, it's roughly 60 miles and this time I stick to the route that I reconnoitered for over 10 weeks via street maps, topographic maps and satellite photography. Mr. Garmin Edge 705 can just sit back and take notes. We are getting into some serious hill country now; the Texas Hill Country and Austin ain't got nothin' on the New River Basin. We're still off of the most dreadful climb up the Blueridge Parkway. When I was a teenager I used to ride over Trans Mountain Highway in El Paso, TX. It started at roughly 3800 feet and rose to a little over 5200 feet at the summit. We did this for fun! We would ride up, eat lunch, hike up to the springs and hang out at the old caves then coast back down. We did it on fixed gear BMX and early versions of mountain bikes. Now I've got one of the most technically advanced drivetrains on the market with 27 speeds and a low gear of 10 inches and I'm worried. Guess I shouldn't be. Guess I'll take it one pedal at a time. Kind of like the old question, "how do you eat an elephant?" The answer being, "one bite at a time." Much like our Veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan with grievous injuries like Traumatic Brain Injuries, Missing Limbs and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. They have to take it one step at a time... one day at a time. Speaking from experience, though I am not a combat Veteran I can speak of rehabilitation after a grievous injury, I know how tough it is and how long it takes. It takes years and years. And even after 20 years there are still good days and bad days. Having a third party organization to help navigate the bureaucracy and pitfalls inherent in the Military and Veterans Affairs Administration so that you can focus on your recovery instead of having additional stresses put upon you is absolutely invaluable. The Wounded Warrior Project was founded on a simple idea and has blossomed into an organization that makes huge differences in our Troopers lives on a daily basis. Please take a few minutes out of your busy day to learn more about the organization and the benefits they provide every day for our Troops. If you can't take those few moments then, instead of purchasing a little magnet for your car, show your support for our Troops by donating online directly to the Wounded Warrior Project by clicking HERE. Your support does make a difference when put in the capable hands of an organization like Wounded Warrior Project. Thank you for your support.
Enjoy the Ride!
Ride Day 22: Wytheville, VA to Paulski, Va
Well, it started out such a beautiful day that I let my guard down and ended up 36 miles in deficit for the day. First I underestimated the ride profile as at first glance Christiansburg is at a lower elevation than Wythville making it look like it's all down hill... not. There are still quite a few hard climbs between the two cities and the way that the mountains are formed, I am climbing the steep side and coasting down the long side, which makes the climbing much, much slower.
Second, figuring it was only a 50-mile day I thought I would simply plug my final destination into the Garmin Edge 705 and see what route it would run. It turns out that the Garmin had me crisscrossing IH81 in an all out effort to find every single mountain pass between the two cities! I began to think that some little French dude was doing the route selection to pay us back for Lance kicking their butts for seven years! The Garmin also routed me up the "New River Trail" a Rails-To-Trails project that runs from the Carolinas to Ohio. At first I was a little leery as I had never been on such a trail. I should have listened to my gut feeling but, I figured on two things (1) railroads are relatively flat so no more big climbs and (2) no vehicular traffic zooming passed my left shoulder. What I didn't count on was that there are trail heads only every so often and, obviously, the Garmin didn't figure on that either. About 2.5 miles down the trail I crossed HWY11, again, and the Garmin says "turn right you idiot" to which I responded "hmmm, you turn right off of a 70-foot-high train trestle!"
At that point I began to seriously doubt my successful completion of the days ride and my morale began to fade quite readily. I looked and looked for a route off of the trail that was not 8 miles out of my way. I found a little dead-end road adjacent to the trail which would take me up (yes, remember, everything in Virginia is... up hill!) through a little neighborhood and deposit me onto VA91. I had to disassemble and drag the TerraTrike, B.O.B. and all of my gear up an embankment then reassemble it all before continuing up the hill. At what I thought to be the top I met and old man and his boy working on some projects and was accosted by a little female chihuahua. While paying some obviously much needed attention to the dog that found its way into my lap I listened to the old man and his boy discuss the best route to Christiansburg. The longer they discussed it the more deflated I got. I think the dog could tell because she kept trying to console me. Bottom line was that there was no way I was gonna make Christiansburg "on that contraption" by dark as it takes over 45 minutes to drive with all the hills and traffic... I thanked the gentlemen for their advice, deposited the chihuahua upon the pavement and began pedaling around the corner where, you guessed it, the pavement became horizontally challenged again.
The climb was about a mile long and I found myself on a typical two-lane Virginia alley of death with no shoulder and the sun had gone down behind the mountain range thus casting long shadows over the roadway. Usually running just my large taillight, I rethought the situation and turned on all of my lights and put on my jacket with reflective patches. By my best guess there is usually a c-store or even perhaps a motel near highway intersections so I turned left and pedaled toward IH81 instead of right and to the town of Pulaski. It was a good guess as I didn't have to climb more than a mile and a half when I found an Exxon Station. It must have been Virginia lottery day as the line was about 20 deep and the station was the only thing around for as far as I could see. I grabbed a pepsi and just sat & watched the people watching me (for some reason most Virginians like to just stare blankly at you when you wave or say hello... so much for Southern Hospitality). After the line dropped off I paid for my empty soda and the nice lady told me I could have a free refill for having to wait so long.
When I departed the store there were about 5 people gathered around the TerraTrike just amazing over this and amazing over that. After a few questions all but one left and we discussed the route to Christiansburg, he agreeing that the Garmin had taken the absolutely longest route possible and adding about 17 miles on to the day. He said if he had his truck he would give me a lift and then he had an epiphany. He was going to the Moose Lodge and would wrangle up somebody with a truck to ferry me and my gear to Christiansburg in an effort to keep me on schedule. At this point I pictured some rendition of a Mel Brooks movie as this fella went to round up a posse... I managed to keep my fits of laughter inside until he departed. At that time I found a picnic table out in the sun and just plopped down and watched people come & go.
After about a 20 minute break I grabbed up my trusty little PDA and dialed up the internet searching for hotel/motel in Pulaski. Much to my amazement the Pulaski Motel, formerly the Days Inn at Pulaski, was only 0.65 miles away. I called and the nice young lady on the other end of the phone listened politely to my story. She got me a room and had the key ready when I got there so that I could go straight to a shower and bed. Now that is Southern Hospitality... see what happens when your morale goes out the window, you begin to doubt everything.
I mounted up and began to head for the motel. My only problem was myself... I did not want to cooperate. My legs were all wobbly. My heart was palpitating. I was seeing spots. I couldn't hardly think straight. I slowly pedaled over the highway and around the corner to the motel. Amanda, as I found out to be her name, did exactly as she had said and simply handed me the key. I had a hard time moving and simply leaned on the counter for a bit telling her my tale. I got motivated and asked about a place to get some food delivered and Amanda suggested the local Chinese. I tottered off to my room, unloaded all the gear and put the TerraTrike and B.O.B. inside. I then called the Chinese place only to find they had a minimum delivery order requirement and the menu happened to be really cheap (orange chicken to feed a fire team was only $7). So, I asked Amanda if she wanted anything and that made the delivery worthwhile for Chuang Hua. While I ate I talked to TC about my day and afterward felt quite a bit better. I then hit the shower and the bed going to sleep thinking about what tomorrow would bring.
Tomorrow arrived and after about 3.5 seconds of thought, I killed the alarm and went back to sleep for a much, much needed rest day. I awoke around 0930hrs to a beautiful Virginia day. I met the day staff and housekeeping and enjoyed our visit. One of the housekeepers, Verna, even took the TerraTrike for a spin around the parking lot! We all had some laughs and I told them all my story. The clerk, Kayla, explained that her brother and his wife had just returned from Iraq, both were MP's. Verna explained that she has nephews, one in Iraq & one in Afghanistan right now. Kayla called the motel proprietor, the Patels, and received permission to offer me the room for another night on the house. Thank you very much!
I spent the day mostly uploading pictures and videos for y'all, but I also managed to do my laundry, jettison some more extemporaneous gear and take a nap! The nap was totally awesome! I ordered a pizza from dominos and had them throw in a sandwich and a 2 liter bottle of Mello Yello in order to make their minimum delivery order requirement. This time I ate most of it myself saving only some of the pizza for breakfast. My legs are still quite sore and I'm going to go soak in a hot bath then massage them and then put ice on them. Hopefully another quiet evening and I'll be ready for tomorrow's ride. Taking this rest day was very necessary but now I don't think I'll get to rest in DC. Oh, well, there's always next year.
Please keep all of our Troopers in your hearts and thoughts.
Enjoy the Ride!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Day 23
Wow! What a rough day! Jack had planned a 50-mile day, but after 7 ½ hours and only 30 miles he decided to call it a day. He had followed the Garmin’s route and after many twists and turns and crossing the highway THREE times, he ended up on a gravel road where he had to ride down a railroad trestle for a few miles and finally found a small turn off “road”. He then dragged his bike up the embankment where to his surprise and delight was an Exxon station! After realizing Mr. Gamin had steered him wrong he started looking for a place to hang his helmet for the night. The sign by the Exxon said Pulaski 1 mile ahead and let’s just say we know where he is tonight and leave it at that. He’s tired and sore but still in good spirits. I told him to eat, take a shower and head off for some much needed sleep and I’d let ya’ll what happened. He will be mapping his own route and ignoring Mr. Garmin tomorrow (personally I’d leave Mr. Garmin behind but thankfully Jack is more forgiving). I’m sure Jack will give a much better description of his adventure tomorrow but for tonight we’ll let him rest.
I just want to thank everyone for all the support and encouragement you’ve given Jack in his mission. Please take time out of your day to thank a Veteran for the freedom you still have and tell them how proud you are of them. We owe them so much for the wonderful lives we are able to have here in America. Freedom is not free; you have to keep fighting for it and that is what these men and women are doing for all of us. Please check out the Wounded Warrior Project and Soldiers’ Angel’s websites to see how you can help our soldiers. They are worth every bit of our time and effort. Just remember they have given you theirs.
As Jack would say “Ride On”. TC
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.jpg)
Posts
