Day 17 - Hazzard, KY to Breaks Interstate Park, VA - 91.5 miles

Today, I rode 91.5 miles to the Breaks Interstate Park in Virginia.  The day started and ended with rain with a few moments of sun in between.  When I got up, it was raining pretty hard. But, by the time I left the rain was dying down.  And then the last 20ish miles was in the rain - sometimes pretty hard with some thunder and a couple flashes of lightening - eek!  The bike did great and I was really glad to had disk brakes. 

The rear tire was almost flat this morning, so I changed the tube. I also changed the tire too. I picked up a bit of a cut in the tire when I was riding to Joplin (in the break down lane). It's held up fine, but I figured it made sense to change it while I was changing the tube. 

I didn't take a lot of pictures due to the rain, but it was a lot like yesterday. A lot of the route followed river roads with houses scattered alongside - some very nice, some very old. 

There was a lot of climbing, but not as much as yesterday. There were a few longer climbs - 1.5 to 2.25 miles in length. There were also a couple longer descents. One lasted 4.5 miles with lots of curves!  

I got to the top of one climb and there was a mobile home that had this view. 

Some more pictures from the ride. 

I crossed over into the last State of my journey - Virginia. It was raining pretty hard, but I stopped anyways to get a picture. 

Tonight, I'm staying at the Breaks Interstate Park. This area was found by Daniel Boone. Apparently, he was looking for a passage through the Pike Mountain range and found this area and called it The Breaks.  The Russell Fork river here has carved a gorge into the land and it's the largest East of the Mississippi. They refer to this area as the Grand Canyon of the South. 

What I've been able to see has been amazing. 

Tomorrow, I'm heading to Damascus, VA. I've got a room at an Inn that's supposed to overlook a waterfall. Should be nice!  And, only 80 miles. 

Oh ya, and I got a pin. When you cross over into VA, they ask you to sign a registry so they can know how many people ride the TransAm across Virginia. There's also another book in Yorktown that I plan to sign.