Day 21 - Radford, VA to Lexington, VA - 98.1 miles

Yesterday started off pretty rough.  My legs seemed to have nothing in them and by 20 miles in, I was really wondering how I was going to do what I thought would be 105 miles.  Between the legs, the headwind, and the short, steep rollers, I just couldn't get into a rhythm and was really struggling.  But, it's funny, as the day went on, things got better and better and by the end, I had pretty much forgot about the first 20-30 miles.  It's funny how things work out!

The day was a transition day of sorts between one set of mountains to the West out of Damascus and another set to the East that head over the Blue Ridge Parkway.  By the end, I had dropped about 1,000 feet in elevation while climbing about 5,500 feet - if that gives you any sense of the roads I was on.

The scenery was, as usual, pretty.  Lots of rolling hills with a combination of open country and in and out of wooded areas.  I rode my motorcycle out this way last year when I was checking out the route and remembered just how pretty things were.

Along the way, I looked up and saw a bridge very high in the air.  It reminded me of one I've seen watching the Tour de France.  You really don't get a sense of how high up it is until you go under it and look up!

The route consisted of quiet country roads.

And, really quiet country roads.

Eventually, I saw a rider up the road.  I was hoping it was the guy I met in IL and rode with later in KY - Chris from Australia.  From a distance, the back of the bike looked like his.  It wasn't him though.  Instead, it was a couple I met in Missouri!  I never caught their name, but he was the guy that asked me if all Texans carried guns, LOL.

Anyways, they had skipped 170 miles when back in KY they came to the closed bridge I detoured around.  Apparently when they got there, the skies opened up in a down pour.  So between the closed bridge, the rain, and the fear of all the dogs ahead, they decided to skip Eastern KY.  To be honest, it's kinda sad because the dogs were nowhere near as bad as everyone said and the roads in Eastern KY were some of the most amazing I've seen on this trip.  Still, they were happy and enjoying themselves, so that's all that matters.

They are riding all the way to Yorktown and hope to be there Tuesday or Wednesday.  Maybe Erin and I will see them when we ride out there Tuesday.  Now that would be awesome!

(For a little while the route followed I-81, but not for as long as the day before and traffic wasn't bad.)

Near Lexington, I ended up on some really, really back roads and a cyclist came riding down in the opposite direction.  He did a u-turn and road up to me.  For the next 10 or 15 miles, he escorted me all the way into Lexington and to within a quarter mile of my hotel.  Along the way, he filled me in on U.S. Bicycle Route 76 (the route I've been riding), Lexington, the Red Hen, VMI, and whatever else he could think of.  It was great!

His name was Rick and he rode U.S. Bicycle Route 76 (or the TransAmerica Bike Route as it's usually referred to today) the first year it was created back in 1976.

(Stonewall Jackson's cemetery with some graves from pre-civil war.)

(One of the many pictures of VMI that I took.  It looked like a fortress!)

(Washington and Lee Library)

I was really glad to see VMI.  My friend Bill's son just graduated from there and, having graduated from a military college (many years ago), I wanted to see it.

A little past VMI, I rolled up to my hotel for the night and what started out as a tough day where I didn't know how I was going to make it turned into a really good day.  I caught up with some people I met a few States back and I met a guy that went out of his way to make me feel welcome in his town.

As my dad would say about fishing, "A bad day fishing is better than a good day at the office."  While I don't know that that's always true, I kinda like to think the same about a day on the bike.