Beautiful ride today. I took the back roads to avoid that horrendous road I was on yesterday. So quiet and very few hills. After a small town at the base of the mtns, I headed up to Shenandoah Nat”l Park, and halfway up the road turned to four lanes with a good shoulder. Eight miles of glorious up and six miles of fast down. I hardly knew I was climbing.

Saw a guy on a motorcycle at a gas station at the bottom, and he said he’d tow me up if he had time. I don’t think he tho”t I could ride it. Piece of cake. Eby didn’t die on me, but he used two bars of battery by the time I headed down. So, I didn’t ride any of the Skyline Trail. Just didn’t want to chance it in case I had to go further than planned for a motel.

So I’ve climbed twice up to the Blue Ridge Parkway/ Shenandoah Syline Trail. Both times, it seemed effortless.

I still have 9 days until I meet my brother, so I’m going to do short days to kill some time.

I must admit that I’ve seen a lot of motels that need quite a bit of help. Many could use a paint job inside, bathrooms look like war zones with stained bath tubs, towels and sheets need to be replaced due to being stained or having holes in them. I would never give an airbnb customer linens like that. Some motel rooms look like they were built by second-rate construction workers. It’s not just in one area. It’s all across America.