Transamericaride 2023

A short, nice ride down into Harrisonburg today. I plan to check out downtown tomorrow on my way out of town on another short day. I’ve had to wear my jacket every morning the last few days, and today I was thinking I might have to wear my arm warmers soon. It almost feels a little like fall. I’ve been able to leave my jacket on til mid morning. Wasn’t expecting these cool temps yet, but it’s better than walking out into the 70s with high humidity. I’ll add clothes any day.

I felt a little weird last night at my motel on the ‘other’ side of town near the tracks. My room was on the back side of the motel, and supposedly, my neighbors on both sides of me were permanent residents who worked somewhere close by. I never saw either of them, but I didn’t leave my room after 5. Kind of a low-grade motel. I stopped in the town before at a somewhat ritzy looking place, and the owner didn’t want my bike in her cabin room ( don’t ask me why) but said she had this other motel in the next town for cheaper. (That should have warned me) So I rode to Shenandoah and found the other motel off the main drag. Oh, well. Didn’t see a soul, and it was off the beaten track right next to the train tracks. The sign was ritzy looking but not the motel itself. And I wondered how anyone would even know it was there.

My knee is healing, but it has a big hole on it. Hope it fills in.

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.

Weird, weird day. Slept in because I needed to go back to the bike shop, which didn’t open til 10. I forgot to tell them yesterday that my lights didn’t work anymore. Turned out I prob hit a button by accident that turns the lights on or off. A five second fix. Also, had them look at my tires. All good for now.

Then I finally made it to Monticello. I could see the mansion way up on top of a hill, and tho’t I really didn’t want to ride all the way up there. It looked like riding to the top of the Blue Ridge Parkway. When I turned onto the road to the top, it wasn’t bad at all, so I kept going. Soon, I was at the visitor center and found out I could not ride to the top. I had to take the shuttle. Yeah!

Vegetable gardens of Monticello

I took a tour of the house which had many things in it from the original house. I especially loved all the marble topped tables and stands. Most of the marble came from France.

After visiting Monticello , I rode through town one more time and headed north out of town. I headed toward a wine tasting area where I tho’t there was a motel. There wasn’t. I stopped at the first winery and found out I needed to ride another seven miles to the next town. So I aborted my winery visits and rode on. Once to Ruckersville, I could not find the motel. I rode up and down a very highly trafficked four lane road looking for the stupid hotel. It was not in the town but out in the boonies. I rode an extra seven miles back and forth, looking for the stupid place even after talking to three locals. I was so frustrated and frazzled that I was on the verge of tears when I finally found it. It was set way back off the highway with not very good signage and no easy access. And I had to pay a premium price because it was the weekend that students were coming to university. I’m on the second floor, which means I have to use the elevator, which is really hard with a fully loaded bike. Tomorrow might be a really short day after this fiasco. I had dreamt of moteling it near wineries and spending the day checking them out. Oh, well. One must live day to day and not make specific plans. They don’t always pan out.

Glad I had a four lane road this morning. The traffic was some of the worst I’ve ridden in. I couldn’t figure out where they were going. But after the first 10 miles, traffic thinned, and the road went to two lanes and so much more friendly. I had about a five mile climb to where the Shenandoah byway met the Blue Ridge Parkway. That climb was fun, but Eby errored out on me again just before the top. I stopped, turned him off, and we had a few words. Then, I took off again.

The downhill from the top was four miles of 7% grade. After that, I had another 24 miles of up and down, much harder than the up on the other side. I wanted to ride back up to the Shenandoah parkway tomorrow, but I’ve changed my mind. Four miles of 7% would be ok but not those 24 miles before it. I was whipped when I got to town, and it wasn’t a long day. Just relentless. So I’m planning another route.

I rode around in circles, trying to find the bike shop and my motel. I think I know the downtown area pretty well now. Geez. I was tired and just kept riding up and down the same dumb hills. But Eby got checked out. His computer needed to be updated. The mechanic said it’s like your phone being updated. The trek bike computers need to be updated every now and then. Geez. It’s only been three months. But he should be ok. I sure hope so. It is pretty freaky to have it die on a hill.

I wanted to visit Monticello but couldn’t find that either. I gave up and will start over tomorrow. After I go to the bike shop again. I forgot to have them check out why I have no lights. I had them the morning of my crash, but the next day, I noticed they didn’t work. And I forgot to mention it when I was there. Dang!

Knee is feeling and looking much better. Starting to itch, which I guess means it is healing.

I went to dinner at a steak house next door to the motel, and boy was I shocked. A glass of wine was $9-13. Bottles ranged from $46-106 for chardonnay and $32-300 for reds. I was shocked. These are for real, no typos. Steak entrees ran from $30-90, and appetizers ran from $10-29. I had a salad and baked potato with water and got out for $18. This isn’t even the ritzy part of town.

Beautiful ride today, although a mile down the road, I had to stop and put my jacket on. Going downhill was cold. Haven’t worn a jacket since CO. But, it started getting hot about noon.

I had a four lane, divided highway almost all the way. It’s like I had my own lane. Sometimes, the four lanes went to three lanes with either a passing lane on one side or a turning lane in the middle. Still plenty of room for traffic to get around. What I didn’t understand was that most passing lanes were on the downhill side of traffic, not the uphill side. I thought that was really weird.

In Natural Bridge, there was one restaurant called the Pink Cadillac. It had hundreds of pictures of Elvis on the walls inside. The outside building was a bright pink.

My favorite tree in this part of the US is the Crepe Myrtle Tree. So beautiful. It has been blooming for over two weeks now. Finally, I was able to get a picture.

Today was the first day that the scenery really opened up. There were some big, beautiful grassy hills with farm houses and some horse fences. It was really hard to get a good shot, though.

I don’t know how everyone sees my pictures, but I found if I tap on them, they get bigger, and you see more. Maybe they are only partial pics on my phone. Would like to know what you see.

Climbed out of Staunton to the east to find my motel and those to whom I talked, (to make sure I was going the right way), said I had to climb this big hill and then it flattened out. Big hill, my foot. If that’s what I have to deal with tomorrow, it will be a piece of cake. Although, I know climbing over the Blue Ridge Mtns should be much steeper and longer. I’ll find out.

Decided to hole up today and wait for showers to exit the region before going up and over the parkway again. And to give my legs a chance to mellow out as well as my knee to recover. I have time to kill, so since I have a cheap motel, this is a good place to stay. I had planned to ride to Lynchburg tomorrow and see Appomattox, but after checking with the police, they advised me against taking the only straight shot from Lynchburg to Charlottesville. So I’m back to plan B, which I don’t know what is at this point.

I rode to lunch today and checked out a winery that isn’t open til tomorrow. As I pulled into the diner, a fellow was leaving and said, “Hey, I know you.” It was the fellow that I passed on Hoosier pass way back in CO. What are the chances. We had a nice chat. We are both off route, so this is super highly unlikely to meet like this. And he is from Ohio, so we might connect again sometime.

It is really hot and humid today, so I’m glad I’m holed up and doubly glad I didn’t walk a mile to get lunch. It is supposed to be cooler tomorrow.

I called a local Trek dealer and told them what happened with Eby and the mechanic said it prob overheated and under too much stress. Eby under stress? What about me. It wasn’t even that steep of a hill, just went on forever. But I’m taking him in, and they can check for any issues. The mechanic didn’t think it was anything to worry about. Hope not. I still plan to ride from the Jersey border to Ohio.

The day started out good. Randall took me to where I could get on the parkway. That made me avoid 7 miles of town navigating. So glad he did because I probably wouldn’t have had enough battery to get to my motel.

I was on my last long climb on the parkway when Eby decided to flash ‘ERROR’ on my computer, and he just stopped. Never had that happened before. I didn’t know how much up I still had at that time, so when the error went away, I hopped back on my bike, but he didn’t go. I had clipped into my right foot and tried to pedal to no avail. Down I went in the middle of the road. No cars around, thankfully. Skinned my knee pretty bad and mildly scraped the elbow and top of my foot. And the road was all chipseal, so I could even see the striations on my knee. Dang! And I bleed easily. So I get up, and blood is running down my sweaty leg and arm. I grabbed my sweat rag to stop the blood, but it was refusing to clot. While pressing on the rag, I had to dig one handed for my band aids. First time I’ve had to use them and glad I had lots. But they really didn’t want to stick to sweaty skin. I always carry extra restaurant napkins just in case. Mainly if I need to use a bush. They sure came in handy today. I’m sure if anyone had been around, they would have been laughing. I finally got it so the band aids would sorta stick. What a pain.

So, then I walked to the top of the hill. I had turned off the computer, thinking maybe that would reset it. Fortunately. I was pretty close to the top, so I didn’t have to walk and push my loaded bike very far. At the top, I turned Eby on and proceeded to ride downhill and then uphill. He worked fine. Maybe he was just tired. Never had that problem on the mtn passes. I’m going to the first trek bike shop I can find to see if there’s a problem.

I did get a few pictures today.

When I got up this morning, the back of my legs hurt from bending over working in my friends yard. Guess I’m out of shape for garden work. But once on the bike, the stiffness left.

I rode down Rte 43 off the parkway and before heading down, noticed big black clouds. It wasn’t supposed to rain until about 2. Yeah, right. 10:45 downpour. One mile from the bottom of steep switchbacks for four miles, the skies opened up. I was able to get under a small overpass, but not until I was already soaked through. And once again, the blood flowed freely. It just wasn’t my day. Once the rain slowed down, I rode into town to wait it out.

I tho’t I only had 7-10 miles to go to my motel, but it turned out to be 14, and I was down to one bar. The sun had come out, and it was sweltering with the humidity. At the gas station, I was actually getting chilled. Turns out my motel was way on the other side of town. Four miles, to be exact. I tho’t I was never gonna get there.

But, all is well. I’m dry and cozy in my motel, waiting for the afternoon clouds to dump before going to dinner.

I started a landscape project last night and finished it this morning just as the sun came over the house, and it got HOT. Had to take a shower before we left for the day.

Also, pruned a bunch of dead twigs out of a plum tree.

Randall, Ruth, and I went to the Fincastle winery and met another Odyssey ride, Barb Swartz. She lives sorta close by, so drove up from NC. We had a good time talking about who all we’ve seen in the last few years. She hasn’t changed a bit.

I talked to a friend from home today, and she said I needed to post more pictures. I’d love to, but I can’t always stop and take them. Many roads have no shoulder, and the pretty scenes aren’t always where I can stop. Sorry.

I did get a great shot of Kudzu again a few days ago. That stuff is just amazing.

This has been a great two days reconnecting with Randall and reliving some of our Odyssey memories. Hoping to see a couple more Odyssey folks before I head home.

Spent the morning with Randall showing me all his warehouses and touring the town. He even put me to work for a short time. I love to earn my keep. He buys old warehouses and fixes them up, then rents them out to big companies.

I spent the afternoon with Ruth going to antique shops and watching her spend money. When I’m on my bike, I can’t buy anything. Darn it. I saw a couple of things I’d really like to have, but I didn’t want to ship them home. So I just looked and drooled.

It is really hot here today. Glad I’m not riding. I’d be melting into a puddle.

I’ve been thinking about what I’ve liked on this trip so far and what has caused me stress. I think the top three stresses were worrying about lightning, a flat tire, and not finding a place to stay. My worst place to ride was CO because of the roads and the drivers. The best so far was WY because of the nice wide shoulders. The best maintained roads were KY, and the most scenic has been VA.

I’m reading a book, and a quote by Rebecca Solnit really hit me. She said, “Never to get lost is not to live. Not to know how to get lost brings you to destruction, and somewhere in the terra incognito in between lies a life of discovery. ” I guess it is ok to get lost now and then. Made me feel better.

Beautiful, sunny ride today with hills and flat. It was one of the best rides ever. And I didn’t miss a turn today either. No wind, no rain, and only started to get hot the last 20 minutes. Yeah!

I am staying with an Odyssey friend, Randall, and his wife, Ruth, and catching up on the last 23 years. I haven’t seen him since we left Odyssey. Boy, do we have stories to tell. We haven’t stopped talking for three hours. He and Ruth cruised about a third of the way around the world and spent eight years on a 51 ft trawler made out of steel. His adventures were equal or better than Odyssey. Totally different but life changing. However, he has pretty much given up his bike. We agreed that Odyssey was the best year of our lives.

I plan to spend Sat and Sun with them. I have time to kill since I don’t meet my brother til the 29th.