3/27 Paul called the Surly hotline and heard about one other guy who experienced a similar problem. That guy changed to a bigger tire and the problem resolved. They also recommended he change his headset to one designed to dampen wobbles. 🤞
2023-03-28
3/27 Paul got the bigger tires and is anxious to try them out. First thing on Tuesday morning he’s loading up the bike and we’re finding a big hill….
2023-03-28
3/27 At least we had an opportunity to get the clothes clean. And the laundromat was right next door to the Super8!
2023-03-28 3/28 Good news! On the test ride this morning with bigger tires, the bike still wobbled, but it was less pronounced and Paul could control it by lifting weight off his handlebars. The new headset arrives this evening, and we plan to be on the TransAm again tomorrow morning.
2023-03-28
3/28 Ready to say goodbye to the Super8!
2023-03-28 3/28 After a lunch from Trader Joe’s, we cycled to a pedestrian mall in downtown Charlottesville. There was a coffee shop that would hold its own in Seattle, and an artist cooperative with a cool bench outside.
3/28 After a bit we went back to the bike shop. They had special ordered the headset to be delivered today. But we hadn’t heard anything. Turns out it had been delivered to the wrong place and the guys couldn’t figure out where it was.
2023-03-28
3/28 They gave us the UPS tracking number and we went to a nearby pub to try to find the package. Here Paul is trying to track it down on his phone.
2023-03-28 3/28 When that didn’t work, we attempted to locate it by throwing darts. Apparently that did work, because in the middle of the game, bicycle shop Ben called to say the restaurant next door had the headset! We finished our beers while they installed it.
2023-03-28 3/28 Our heroes, Ronnie, Ben, shop dog Sammy, and someone else who we don’t know. Remember them -Endeavor Bicycles. And Surly has been excellent as well, with their advice and willingness to reimburse Paul for the new tires, the different headset, and more.
3/28 And finally, I have to say that my attitude has been adjusted positively by some bathroom door graffiti at The Durty Nelly Pub. Maybe I’m reaching here, but it gives me hope.
2023-03-28 3/28 16.8 miles today.
2023-03-28
3/29 We said farewell to the Super8! It was a good place to stay while we resolved the bike issue, but we are both happy to be moving on this morning. Paul sends a screenshot showing just how much we have to go on this ride. Time to Pedal, dammit!
3/29 It was cold when we started out, but after climbing a few hills, we both started shedding clothes. In White Hall we stopped at the best convenience store ever! I had chicken and dumplings to die for and Paul had a hamburger he adored.
3/29 They had some great signs hanging behind the counter. I thought this first one was perfect. Then Paul pointed out the one above it….
3/29 We met the owner of the store- wanted to atay and chat he was so interesting. He’d been an NFL referee; he was a civil engineer who worked with GPS technology in its infancy; on and on. But we had miles to make. Less than 5 minutes later, Rhe’s tire went flat!
2023-03-29 3/29 By now, we were beginning to see mountains ahead. And the terrain changed. We were beckoned by the roadside signs, but pedaled on knowing wine wasn’t the answer to the elevation gain we had to make today.
3/29 Tonight we are staying at the famous Cookie Lady’s House. June Curry was known as someone who supported bikers on the TransAm trail from the beginning of it all in 1976. She made cookies and invited bicyclists to stay at her house until she died in 2012.
2023-03-30 3/29 The Cookie Lady’s House is a museum of items bicyclists have left here since 1976, newspaper articles about cyclists and other topics, and post cards from cyclists who stayed here and wrote to June about their travels. It would take eons to look at and read all this stuff!
3/29 There is so much to see here, but I have to call out one item that is special for all those bikers who wish they had ridden with the original group in 1976z
2023-03-30 3/29 Tonight we had a stir fry courtesy of Trader Joe’s. We’ll sleep on the floor at the Cookie Lady’s House. Tomorrow we tackle the route from Afton to Love, which is about halfway along the saddle of the profile below. My knees ache just looking at that climb. Wish us luck.
3/30 We left a relic of the pandemic 😷 for our contribution to the Cookie Lady’s House. And Paul fixed the tube. Shoutout to Kelly Marcum, who taught Paul to fix a flat, and who rode with Paul in 1976 on their Trans Europe odyssey.
3/30 Now we have a big climb: from 800 ft to 3200 feet. We were both nervous about the challenge, but there was nothing to do but get started. We climbed first to the very north terminus of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
3/30 Stig got hungry so we stopped at the Visitor Center at Humpback Rocks, which will not open until Memorial Day! Bathrooms closed, too. 🤨 The last ones to use the picnic table was the 🐿️.
3/30 And after lunch Rhe had a flat tire. Again. Bummer! So happy Paul is along as the bicycle maintenance and repair guy.
2023-03-31 3/30 We climbed and climbed and climbed all day. The grade wasn’t too bad,though, and the traffic was light. Only 15 cars passed us all day on the Parkway. Gotta say, we picked the best time to do this ride. Got to our high point for the day at Ravens Roost - 3200 feet.
3/30 To celebrate, we splurged on a private cabin with lasagna in the freezer, wine and chocolate to go with, and a jacuzzi in the corner. Makes it all worth the hard work we did today!
3/31 If you have the chance, stay at Love 💕 Ridge Mountain Lodging on the Blue Ridge Parkway. They have a campground here, too. But the cabins are well worth the extra money.
2023-03-31 3/31 Well rested and thinking it would be a fairly easy day, we came upon our first taste of reality- we still had a big climb ahead of us.
3/31 We finally hit the turnoff to Vesuvius 14 miles later. Put on our jackets because we knew it would be a chilly downhill. That was a heavy-braking, steep and winding 4 miles! Didn’t have time to stop for a picture. Very, very glad we did not have to climb that monster!
3/31 Everyone told us the hardest part of the TransAm was getting up to the Parkway. But the way we went (east to west) wasn’t the hardest. It’s the west to east. After you’ve crossed the Cascades, the Rockies, and Kentucky, then you hit the climb from Vesuvius. Ouch!
2023-04-01 3/31 Going east to west, you also get to stop at Gertie’s for the best hamburger. While we were there, a professional photographer offered to take our portrait. And there were gnomes! The three gnomes are for Sean, Karen, Bob, Jon and Mike.
3/31 After lunch just 16 miles to our bed in Lexington. But first we had to “climb two boobs” as it was described to us by a woman in the parking lot on the Parkway. After that we followed the South River along a flat section with only a headwind and light rain to slow us down.
3/31 As we got closer to Lexington, however, the rain got heavier and the hills got steeper. Paul checked his phone and muttered, “holy shit”. The motel I had chosen for the night was 6.4 miles out of town and we were tuckered.
2023-04-01 3/31 After a two-mile stretch on a busy highway, the final insult of the day appeared. Our Howard Johnson was at the top of a very steep climb. My legs couldn’t do it, so we walked the bikes to the lobby door.
2023-04-01 4/1 This morning I went to the edge of Howard Johnson‘a perch and saw the Quality Inn and Days Inn that we could have stayed at without pushing the bikes up that ginormous hill. We made a pact - no more touching the “reserve “ button until Paul has looked at the Expedia site.
2023-04-02 4/1 Because we were so tired after conquering the Blue Ridge Parkway, and because the forecast was for wind gusts of up to 25 mph in our faces, we decided to move across town to the Econolodge and take a reat day in Lexington.
4/1 Lexington is home to the Washington and Lee University (names for George -a chief benefactor- and Robert E. - president of the college immediately after the Civil War. The Robert E Lee Episcopal Church (renamed “Grace Episcopal Church) is on the campus.
4/1 Lexington is also home to the Virginia Military Institute, which must have had a surplus of a particularly bad puke green paint.
4/1 We had a great lunch at the Palms Restaurant, where Bennie, Ally and another waitress were awesome and admiring of our adventure. Bennie told me she was afraid of bicycles. My response was she should plan her own adventure. In fact, she has a sister in Seattle….
2023-04-02
4/2 I have been bad at listing our mileage this week. Tuesday we rode 16.8 miles; Wednesday to Afton 27.3 miles; Afton to Love Ridge 18.5 miles; Love Ridge to Lexington 36.8 miles; Howard Johnson to Econolodge 14.9 miles. Total for the week 114.3. Total for the trip 440.1.
2023-04-02
4/2 Yesterday we had high winds. As we were biking from the grocery store to the motel, we heard a loud crack and watched a tree fall. This morning there was lots of debris on the road and we saw this tree down. It’s the same storm that fed the Little Rock tornado.
2023-04-03 4/2 Today was lots of tiny roads along streams and rivers.
4/2 Then we did some rolling hills. The pink-flowered trees are called “Redbuds”. They make me happy that we are here before the trees leaf out. We went through Buchanan, which had the most beautiful brick buildings. In the county of Botetourt.
