Edward is the pastor of Hinton Avenue UMC in Charlottesville. He had a vision of riding a bike to the VAUMC Annual Conference to raise awareness of the Conference Offering that goes towards some fruitful mission work of the United Methodist Church. Initiatives of Hope is a project helping children in Mozombique, Brazil, Russia, and Alaska.
This is my perspective of the journey from Callaghan, VA to Roanoke,VA. My journey began from my house in the Callaghan area. Day 1, 115 miles to New Market. I arose about 5am and it was cold, 48 degrees on my porch and was supposed to reach a high of 85. Not wanting to carry any extra stuff such as arm warmers and base layers, I opted for the disposable versions. Old socks with the toes cut out make great arm warmers and T-shirts that were going to be used to clean chains work for warm layers.
I depart from the house about 6:30am. Ok, here is a little background. I am notorious for getting lost and forgetting to bring stuff. No matter how much preparation I make, it always happens. I get .5 miles down the road and realize I forgot my maps. That can't be good. So I kept going. No, turned around and got the maps. The route I choose takes me up Jackson River Road to 39 via Bacova. I get 20 miles into the ride near 39 and I hear a sound that resembles a broken spoke. Yep, a broke rear spoke on the drive side. I have never had a broke spoke on the road bike. And of all the times. I called RCO's fearless leader Ron at about 8am. Since Ron's bday was that night before, I figured he was sleeping in. I ride campy with standard DT spokes and Mavic Open Pro rims, so nothing fancy and easy to fix. But they are 28 hole instead of 32 so I was a little worried about continuing. I trued it the best I could, removed the broken part and continued north. Hey, I only had another 100 to go, I couldn't turn back.
Here is a cool pic on top of the Mnt in Warm Springs on 39.
Have you ever ridden in a car with the tire out of balance or bike with a wheel untrue. It isn't the most efficient and can create some vibrations. Down 39 I rolled or wobbled. I love that descent but had to keep it around 30mph:( Turned left onto 629 and headed towards Deerfield and West August. This is a great rural road and only saw about 10 cars for 30 miles. This pic is from Deerfield. You can't read the sign but it says "Horse Parking."
Do you ever have one of those days that everything goes right? Maybe slight grades downhill with a tailwind. From Deerfield on, the last 60+ miles was so easy. The elevation went from about 2000 to 900, plus a SW wind, WOW. I hopped on 250 then 42 and headed into Harrisonburg. Ron hooked me up with a bike shop in Harrisonburg, Shenadoah Bicycle Company, home of the grand Shenadoah 100. Interested in doing a 100 mile Mtb ride? check it out. The cool thing is that the shop was right on the route I was riding. I was a little worried about the shop being able to repair it on the fly. Arrived at the shop around 1pm and Thomas had me rolling in 30 minutes. WOW. Thanks Thomas! Look forward to our paths crossing again.
20 miles later, I rolled into New Market and feasted on a Blimpy sub. Total miles traveled, 117.6 with a ride time around 7 hrs. Met up with the Holy Ones that evening for dinner, stories, and planning for tomorrow.
See the lady on the far left. That's Tizzy "Wilson" Walker. Can anyone figure out why I gave her the name of Mr. Wilson? Continue to read for more clues
Day 2 on the next post.
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