About a half mile into the day and we finished Map 11. That means we are now on the last map!
Had it not been raining, we would have done a celebratory dance. This selfie with Doug riding off is the best we could muster.
The only opportunity for food today was just 7 miles in. I grabbed a snack for later, and an extra 500ml of water. I don’t usually drink much when it’s raining, but raining and 70 degrees all while going up and down (like we’ve been doing for days) caused a bit more sweating, than just plain ol’ rain.
There was this really high bridge that I couldn’t tell on my map what road it was. It probably went to Roanoke, as many of the main roads around here do.
Rain had let up, so I took Flap Flap off. Of course, as soon as we both took our rain gear off, it started raining again. Since my sleeves were already wet from sweat, I just decided to not worry about it. It didn’t really rain hard anyway.
When I got to Catawba, and turned onto the road that would go to Daleville, I realized I had been on this road twice before! When we did the AT, we stayed at Four Pines Hostel. This was when we hiked through a tropical storm. The next day, the creek we would have to cross was flooded, so we had the guy at the hostel shuttle us to Daleville where we then hiked southbound back to Four Pines. When we returned to the hostel, the guy shuttled us back to Daleville. So, I was on this road, in a car, twice. And now…on a bike.
Don’t remember seeing this, but I thought it was cute.
The AT is up on the top of the ridge. That’s the Tinker Cliffs area.
I had been ahead of Doug since mile 20. I rolled into Daleville at 45ish miles, and Doug still hadn’t caught up to me. I got something to eat at the gas station. There was no place to sit, and it had started to rain again. I drank one of those Naked smoothies, and packed the wrap in my pannier. The finish for today was just a few miles away in Troutville at the city park, and I knew there was a shelter there. Still no Doug.
I arrived at the park just a little after 1:00. It’s a nice park. This being a holiday, the first thing I checked was if the restrooms were open. They were, then I rolled over to the shelter. It said no entrance, only by reservation. Well, it didn’t look like anyone was going to be here on this rainy Labor Day, so I rolled on in. I texted Doug to let him know I was at the park. About 30 minutes later, he rolled in. He said he was delayed a bit today…something he ate…
There’s a little market close to the park. It closed at 5:00 today, so we went over to get something for dinner. The clerk, Pam, and the other woman working there, Paige, asked if we were riding across the country. Then they asked if we were staying at the park. I told her I had called the number on our map, but could only leave a message. Paige asked if I had seen the showers. What??? There are showers??? She got on the phone and called Skeets. He said he’d come over and unlock the shower building. Wow! You gotta love a small town!!!
Skeets unlocked the showers. It’s a former refrigerator trailer (so, insulated for winter) that they turned into a shower building.
They put it in mostly for the AT hikers as the AT is not far from here. But, it is right on the Trans Am route. They do a big Trail Days weekend in June. The park gets taken over by AT hikers. Of course, when we did the AT, none of that happened due to COVID.
Skeets said we could set up in the shelter. We’ve got more rain tonight (supposed to stop by 7:00am tomorrow).
The only downside to this place is the trains. Skeets warned us. There’s two crossings, and due to an accident awhile back, they give extra blasts of the whistle. One train already went by…oh yeah…gonna have to peel myself off the roof of my tent if one goes by while I’m sleeping! There’s even a caboose in the park.
Nice and quiet, that one.
We talked to Skeets for quite awhile. It made me think of something. So many of these small town city parks are taken care of by folks like Skeets. He is 78 years old. He has made this park what it is with a lot of heart and dedication. Who’s going to take over when he’s gone? Who will care as much? Skeets said the current city council is not really interested in the hikers and cyclists (although, he’s hoping with the next election that some of them will be gone). This park is a great community resource. We’ve seen lots of people here, including Pete, who was walking loops of the 1/4 mile trail around the park to get in shape for a Colorado hunting trip in November (he’d talk to me on every pass). There was another 86 year old gentleman doing his loops too.
So, the lucky horseshoe was at it again! We ve had great showers, and we’re protected from the rain!
T-minus 6 days!
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