We had breakfast at a restaurant a couple miles into the route. Actually, we skipped a bit of the route, and just stayed on Hwy 11. The route was just a gratuitous hill, that then returned to 11. No thank you, Trans Am!
The Greenwood restaurant was just where the route returned to Hwy 11. They opened at 8:00. There were quite a few people waiting to go inside. Once they opened, and we were seated, several more people came in. I guess this is one of the few restaurants left in Troutville. It was a typical small town place. Everyone seemed to know everyone.
We were back on the road at about 8:30 or so. We had one short climb (the only climb today where I used my easiest gear), then about 10 miles of gentle downhill. That sure was nice for a change!
Mountain peaking out above the fog.
We stopped in Buchanan (not pronounced like you think…oh no…it’s pronounced BUH cannon) mostly to use the restroom, but grabbed a snack for later.
We paralleled I-81 for a long time. It was quite noisy. After taking another break at a gas station, we turned onto a very quiet road (well, quiet after we went under the freeway). The road reminded me of a road I do at home called Zenkner Valley. It was mostly one lane with gentle ups, and easy downs (Zenkner Valley isn’t gentle ups, it’s quite steep, but the area looked like the valley). Eventually, we came down to a river.
Always a bit of climbing from a river crossing, but not bad.
A bit further on, we changed the map to the next panel. As we were going up the hill, I spied this little fella.
You know I had to move him off the road…in my efforts to keep another turtle alive…until the next time he decides to park himself in the middle of the road.
It was a pretty ride…
Not too far from Lexington, I stopped to talk to a guy who was getting his mail. He asked if we were going across the country. Turns out, he had ridden his bike from Rhode Island to the 1974 Spokane World’s Fair. His name was Jim. I told him that was an epic trip. We’ve got it easy…just follow the red line on our map. Use our phones if we need more help. He didn’t have any of that back then. He said it was the best 2 months of his life. Very cool to talk to him!
Not too far from Lexington, I stopped to talk to a guy who was getting his mail. He asked if we were going across the country. Turns out, he had ridden his bike from Rhode Island to the 1974 Spokane World’s Fair. His name was Jim. I told him that was an epic trip. We’ve got it easy…just follow the red line on our map. Use our phones if we need more help. He didn’t have any of that back then. He said it was the best 2 months of his life. Very cool to talk to him!
We rolled into Lexington. There’s no camping here, so we are back in a hotel, the Best Western, just up the hill from the route. Going through Lexington was interesting. As you all probably know, it is the home of Washington and Lee University, and even more, the home of the Virginia Military Institute.
Very “Constitutional”
That’s VMI in the distance. Lots of traffic, and uniformed “cadets”(?). VMI is huge! Went by the “Corps Physical Training Facility”. Isn’t that just a fancy name for the gym?
Anyway, we made it to the hotel at 1:30. There wasn’t a ready room quite yet (30 minutes), so we went over to Dairy Queen as we hadn’t had any lunch. While we were eating, a couple came in when they saw our bikes outside. Geoff and Jennifer live in Louisville. Geoff has done the Adirondacks, and wants to do more touring. We had a great time chatting with them. It’s fun when people come to talk to you because they see you are touring. My son, Dillon, has an audition in Louisville. If he gets the position, I’ll not only have him to visit, but my new friends too!
There’s no laundry at the BW, but the Holiday Inn Express lets BW customers do laundry (and it’s right next to the BW).
Tomorrow is the dreaded climb to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Once we are done with that, we’ll be done with the major climbs.
T-Minus 5 days!
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