Left this morning and immediately climbed a long hill. It was misty and my glasses fogged up. It was a rather scary down hill half blind. We came down into a river valley and soon crossed the border into Virginia. The route was a nice change from yesterday. We rode through a river valley gradually climbing. The road was labeled the Virginia Heritage Coal Trail. We passed a number of mines and businesses that serviced and equipped the mines.
The road followed a river with steep cliffs on the opposite side. Kudzu was everywhere, even draping the cliff walls.
With all the coal the area had a grimy appearance.
We steadily climbed up through the Valley arriving for lunch in Claypool Hill after 58 miles. After an hour we continued toward Tazewell with mountains on our right. Just before Tazewell we turned south into the mountains. We began a steep climb up the mountain. The road was bordered by thick kudzu that completely blotted out every thing else. It was steep but not as steep as the past few days.
We had a beautiful view of the farm lands below. All in all the climb was worth the view. We had climbed over 1000 feet.
At the top we(I) held onto the brakes. The road was full of curves with patches of sand and gravel. At the bottom we had dropped 1000 feet. We then rode through a pleasant valley and the started another little climb that turned into a big climb matching what we had just come down.
One more down and we prayed that was the last big climb of the day. It was.
For those who thought my licking dog was no big deal yesterday, I had two good dog chases. The first was at 90 miles and the other at 91. I thought I made two really good sprints for so late in the day. I'm sure if they had caught me they would have ripped me to shreds.
We hit 100 in Ceres, Virginia but there was no place to stay so we trucked to Wytheville. A nice motel, a good dinner and some time to rest. It looks like about 5 days to go. Getting excited.
The road followed a river with steep cliffs on the opposite side. Kudzu was everywhere, even draping the cliff walls.
With all the coal the area had a grimy appearance.
We steadily climbed up through the Valley arriving for lunch in Claypool Hill after 58 miles. After an hour we continued toward Tazewell with mountains on our right. Just before Tazewell we turned south into the mountains. We began a steep climb up the mountain. The road was bordered by thick kudzu that completely blotted out every thing else. It was steep but not as steep as the past few days.
We had a beautiful view of the farm lands below. All in all the climb was worth the view. We had climbed over 1000 feet.
At the top we(I) held onto the brakes. The road was full of curves with patches of sand and gravel. At the bottom we had dropped 1000 feet. We then rode through a pleasant valley and the started another little climb that turned into a big climb matching what we had just come down.
One more down and we prayed that was the last big climb of the day. It was.
For those who thought my licking dog was no big deal yesterday, I had two good dog chases. The first was at 90 miles and the other at 91. I thought I made two really good sprints for so late in the day. I'm sure if they had caught me they would have ripped me to shreds.
We hit 100 in Ceres, Virginia but there was no place to stay so we trucked to Wytheville. A nice motel, a good dinner and some time to rest. It looks like about 5 days to go. Getting excited.
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