~Whereby Coty rides into the Appalachians, does the steepest climb of the trip, and gets to stay at the legendary Cookie Lady House
DAY 4
Charlottesville to Afton, VA
Accommodation: Cookie Lady house
Distance: 26.8 miles
Wow, I'm sitting here on the back porch of the Cookie Lady's House in Afton, Virginia after just competing what's supposed to be the toughest climb of the trip - (but still have a pretty narly rest of it coming up tomorrow and the next day). And I did it!!
And now I am in this magical house - so incredible ... because of the generosity and caring that the Cookie Lady had. How many cyclists were touched by her? As of 2008, over 11,000...
June Curry (a.k.a the Cookie Lady) was an incredible woman who, from 1976 until her death in 2012 was the trail angel of all trail angels to Transamerica cyclists providing water, cookies, and a place to stay in Afton, VA. And after making the climb to Afton, getting to arrive at this famous place was well worth it. (Thank you Hope for keeping the house open and carrying on June's legacy.
To read more about June and her incredible life, click here http://www.adventurecycling.org/resources/blog/our-trail-angel-flies-away/
I mean talk about finding a purpose - she made cookies, welcomed people into her home, and brought comfort, smiles, and sincere touching and affecting of people's lives. You can see it on all the walls. The postcards, the memorablia, the notes, the ballads written about he...the t-shirts, the waterbottles...
She really lived a life that touched so many. A life well lived and continues to be a legacy in this bicycle tourist world. I'M TRULY BLOWN AWAY. And even though June is gone from us, this house, thanks to Hope, stays open for more of us to enjoy and experience.
Today I stopped in at White Hall general store and the owner keeps a bike log of all the people who go through on the trail. We chatted for awhile and he told me a story of one man who was paralyzed waist down and peddled up the entire mountain with a bike where he uses his arms to go. "Just remember that when you are going up. It will give you motivation." And it sure did. As I was getting ready to leave he came out and gave me a banana. "For energy!" (I'm enjoying it right now) :-)
Lessons learned today: Don't go downhill with your mouth open. I did and a big bug hit me right on the upper lip. Would have been killer if it had gone in my mouth!
MORE PHOTOS OF THE COOKIE LADY HOUSE
DAY 4
Charlottesville to Afton, VA
Accommodation: Cookie Lady house
Distance: 26.8 miles
Wow, I'm sitting here on the back porch of the Cookie Lady's House in Afton, Virginia after just competing what's supposed to be the toughest climb of the trip - (but still have a pretty narly rest of it coming up tomorrow and the next day). And I did it!!
And now I am in this magical house - so incredible ... because of the generosity and caring that the Cookie Lady had. How many cyclists were touched by her? As of 2008, over 11,000...
June Curry (a.k.a the Cookie Lady) was an incredible woman who, from 1976 until her death in 2012 was the trail angel of all trail angels to Transamerica cyclists providing water, cookies, and a place to stay in Afton, VA. And after making the climb to Afton, getting to arrive at this famous place was well worth it. (Thank you Hope for keeping the house open and carrying on June's legacy.
To read more about June and her incredible life, click here http://www.adventurecycling.org/resources/blog/our-trail-angel-flies-away/
I mean talk about finding a purpose - she made cookies, welcomed people into her home, and brought comfort, smiles, and sincere touching and affecting of people's lives. You can see it on all the walls. The postcards, the memorablia, the notes, the ballads written about he...the t-shirts, the waterbottles...
She really lived a life that touched so many. A life well lived and continues to be a legacy in this bicycle tourist world. I'M TRULY BLOWN AWAY. And even though June is gone from us, this house, thanks to Hope, stays open for more of us to enjoy and experience.Today I stopped in at White Hall general store and the owner keeps a bike log of all the people who go through on the trail. We chatted for awhile and he told me a story of one man who was paralyzed waist down and peddled up the entire mountain with a bike where he uses his arms to go. "Just remember that when you are going up. It will give you motivation." And it sure did. As I was getting ready to leave he came out and gave me a banana. "For energy!" (I'm enjoying it right now) :-)
And then there were mountains.... First good look of where I was headed.
So steep even cars are advised to go 5 mph
ALSO! met my first fellow Transamerica bicycle riders! A father/daughter duo on a tandem bicycle! It was so nice to get to share the Cookie Lady house with them. You can follow them on the road here:
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/glamournguts
"Mud and GlamourN'Guts" father/daughter duo
mmm... enjoying my banana post ride!
MORE PHOTOS OF THE COOKIE LADY HOUSE
No comments:
Post a Comment