TRANSAMERICA BICYCLE 2015: Days 5 - 7: And into the mountains I go!

Extra kind on this one please since I dictated it using my phone.....

So that happened......

Up, up, and away (in my beautiful balloon...NOOOOO i REALLY don't like that song!)

Okay everyone go put on the Eagles song life in the fast lane I know you have somewhere. Now sing-along with me on the course "life in the granny gear, surely make you lose your mind , Life in the granny gear oh yeah "

found in Cookie Lady's house. This cracked me up as I had literally just sent a wrench home that same morning.

That pretty much sums up the last few days of my ride entering into the Blue Ridge Mountains of the Appalachians. I'm glad I made some extra miles the first few days to give me a nice cushion for the next several days of Appalachian up and down, Quad screaming, Beautiful mountain riding.

I was glad to have mud and glamour n' guts and their friend Dennis with me at the cookie lady house overnight. As awesome as the place is it would have been a little bit creepy being there all on my own. So on day five I set out with them to conquer The Blue Ridge! It was so nice to have people to ride with that day, the day that we really got into serious climbs. Glamour n guts said that I was the first other girl she had seen on the ride so we bonded over that and had a fun time singing little tunes and joking about common childhood experiences. It was also nice because they ride just as slow as I do with their heavy load on the tandem bike. Nice to not feel so bad about going 3.9 mph of a hill for several miles! But we took lots of breaks to admire the beautiful views.

But alas, they had taken a rest day in Charlottesville so had a bit fresher legs then I and we're going to pedal onto Lexington that day. I choose to break what is called the toughest day of riding on the whole trip across the country into two days and made a stop in Love, Virginia, doing my first campout of the entire trip at the Royal Oaks campsite.

On top of the parkway looking out...

It's been pretty amazing because I have all this food that I have been lugging around with me and it wasn't until that night that I actually pulled out my camp stove for the first time to cook! This goes to credit the amazing hospitality I have seen so far in Virginia.

Of course the very first night I had to camp was also the first night of serious thunder and lightning and rain! I was in my tent in the early evening taking a nice relaxing break when all of the sudden the rain started pouring and pretty soon after some water started coming in my tent. Turns out the footprint was pooling water… So that was my bad but I am also unconvinced about the waterproof Of my tent. The last time it was tested in the Olympic national rain forest it failed miserably… Might be why the brand is called sunshine mountaineering…

Fortunately just at this time it had a brief moment of rain stoppage and the owner of the campsite told me I could help under the stage for the rest of the night. Good thing too because wow quite the thunder and lightning. Literally I would see a flash of lightning and immediately a huge crack of thunder rolling across the mountains.

And so on today six I conquered the rest of the Blue Ridge and made it down the, holy cow, downhill to Vesuvius. The road biker I meant on the last part of the Blue Ridge Pkwy. was not lying when he told me to really take it slow. My forearms hurt so bad and I had to take a break about halfway down.

But on into Lexington Virginia I rolled where I got to stay with my first warm showers hosts!! Rebecca and Leigh live on the most amazing farm right outside of Lexington and it was the most incredible time. I was able to take in the scenery, relax, have good conversation, was fed well, and just felt like I was able to pause and take everything in for the first time in the whole trip.

So nice to have a beautiful place to rejuvenate..

It really just was one of those experiences that made me realize what I was doing and thankful for all the amazing people I have gotten to meet and will meet on this trip.

My first warm showers host, Rebecca!

And then today, Day seven which I cannot even believe that I have been thinking a week, took me right back home to Montana! Actually looking at the route I realized that a great family friend, Who has come out on hunting trips with my dad since I was five years old, lived only about 5 miles from the route!

So today, after completing my ride John came, scooped me and my bike up, and took me into Roanoke for a wonderful afternoon of seeing the town, and beautiful sunset views on the Blue Ridge Pkwy. But most of all he cooked us elk hamburgers straight from my home in Montana! I have to admit spending time with John and his wife Susan made me miss home a whole lot. It is so tempting tojust want to stay here for a while, but I must get out on the road again!

mmm...elk burgers straight from my home in Montana!

So good to visit family friends!!

And so now I have a full belly and a Full heart filled with being able to see such good friends. Now on into the unknown. Tomorrow I ride to the end of my first map of the route! One down, 11 to go!~riding with mud and glamournguts! so great to get to experience the ascent into the blue ridge with them. To feel like my pace was okay. To laugh with them and bond over the great valley!

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