Virginia is for Cyclists

Virginia is for Cyclists

So our first nine days were spent in the wonderful state of Virginia. I can't really believe that I’m biking across the US. It was so neat, cool, and indescribable to be biking from literally the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday and then seeing the beginning on the Blue Ridge Mountains on Wednesday as we started climbing our first hills. I had to stop and take a picture of our first hill and our first glimpse of mountains in a Baptist church parking lot on top of what I would soon realize was a small hill. The ride in Virginia was gorgeous and some of the prettiest rides thus far on the trip. The first two days reminded me of biking from Myrtle Beach, SC to Florence, SC and Virginia Beach is very comparable to Myrtle Beach. Anyways seemed like familiar territory for the first few days and then also passing over US 17 and thought maybe I’d just go down that route to visit everyone in SC, but didn’t and then crossed Interstate 95 and 85 in the same day but again decided to stay on my route b/c I’ll be back in the great south sooner than I think.

The first week was a lot of adjustment for me. Here is what a typical day looks like for us at Bike and Build: first wake up call is usually at 6:00, sometimes it’s at 5:00 if we are riding 90 plus miles and/or the temperature is 90 plus degrees. We then roll up our sleeping bags and therma-rests, change into our cycling gear, pack our bags, then take them and load the trailer all in the first 45 mins! Then our breakfast grew has gotten out all the breakfast food and when the trailer is all packed usually by the first hour then we can start eating. After that you either help pack up all the food in the coolers and load them in the trailer, help clean up the area where we stayed, and then put on sunscreen, pump up your tires and do a little bike check, stretch, have a route meeting and then can finally take off after you’ve been up for two hours! It really has quickly become a routine and isn’t as much stuff as it may seem since there are 27 of us. Then we ride at whatever our pace may be and with fellow riders who you want to ride with and/or ride at the same speed. Some days I’m spaced out in the middle of people, some I ride in groups of 4 or 5 and/or most days ride at least with a buddy. It’s been so much fun though riding with different people on the trip and becoming good friends with many different people. I’m now starting to ride with some of the same girls which is nice. We have a lunch break that is usually about 30-40 miles out depending on the distance of the day. Everyone has to stop and check in but you can decide how long you want to hang out and eat peanut butter on bread, bananas, apples, carrots, anything we have basically peanut butter has gone on it. The fourth day we bought cheese and you would’ve thought that these 27 people were throwing a party in this gravel parking lot in Dundas, VA home of sheep stew! We then finish off the ride and just have to be to our destination by 4:00 PM.

So you can stop off and take pictures, get ice cream, run in a Dollar General, or just take a nap in the grass if you feel like it. You just have to chalk the road so the sweeps (2 people of the group who have to be the last people in for the day and make sure everyone stays in front of them for the trip) will know you stopped. On the first two days I’d only stop just to take pictures of the scenery and to enjoy some honey suckles with Rosanna. I felt so much like a kid again. The honey suckles were literally along the rode the whole way and I finally said I had to pull over and eat some. Along the way we stopped off at a pharmacy, the Tasty Freeze, and a Dollar General on our way into Victoria. The girls I was with decided that we only had 15 miles left for the morning and afternoon and felt there was no rush. So those were actually my first stops on the trips. The Tasty Freeze was the first of many ice cream stops along the way. We stopped at the pharmacy because it was an old one in this small town and we thought they would have and old ice cream bar but they sent us to the Tasty Freeze. At the Dollar General Becca decided to try and find a radio to tape to her helmet so she could listen to music and ride (we can’t ride with headphones in our ears, we’ve had some pretty interesting shots at listening to music). The ride from Victoria to Lynchburg was the first day that we rode up some hills. So I stopped and took some pictures of our first glimpse of the mountains that we would soon face, scale and conquer! This was also our longest day yet being 80 miles and having two lunch stops. Truthfully it wasn’t bad and after this ride I felt a lot better about having to eventually do a century or 3 of them on this trip (100 mi ride).

Lynchburg was our first place on the trip for a Build Day. The Habitat for Humanity of Lynchburg was full of wonderful people and many senior citizens some have worked on 100, 200, and even 250 plus Habitat homes! Needless to say they knew what they were doing. I worked a long while with this gentleman who was very impress with my hammering stroke. I then told him what my major was and he said that I should have a good stroke then. It was a lot of fun working with all those friendly people and we were basically acting like a pre-fabrication plant: building all of the interior and exterior framing for a blitz build that they will be having at the end of June. It was also nice to have a break from the bike even though we’ve only bike for 4 straight days, but that’s the longest stretch that I’ve been on a bike!

After Lynchburg we traveled 55 miles to Roanoke on Friday. It was again a gorgeous ride today traveling in on Route 746. It was mostly back country rides with our first switch back where over a narrow bridge over a creek. The road wasn’t heavily traveled at all so that was a very nice aspect. Fastest speed that I got was 37 mph. It was a very fun ride but got a little scary as we approached Roanoke since this was the first big city that we’ve traveled to. That evening I met up with Greer, which was so much fun and nice to see a familiar face. We went out to dinner where I ordered seafood since I knew I wouldn’t have any for the rest of my trip. The crab cakes were very good and it was just great to catch up with Greer. Thanks again for coming down for the evening!

From Roanoke we rode to Blacksburg home of the Virginia Tech Hokies. It was a very short day of 37 miles but about mile 32 we started pedaling up our first major hill or small mountain. It was about 2 miles if I recall correctly, and was challenging but felt great once we made it. I enjoy going up hills and mountains because I know they don’t go on forever and you have such a beautiful view once you’ve reached the top. I picked up a friend who was struggling up it and together we pedaled and made it. We rode into town and down to the campus YMCA where our hosts had amazing snacks and Gatorades and water waiting for us. It was such an extremely nice gesture and greatly appreciated. Since it was a short ride we all arrived before noon and went to take showers and explore the town. Having been to Blacksburg a few times in the past years it seemed like familiar territory and was nice since it is similar to Clemson. I grabbed an actual lunch with Elliot and walked around town with a few other guys from the group. Then went exploring the campus and to the student union where I saw hundreds of different banners all hung up from all the many schools and university from around the nation about the terrible tragedy on their campus in April. I never saw Clemson’s banners but know that they were in a room somewhere. It was a little eerie and still just unbelievable to me that such an event could take place. Then walking across the Drill field I witness a very bizarre thing: John Lennon’s piano is apparently traveling the country to all the places where devastation/tragedy has occurred as a sign of peace. So there in the middle of the Drill field which would be like Bowman Field at Clemson was a piano and a group of people, reporters and photographers viewing it. I still don’t understand it. Anyways I had my second visitor of the trip come that evening, Tate. We went out for some BBQ and I took him around campus since he’s never been there. We agreed that it was a very pretty campus but Clemson still is the best place! It again was great and fun to be around a friend. Thanks Tate for traveling up! We are all trying to individualize our bikes since they look similar and give them names. Such names are Rigby, Bessie (cow pattern grip), Mary May (ribbons are tied to the grips). I’m still thinking of a name but feel like Buddy would be fine; don’t know how original that is but any ideas pass them along. We cross our first state line after a week of being in Virginia! Very excited!