Breakfast was one banana,
one pear, water, and a dozen chocolate
chip cookies in our room. If I get through today I will, I think,
complete
the trip. My legs are so full of lactic acid they cannot climb.
I can go
through the motions and get to the top of each incline, but it has
to be in
low gear. My regime when I get to the hotel in the evening
is to soak in
the tub, if there is one, or take a hot shower, take one Advil and
one
multi-vitamin with a Coca Cola and a Sprite, and after the bath, apply
medicinal cream to my rear end (Sween Cream with natural vitamins A&D
"for
use on red, sore, irritated skin"; it does a good job overnight).
I then
ice major muscle groups with a large old ice bag that I brought along.
Today's first 17 miles took
me into Virginia; the next 16 took me
to Fancy Gap and my second breakfast. Goldie found me on the
Blue Ridge
Parkway just after breakfast. She could not get done all she
had to do and
be at my usual Francy Gap restaurant in time. We arranged to
meet in 3
hours, when she would bring me lunch.
As I rode towards Meadows of Dan, I camp upon Jesse, who was riding
north
on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Jesse is 12 years old and going into
the 7th
grade. He was riding his BMX bike to Meadows of Dan for the first
time.
It was fun riding with him. We pulled off the Parkway at Meadows
of Dan
and got a drink and a candy bar at the gas station, which has large
chairs
on a deck outside the store. Jesse had just moved to the area
from
Ashville and his parents had bought a general store that can be seen
and
accessed from the Parkway. They do a good business, but in real
estate
rather than in the general store. Jesse is the custodian at the
store,
cleaning toilets and sweeping up once a week. His mother inspected
his
first cleaning attempt and everything was fine, so now he just does
it on
his own.
My ride today passed Ground Hog Mountain, the famous spot where everyone
watches the ground hog to observe whether he sees his shadow or not.
I
also passed Mabry Mill, which many postcards claim as the most beautiful
spot in the state.
Stats for today: 110 miles in 8 hours 10 minutes, at 13.4 miles
per hour
average. Out at 7:45 a.m., in at 7:00 p.m.