DAY 25 TABR, 2017

DAY 25, ONE MORE DAY ON A BIKE

0500 hrs came along pretty quick that morning. The church sleep was extremely quiet in the town of Buckhorn. We made some coffee in the church kitchen and head out onto the course. A soft light bathed the low grounds and we could see the sunlight that was waiting for us touching the hill tops. This morning was magical in its glory. Maybe sleeping in a church had left its spiritual mark on me. Mark and I would ride most of the day within eye site of each other.

A few miles into our day we found a good breakfast stop and enjoyed the friendliness of the staff. This big breakfast was a good source of energy for the day ahead. The day, as most days did, warmed up quickly. There were plenty of climbs today that would test our resolve to hit each climb in one push.

Looking at the map, I can count no less than 15 steep climbs of 200'-500', with hundreds of little hills. My body was still able to climb at a slow speed and I had to convince my mind not to stop unless something was going to break. My right cleat was not getting any better, but I was getting good at applying the right pressure to minimize slip out.

OFF WE GO

After our bellies full of an embarrassing amount of food and coffee and one clothing layer removed we are off for our day's adventure. Mark's company was great to have. We were in Kentucky and reaching Virginia today was a strong possibility. Traveling in numbers would make it safer to cross dog country and we would have a few more chases, but we were ready and wiser now.

THE HILLS

As I indicated earlier, the hills would be a constant today and the winding roads would keep our views to only a few hundred feet ahead. Climbing hills is great because that means you have a downhill on the other side. However, due to the sharp turns the downhills often required braking all the way down and not taking advantage of the kinetic credits that I had struggled to accumulate.

And when you have many turns you sometimes miss an intersection and find your self slightly off course. We were slightly off course as a bird flies, but several miles if you chain yourself to the paved roads. We had been on a parallel course but wrong road. A quick look at my paper maps showed an option to get back on track. A stream crossing would need to be had. In the warm temperature, wading through the cool stream was pleasant. Mark and I knocked on somebodies house to request permission, which was quickly given, to access the stre

am through their back yard.

Safely on the other side and back on route we were at a point that another meal was on the books. We kind of made the mistake at stopping at this roadside take-out. The order would take half an hour to come out.

Almost long enough to let my shoes dry off.

LAST STATE OF TABR

Mark and I would cross into Virginia a few miles apart as he would be charging ahead. Marks hill climbing capacity was much greater than mine or he was more keen to get to Yorktown than I -- Not sure of the latter.

YOU NEVER KNOW

Mark and I would reconnect in the town of Haysi, pop.186. The day was ending for us and we were going to hang out together for another night. We were looking for a small hotel in town when this car pulls up and asks us if we want a place to stay. Always bewildered by these offerings, I approached the offer cautiously. We asked were and the guy point to the building across the street. Ok, lets go see. The place was the nicest, cleanest and largest accommodation either one of us had seen on the whole journey. And did I mentioned cheapest. He requested $25. I said "each" and he answered no, no, both. I paid for the apartment and mark went out to get food and beer. We ate and drank a few beers in one of the living rooms watching a big flat screen TV. This was heaven. Sleep was good and cheap.

A quick story on this guy. He was the owner of the insurance company below this pad and was trying to invest in his town to make it a get-away destination -- Kayaking and biking trails so on. He had with him his Highschool girlfriend that had suffered pretty severe paralysis from a car accident when she was 17 or 18. He never gave up on her even though she still struggled to communicate or navigate the stairs. Make's you think.

The sleep would be grand, each with our own bedroom and full bath. One day and 122.7 miles closer to the end. The hills had taken their toll and there would be more tomorrow. It would be another 100 miles further before the hills of Virginia would smooth out.