June 10 - Dale Johnson

Total miles ridden – 600

I awoke this morning in the choir loft of the Elk Garden Methodist Church outside Rosedale, VA. I’ve been known to snore on occasions, so I try to find a secluded spot to sleep where I will minimize any disturbance to others. The church was a gem. They leave the church unlocked so Trans-Am cyclists can stop by and sleep. They even provide food in the pantry and a place to cook. Last evening there were all sorts of dishes being prepared and we left money in their donation box to cover the food we used.

The weather forecast today was for partly sunny with highs around 80 and very little wind, which is always great news. Today was a short day (only 43 miles) after yesterday’s tough day of 74 miles and Hayter’s Gap. The Appalachians run North to South and we are riding East to West. Today we had climbs over 4 mountain ranges. The first mountain was called “Big A Mountain” by locals. About half way up the climb I realized what the A stood for. Big A Mountain nearly kicked my A. It was long and steep. As we started the climb, Rosanne, a 110 pound Duke University medical student with the strength of a horse goes blowing by me. Rosanne spends most of her time riding with the King brothers, who race for the Virginia Tech cycling team. I’m struggling along about half way up the mountain when the team support vehicle passes me. I look up and see a team leader with his hand out the passenger window and displaying a “thumbs up”. That brought a smile to my face. As we approached the summit I passed Stephen. I looked at my terrain profiles I had worked up prior to the trip (I’m both a computer and geography geek). I yelled to Stephen…” You already know the bad news. The good news is we have an 11 mile downhill after the summit”. About a mile past the summit, Stephen goes blowing by me on a blazing downhill. Stephen and Jeff are big boys and are “downhill specialists” who gain a lot of speed and momentum going down hills. I topped out at 43 mph …..Jeff at 45.2 ……and Brian hit 49.7 mph. The rest of the ride included long climbs over 3 more mountains followed by 3 other screaming downhills.

Both of my late parents grew up in humble beginnings during the depression in this area. My father was born in Pound, Va which is just south of our route today as we approach the Kentucky state line. My mother grew up in Rogersville, Tennesee which is just over the Virginia state line. This is a fairly depressed area of Appalachia. I can’t image how difficult it was in this area during the depression. All the foods my mother prepared when I was growing up are from this area…..biscuits and gravy, pinto beans, and southern sweet tea. I was riding along by myself for a while so I decided to put on my headphones and listen to some music. I started with some classic country music, which was my father’s favorite and then switched to country gospel, which was my mother’s favorite.

We pulled in early to Interstate Breaks State Park. This is the nicest campground we have had so far. It gave everyone a chance to shower and wash out their biking clothes. The ranger stopped by and gave us pins for biking across the entire state of Virginia. Well,