31 miles to Vesuvius, VA
We decided to take a short ride today since we had to bicycle over the Blue Ridge Mountains. We rode the Blue Ridge Parkway which was great. It was beautiful and there was very little traffic. We stopped at the Humpack Rocks Visitor Center and a ranger told us there was a guy who came through last year traveling the TransAmerica Trail on a Unicycle. He didn’t know if he had made it, but he said he had lots of energy when he left their spot. We climbed and climbed and climbed and climbed, but I preferred that to coming down the other side of the mountain. Thank goodness I had read an article about coming down mountains and knew that it was critical to stop and check the tire rims to be sure the tires don’t melt. We stopped about 3 times and my rims were very hot to the touch. Vincent’s weren’t because of course he didn’t ride the brakes like I did. Hopefully, I’ll get better at that with time.
It does seem as though every day brings a new issue with the travel trailer. Today, we noticed the refrigerator wasn’t cold. Turns out we had parked at a severe angle (didn’t think it was a big problem since we weren’t staying in it) and the coolant doesn’t work under those conditions. Once again, we relied on our good friend, Don, to help us out. Despite the logistical problems with the trailer, it is like coming home when we get in from a long ride. Much better than sleeping in a tent or even going to a hotel room every night.
Hey, Cathie, Bob and Vincent!
ReplyDeleteLooking at your pictures makes us hunger for SPRING! I can't believe how green everything looks. We are in the midst of our spring "break-up"...dwindling snowpack, puddles, muddy roads and all. Snow (at least flurries) is on our forecast for tonight :) Still a few weeks until anything turns green here.
Your rides sounds wonderful...glad you missed the storm last weekend. What has Vincent's top downhill speed been so far?
Stay safe, guys.
Margi
His top speed to date is 40 mph. I have new respect for Tour de France riders. I think they hit speeds upwards of 80 mph!
ReplyDeleteDan has hit 49mph on the hills around here! I don't even want to think about it. Anything over 30mph freaks me out. I, too, ride my brakes. My biggest fear is that my hand will cramp up and I will lose my grip. No doubt about it, I'm a big chicken. Sounds like you are having a great time and I love being able to ride along vicariously...so keep on blogging!
ReplyDeleteMargi
40 mph is plenty fast enough! I've hit 38 on my hybrid and started getting concerned. I've done 90+ on my motorcycles, but, they have much wider tires, rims and really nice hydraulic disc brakes :-) I can't imagine doing 80 mph on road/racing tires and rims...scary just contemplating it!
ReplyDeleteWe're still going to try and "chase" you down...doesn't look like we'll get away until May 1st, so, we'll head towards central KY and when we get there, we'll start "phone tagging" to see where you are if we can't tell from your blog or emails. Looking forward to seeing the "entrepid" exlporers. Remember, the tires are always supposed to be between you and road :-D
You guys look so happy. I wish I was there,too. I enjoy Vincent's photo gallery.
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