32 miles to Damascus, VA
Today was the best ride of the trip to date and to think we would have missed it if it had rained. When Bob picked us up in Sugar Grove last night, we traveled the same road as the bicycle trail. The road was very steep and very narrow. Needless to say, I wasn’t thrilled about riding on it and certainly didn’t want to tackle it in the rain. We waited in the morning to see how the weather would be and it turned sunny and a bit breezy. Vincent convinced me it was ok to go. We had to climb a lot, but were well rewarded with 2 different stretches of at least 3-mile downhill sections. We passed thousands of wild rhododendrons, some at least 20 feet tall. The drive will be spectacular in a month or so when they are in bloom. The area we bicycled through reminded me a bit of Yellowstone with a sparkling stream and trout fisherman everywhere.
While our ride was spectacular, Bob’s day was the worst he has had to date. Again the GPS sent him up a gravel mountain road, this time for 5 miles. In addition, the brake system wasn’t adjusted properly and he was fishtailing significantly. He did manage to get into the camp, but he surely doesn’t want to repeat the experience. We are going to revisit all the sites we have picked to date and make sure the roads leading to the camp are well paved and well-marked. Given that we are going to be in the mountains until we get into Kansas, there will be some challenges ahead. He says he can drive the mountain roads, but they can’t be gravel.
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| One of the many creek waterfalls along the road in Mt. Rogers National Recreational Area |
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