Day 10: Lexington, Virginia: "What Makes The Hills Worth It"

Where to start. Where to start.

Today kicked my butt. I can't recall the last time my physical, mental and emotional well-being were all put through suh a serious test.

It started at 5am with a vibrating phone. The team groggily stirred awake and proceeded to pack up and clean up Tri-Sig. Chore groups switched last night, so as of today my group is now responsible for the coolers, and the way the system works it takes up a good deal of the morning. I made 10 gallons of Gatorade in the sorority's shower and rushed to pack up the coolers and the rest of my life.

Fortunately I had a little extra time because I was part of sweeps for the first time today. Sweeps is super important for what we do. If a team member breaks something, or if someone gets injured, or if someone just wants to turn into some random location, we're the folks who patch them up and make sure they get to the next location safe, sound, and satisfied.

I was rolling sweeps with Sarah Crawford, which was great because she's the Sarah I've so far spent the least time with, and the day allowed us to take it low and get to know eachother a little better. At least at first. We drifted along an took lots of pictures, since it was such a beautiful morning. The highlight was definitely a wheat field that'd been harvested except for a patch about 30 feet around which had been groomed into a really sweet smiley face.

Coasting out of Charlottesville was a breeze, and remained so until about Afton Mountain Road, where we started to actually climb into those mighty Blue Ridge Mountains. Kathryn's knee was flaring up like whoa, so she stuck behind with myself and Sarah. I dunno if you're aware, but knees are kinda crucial for biking, and injuring one is no fun, so we crawled up the hill and tried to get Kathryn at least to the top of the mountain. However, her knee had other plans, and we wound up calling Aileen to drive back with the van to grab her.

So sweeps was considerably behind the rest of the group at this point, but the day was still young and we were still into stopping about every half a mile to look at cool things. In Afton, VA we stopped next to what looked like a store and I planned to walk around back to take a whiz when I then saw around the corner, the most glorious of signs"

"JUNE CURRY- COOKIE LADY"

It was the Cookie Lady! THE Cookie Lady! The one of international fame who offers free food and housing to Bikers who're passing through the Blue Ridge. Naturally we had to stop in. I shook her hand and helped myself to some free nutrigrain bars and lotion. Her house was nothing short of incredible, teeming to the brim with postcards, letters, and souvenirs from all over the world, all tokens of gratitude from countless bikers who had enjoyed this woman's hospitality. Seeing their letters, imagining their journeys, was about the coolest thing ever.

With morale properly boosted Sarah and I crawled to the top of Afton Mountain and onto the iconic Blue Ridge trail. In about a half hour we'd more than doubled our elevation, from 800 to 1800 feet. We took pictures of the incredible view from the first overlook and celebrated our accomplishment.

At about mile 32 we rolled into lunch and I enjoyed, are you ready for this? A PB&J&Cream Cheese&Pretzels&Dried Cranberries.

Now before you judge too hard let me ask you, what the heck would YOU have eaten? A sweeps we were luky to get a few slices of bread, let alone all these sweet toppings, and we still had about 50 miles of mountain to cross and palettes that demanded creativity. It was also really good.

We stopped at a rest stop for lunch where tons of tourists, all crossing the blue ridge, would roll in and, seeing our massive group, ask what we were all about. I gave the spiel to Joe, a motorcylcists traveling cross-country with his wife, and a woman named Mayzelle from Alabama, who was easily 90 years old. Mayzelle's eyes lit up when we explained what BNB was, and, as she puffed on her cigarette, she told us it was good to see that "not all young people are bad". I'm so glad I could show this woman the light.

After lunch Sarah and I proceeded along the parkway, climbing more and more hill and dreaming more and more of some downhill, or at least some flat land. The views of the mountains were still breathtaking, both figuratively and literally. At about mile 43 we stopped to snack, and appreciated that it was a long hard day, but at least it wasn't raining.

This was perhaps our downfall.

The entire nature of the day changed after that conversation. The mountains got brutal, the climbs got exhausting and, as luck would have it, rain clouds started drifting right towards us. We decided it was best to try and keep biking to beat the storm, and managed to make our way to easily the most fun downhill section of the entire trip.

Imagine, if you will, a ski slope that just doesn't stop. For a good ten minutes I was flying down the mountain, thinking I was going to beat the rain and get into town safe and sound. There was underlying pressure to make it out of the storm, but it was still the most peaceful part of the day's ride, and I couldn't help but smile. I threw my arms out and coasted, hoping to find my way to shelter soon. For me, that was what made the hills worth it, that incredible moment of freedom and thrill. It was about as close to the sensation of human flight as I can hope to achieve.

Then the road started climbing the same distance up. Then the rain started pouring. Hard. Then the lightning started striking.

Sarah and I decided to start walking our bikes uphill, since we were exhausted but couldn't stop since it was getting very late in the day. Sarah is actually quite scared of thunder, so I explained that if we wanted to have shelter we'd have to stay close to the trees. I also figured that, if we came to any downhill any time soon, it would be a good idea to bike, since our rubber tires would protect us from ground shock.

I at least convinced myself of this

We walked about a mile or two uphill in a serious thunderstorm when, at mile 70, as if sent from heaven, Aileen appeared over the hill crest with the van. She loaded us up and Kathryn handed us a bowl of watermelon while Aileen cranked up the heat and music. We tried to find a good spot to turn around and wound up getting stuck in mud for a good ten minutes, but I was just thrilled to be out of the weather and off the road. Partially bummed, but I knew it would've been insane to try and finish the route in a thunderstorm, especially considering how exhausted I was. I napped in the van and we proceeded to Lexington.

Waiting in the Lexington Presbyterian Church for me was my thermarest and a massive order of pizza, which Sarah Graham had managed to get donated from a local dominos. I stuffed my face, threw off my wet clothes, threw on my kashmere PJs (thanks, Mom), and napped like a champ.

I am indeed awake again. Now that I've updated I intend to overload with more calories and then get right to sleep. I want to bring my A-Game to tomorrow's ride since today was so intense.

At least I'm on the other side. I'm here, I'm dry, and I have good friends. Life is, overall, still very sweet.


But good God, what a day.