Day 5

Mileage: 66
Total mileage: 358

Nice low mileage today, but mostly because I just didn't spend as many hours on the bike as yesterday. Also, the Appalachians are easily the hardest segment (few hundred miles) of the trail due to the constant rollercoastering of steep hills. Normally, downhills add a little to your average flat speed and uphills bring it down a fair bit, but this afternoon, I didn't even have an average flat speed to compare against. I can't complain though, the drivers have been great about waiting for a clear lane to pass and the scenery has been absolutely breathtaking. This is what I came out to see!

I'll tell you a little story about a guy named Rich that I met in Lexington last night. I didn't include him in yesterday's entry because it was becoming a character profile of everyone I met, not a trip log, but today I can't leave him out. Last night I was standing in downtown Lexington around 9:30 when a passing driver looked at me rather intently. 2 minutes later that same driver had circled back around the block to stop and ask if I was on the trail. That driver was Rich.

He was a talkative fellow who just couldn't be shaken, so I listened to his non-stop stream of conversation as he parked his car, followed me to a restaurant, as I ordered and while I ate. For context, he's also a little odd, was convinced that anyone (literally) who looked at him on the street was a cop, and had a habit of repeating stories. Super friendly and well meaning guy, though, so I listened to his stories for almost two hours and let him 'help plan' my route for today.

Fast forward to this morning, I'm riding the trail about 10 miles clear of town, when who comes riding towards me from the other direction but Rich. Apparently he had seen me outside the bike shop repairing my cleats, jumped into his car, driven to his house (about 15 miles from town, on the trail), picked me spinach leaves from his family's garden, and ridden back towards town to catch me. He instructed me to eat the leaves as I went, said it would give me more energy than the candy I was sucking on.

He then started riding next to me and taking at the same time, but he could only keep about 10 miles an hour on his mountain bike. Knowing full well that we could ride to Wyoming before he ran out of stories and wanting to keep my pace up for the day, I started upping our speed ever so slightly. (I feel kinda bad about this part) I pushed it just fast enough that he could keep up, but didn't have enough air to talk. He would try, fall behind a smidge, pedal furiously to catch up and try again to no avail. Eventually he let me know that he had to go back to town for work, we stopped and hugged in the middle of the road (! ! ) and he turned around. Nice guy, I hope he does well.

Shortly afterwards I ran into a father daughter pair by the side of the road who were also on the trail. The dad had a flat tire and was apparently taking his sweet time fixing it from the impatient look on his daughter's face. When I stopped to chat he happily tossed down his wrench and walked over (which got an awesome eye roll from his daughter). I found out their names were Greg and Maura and they were stopping in Troutsville near Roanoke tonight. I didn't keep them long since I'd had a very very delayed morning already and didn't really want to see Maura explode.

Now, if you've been reading through, you're going to be confused by the next decision I made. I got to a turnoff a little before noon. To the right was Buchanan and my route, but only two miles to the left was one of the seven natural wonders of the world: Natural Bridge. I figured I'd hate myself in 20 years if I looked back and had skipped this huge opportunity for a few extra miles. So I turned left.

Having seen Natural Bridge, I now desperately need to see all the other natural wonders. No, it's not the reason you think. If I see the other five that I'm missing, that trip down to Natural Bridge will not have been a complete waste of time, because it'll at least complete the set. Don't get me wrong, it was a pretty rock arch! Maybe like the tenth prettiest thing I saw today, but there's no way that's one of the seven coolest natural formations in the world. Plus, they built a bleeding highway on top of the arch for crying out loud, seemed incongruous. I took a picture anyways.

Also, it was a solid two mile descent to get to the bridge and I blew a flat tire climbing back up to the trail. I might be slightly biased about that detour.

From there I rode into Buchanan and then skirted the edge of Roanoke, which I know is going to make my friend Jose mad. He loves that city more than life itself, seriously if you bring it up in conversation he won't shut up about how wonderful it is. Almost as bad as his love affair with Portland. Sorry I skipped it Jose, wasn't feeling Roanokey today.

My last leg took me to Catawmba, or at least close. It was a 20 mile stretch of constant, ungraded (steep! ) hills and valleys, with the best views imaginable. I think I got some representative photos. Just shy of the town, I got blasted by a short but violent rainstorm. I decided to sit it out in a little covered picnic bench area next to a local Baptist church. As I sat, I realized I had food in my bag, a place to sleep and even a phone charger in the ceiling, so I decided to camp here for the night. It's probably better than what I'd find in town anyways. The sun's just starting to set, so I'm going to take one last photo from my picnic table bed before I go to sleep here at 840. G'night!