ROUTE:
Salem to Keysville, VA |
DISTANCE:
107 miles |
TOTAL CLIMBING:
7,245 ft |
Click here for
Garmin daily ride data
Click
here for Summary Data sheet
(This is cool
if you like lots of data! It may take a few seconds to load but you can hit play
and time compress our ride. )
DAILY REPORT: Weather
-- Sunny and the high 80's; should be a great day to be out riding.
Yesterday
when we were unloading our gear, Ron Jerina stopped by and introduced himself.
It turns out he's the ride director for the Palmetto
Peloton Project which is biking relay to promote the advancement of cancer
research. The ride is from Greenville SC to Austin TX. He expressed an
interest in riding with us in the morning. He met us in the morning while we
were having our continental breakfast. He's is a great guy with three sons
ranging in age from 6 to 11. His oldest has already competed in several
triathlons and is scouts. Oh, and his family has a ball python!
We had to compete with
the morning commuter traffic and because of the location of our hotel; it was
simplest to ride through the center of Roanoke. Right from the start we
witnessed a near miss/car accident at an intersection that we had just passed
through not less than 30 sec before hand. Re enforced the need to be careful
while riding w/ city traffic. Ron was familiar with the roads in town so that
really helped out. It was great riding with him and we wish him the best of luck
with his Palmetto
Peloton Project bike relay this year.
The ride today should
really be the end of any major hills. We passed the entrance to the Blue Ridge
Parkway and
began our roller coaster of hills. the Virginia country side was very beautiful
and once we got on the secondary roads little to no traffic. We stopped for
lunch in a small town of Rustburg. The town deputy stopped by to visit with us.
Turns out he is an avid cyclist and would love to ride cross country. When we
discussed our route this afternoon he advised against riding on one of our
planned roads and recommended an alternate route. Always good to have local
advise. It was a good call.
While in town, Skip took
advantage of getting the car/trailer washed in preparation for our arrival to VA
Bch. The Southern Pride Car Wash was nice enough to give him unlimited use of
his pressure washer. We appreciate it; especially Skip who loves to keep his
cars spotless!!
While riding today, both
John & James got stung by bees. John had a yellow jacket fly down his jersey
and James had honey be sting him through his jersey. the day before I got stung
when a bee struck me while riding. Must be something about the bees in
Virginia!! Now mind you we have ridden over 3,000 miles and in the last 100
miles we have all be stung. What gives??
We
were staying at the Sheldon's Motel and Restaurant. The owner Grover was very
supportive of our cause and provided the rooms for the Riding4Hope Team. the
staff were exceptionally nice and posted one our posters in the restaurant and
even were helping sell some of our "Honor Who Serve" bracelets!! Just
a super group of folks. We thank you very much!!
We also had the pleasure
of having Mike Itamura, a friend from Sandia Labs met us.
He drove down from Washington DC were he works. He was taking the weekend to
explore some of the civil war sites and decided to spend the night. He had
dinner with us and then the guys talked him into a friendly game of poker. It
was a fun evening. Thanks for taking the time and meeting with us Mike!!
So tomorrow we ride to
Franklin. It will be another century day but the weather looks good and we are
starting to run out of hills.
Thanks for joining us.....ride
safely and keep the wind to your back!!
The Riding4Hope Team
www.riding4hope.org
(David, John, James & Skip)
Signing out 8/8/09; 0645
YOU DON'T
SAY:
John - pulls over
to stop riding "I got a bee in my jersey and he is stinging the
crap out of me!" James, that's funny. Several hours later James get
stung. What goes around comes around.
Skip - "Now
that is the way a trailer should be packed!"
John - "Yea,
we'll see what it looks like tomorrow after you have been speeding
around all day."
James - at a rest
break, "You know we ride a lot better after having ice cream!"
David - "I
think this will be our last day of hils." James replies, "I
have heard that one before!"
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DID I REALLY
DO THAT?
The boys are
looking for opportunities to play with Skip. When he had stepped out his
hotel room for something, they removed his pillows. Later that evening
he realized he was missing his pillows and suspected the twins but
wasn't sure. He searched the room with out success. He searched the
twins room but they adamantly denied any wrong doing. So he went to the
front desk asking if the maid service had removed his pillows...hmmmm....a
senior moment?!
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PHOTOS OF THE DAY |
A beautiful day for a ride.
Only 95 more miles to go!!
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Ouch!! That wasp sting
smarts!!
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The Riding4Hope Team!
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Yep we just finished riding
over 100 miles...and we are good for another 100 miles...maybe tomorow!
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Skip gives his vote of
approval after the trailer was repacked. We'll see how long it stays that
way.
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Dinner at Sheldon's - David,
Skip, James, John & Mike. Mike kept everyone entertained through
dinner w/ his stories about Africa.
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More
photos on Facebook Album
Yesterday
Tomorrow
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