august 2--breadbasket of the confederacy

61 mi from salem to lexington, va; 3344 logged miles. After riding through roanoke--not as bad as I had feared--we road mostly back roads and country lanes up the valley to lexington. Lovely scenery, relatively cool day. Whenever I ride back roads in virginia's great valley I see confederate battle flags displayed, on vehicles and hanging from dweLlings. They are reminders that this valley sustained lee's army through most of the war and also a reminder of appalachia's poverty. I saw a memorial to a confederate unit in buchanan, erected in the 1960s (!), a rare site because they were forbidden after the war.
Tomorrow we climb up the blue ridge where I will end my journey at rockfish gap after 54 days. What an experience it has been!

august 1--following the new river

76 mi from wytheville to salem, va; 3283 logged miles.I met mike's partner, dee, after she drove from connecticut to pick him up. She's a genuine person! I did my farewell with mike--he and I were on the trail together for five weeks, it couldn't have gone that fast. I miss him and our experience together already.
Richard had some important work done on his bike in blacksburg and he's happy about that.
I've noticed that people sometimes have difficulty grasping what I'm saying when I tell them I've ridden my bike from washington state. They often give me a perfunctory "uh-huh" or "that's nice".
The weather the last two days has been really cool...I wore my windbreaker jacket all day today.

bicycle haiku 6

his bike folds in half
but it didn't come that way;
thank you Blazer man

july 31--the end of mike's journey

Mike, richard,and I started this morning as usual at 6:30. We ate breakfast down the road and despite a chilly morning and steady rain, we set out for christiansburg. We took a short break at 9:15 at max meadows and then set out again in our usual formation: mike leading, richard in the middle and me in the rear. It was still raining. Mike was about 400 yards ahead and around a curve when I heard a collision, metal on metal.
I moved up to get a view of what happened--a couple of cars blocked my sight--when I saw mike and his bike lying on the pavement. Mike was struggling to get to his feet and yelling at a young man, "what were you thinking?".
A sheriff's deputy drove up momentarily; the young man/driver (of a chevy blazer) was panicking; mike was bleeding from cuts on his upper body.
Mike's bike trailer was destroyed as the chevy pulled out of a side road and rolled over it and also destroyed the bike's rear wheel and derailleur. The little trailer probably saved mike from serious injury.
I went with mike in the ambulance to the wytheville hospital. They dressed and stitched his wounds then released him. He's very lucky.
When it became clear that we wouldn't be able to get his bike to a repair shop today--and as his post-trauma soreness increased--mike decided to end his journey (3800 miles) in southwest virginia. His wife is on her way here now from connecticut.
I will be sad tomorrow morning, especially, when richard and I set out in the dawn without mike.

july 29--virginia at last

41 mi from church hill, tn to bristol, va; 3126 logged miles. It was a short riding day but I'm happy with that because my left arm still hurts. Like yesterday I followed the holston river up the valley. I'm pleased also because I'll see, in a few minutes, mike and richard...we separated at berea three days ago when I was too injured to ride. They are riding into bristol from the west (kentucky) while I came up from the south (my sister's house).
This morning I was trying to negotiate a lower rate at a nicer motel (unsuccessfully) when I remarked to the manager "I'll bet you see all kinds of people stay in this place" to which he replied, "yeah, you're a first!".

july 28--clinch mountain

72 mi from halls crossroads,tn to church hill, tn; 3089 logged miles. I injured my left arm in berea on 7/25 and couldn't ride the next day and even yesterday. So, my wonderful sister drove the 130 miles from knoxville, picked up me and my gear and took me to her house where I spent the day recuperating and...playing bridge. She then got up this morning and drove me to a starting point where knoxville traffic wasn't a safety threat. Thank you, carol! So I restarted my journey today just outside knoxville.
I had pain in my arm while I rode today and I'm glad the ride is done. I'm riding up the great, long valley of the cumberland/appalachian mountains...I'll continue that direction for several hundred more miles until I reach front royal, va.
Hand written bulletin in a restaurant in blaine, tn: "found: two coon dogs that answer to 'poott' and 'butch'...will keep them until the owner comes to pick them up"
The kingsport, tn police chief stopped me outside rogersville, tn...as I was riding toward him I was frantically trying to figure out which law I had broken; surely I wasn't speeding. In fact he wanted me to tell him about bicycle touring. He plans to ride his 1985 model schwinn from memphis to kingsport. Do it, chief!
Tennessee and montana are in my mind tied for the designation of 'most beautiful state'.
30 more miles until I reach virginia.