90.13km. 1,044m ascent. 4h16 ride time (I’ve been miscounting so no day 69!) What a beautiful ride today! It was supposed to be downhill, but we still had over 1,000m ascent with all the little ramps we climbed. The Roanoke Valley is really beautiful. Apart from that the day was uneventful and we are now…
127.57 km. 1,411m ascent. 6h02 ride time Despite a good night’s sleep in the bunkhouse, I wasn’t in good form today. I don’t know why, but I had no power in my legs. Anyway the ride was generally downhill even though we actually climbed over 1,400m The first part of the day was beautiful, the…
90.03km. 1,424m ascent. 5h23 ride time Probably the most beautiful days regarding scenery. Really a great ride through the lush, green, Virginia forests. Not too hot and we had plenty of shade. Always very humid though. Only one long climb which wasn’t steep at all, just a pleasure to ride. Our overnight was a church…
72.16km. 1,316m ascent. 4h20 ride time. Another day of climbing today. Straight out of our motel and into 320m ascent 🥵. With 92% humidity we were glad to have a cool start. After the big climb, where my sweat ran down my arms, through my brake levers and off the end of my handlebars, we…
107.52 km. 1,346m ascent. 5h46 ride time Last night we shared the hostel with 3 others, an Englishman, Matt riding the same way as us and 2 American TransAmerica racers. The racers got up at 03h00, I heard their alarm clock! They left without cleaning up after themselves which, I think is inexcusable. To empty…
73.05km. 1,034m ascent. 4h08 ride time Tougher than expected today! We first had 2 hard climbs up from the lake but then we had some more after that too, a couple of <15% which, when you are carrying all your luggage, is hard work. Yet again the countryside was beautiful but near the coal mining…
130km. 1,907m ascent. 7h16 ride time Today was to be a big climbing day so we set out early to try to arrive before it got too hot. The climbing started in Richmond and brought us to McKey where we saved another turtle from certain death on the road. Again the countryside was beautiful, green…
80.64 km. 952m ascent. 4h03 ride time Today we actually got a decent breakfast at the hotel. That’s the first time since we set off! Another beautiful ride through Kentucky. It was super humid today at 96% humidity and quite warm in the upper 30s but such beautiful countryside. We stopped at a sign ‘cyclists…
45km. 512m ascent. 2h05 ride time Super humid and hot today but we had a short ride to get to Harrodsburg to visit the 1770s reconstructed fort there. The ride continued through the beautiful countryside of Kentucky with plenty of short sharp climbs to keep us sweating. An excellent choice and only $6/person (over 55…
Some may think I am a bit obsessed with the wind. Well, I am! Wind affects our ride as much as the profile. We have had more than our fair share of headwind and, not only does it slow our progress, it also has a big influence on our morale. At home we usually (always…