86.47km. 1,435m. 5h04 ride time We left the beautiful town of Lexington to ride 30km gently uphill to the big climb Vesuvius was the big climb today. It’s the toughest on the TransAmerica Trail, it starts with 3km at 11-18% then goes 3km more at 8-12%. Really enjoyed it though 🤩 At the top we…
78.92 km. 504m ascent. 4h01 ride time An easy day today to bring us to Lexington as we have the hardest climb ahead of us tomorrow: Vesuvius up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. We set off in pouring rain 💦😓 but it wasn’t cold and by lunchtime the rain stopped. We also bumped into Matt…
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…