‘Did you hear the ‘yip-yip’ of that coyote last night?’ was the question being asked over loaded hash browns, egg biscuits and coffee at the Hometown Cafe this morning. That, and who got elected as what in the town’s elections. I think that once us cyclists had gone and the excitement of the results had…
In the Appalachians Old King Coal still rules, although his reign is under threat. You only need to look in the valleys to see the impact a decline in mining brings. But huge trains still rumble through local towns with trucks full of the black gold, while coal lorries thunder up the roads to more…
Today we left Lookout and headed into the valleys of the dogs. Kentucky has a reputation for mean ones with a taste for passing cyclists and we were all a little apprehensive, particularly after John took a call from a fellow TransAmerican further up the trail who had problems with them around Hindman, our destination….
We were awoken at an ungodly hour to the sound of laughter and chatting … the keenos of the Adventure Cycling group were up and at it early. Too early for us… for logistical reasons we were only doing about 45 miles today, so we were having a lazy day after yesterday’s miserable cold slog….
Let’s get this out in the open right from the start. We’ve clearly underestimated the physical challenge of cycling the TransAmerican. The Appalachians are a major hurdle, the largest chain of mountains east of the Mississippi extending from Canada, all the way to Alabama. We’ve been cycling through them for well over a week now…
Today had it all, rain, wind, hail, a sudden dog attack and finally camping down in a town packed with Appalachian hikers. After being holed up yesterday peering out the window at the rain from our motel room at Fort Chiswell, Terry was keen to get going as early as possible this morning. I’m not quite…
By Terry Last night’s life saver turned up trumps again this morning … fresh coffee and egg ‘biscuits’ (‘rolls’ to us Brits) made to order. Fab. And they had those rare and elusive items: a butane canister and some non-meat noodles. Now we are cooking with the proverbial! Well, we at least have the option…
93. It’s a number that’s been very much on our minds today. It’s not our planned mileage. Nope, it’s the temperature. The heat wave in Virginia is continuing to sweat it out and it’s doing its best to knock us for six we continue climbing the Appalachians. The apparent wind of cycling does cool you…
It’s Terry’s better half, Liz’s birthday today and he was determined to yell it from the mountain. So it was a good job our task today was to climb the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and search for the lonesome pine in the pale moonshine etc. It wasn’t quite night-time when we left the Cookie…
By Terry Even after last night’s Subway and sugar fest we were still slightly peckish this morning, so we took full advantage of the hotel breakfast before setting off … to buy more food. Then historic Charlottesville beckoned for a quick look-see and a coffee in wonderful Mother’s Day sunshine. It was an interesting place…