Day 1: Taking it easy(?)

Begin:       6:45 am at Bills (Winston Salem, NC)

End:          6 pm  Daddy Rabbits (near Willis, VA)

Weather:  Clear, little wind (but when it did blow, it was in our faces). Not as hot as I expected.

Road:        NC and VA don't know what a bike path is. We hugged the white line whenever we heard a car.

                  Not very hilly in the beginning, but then...

Comments:

Did I really train for this?

I rode strong in the beginning, but fell apart on the climbs.

Our bikes felt like tanks.

Chris did great!  He led a good portion of the ride and pulled me through the last few miles.

We wanted to make it to Christiansburg, but the climb from Stuart up to the Blue Ridge Parkway changed our minds.  It was very close to Big Basin ending at ~2,600 feet.

Floyd was supposed to have a campground, but no one had heard of one so they sent us here (Daddys).

It was about 13 miles from Floyd and neither of us wanted to do it, but when Chris asked if they could direct us to a church that might let us camp for the night - The clerk said "There are no nice preachers in Floyd".

The best town was definitely Stuart.

We had lunch there - 2 subs for $5.00

There was a big crowd in the market/deli/gas station just shooting the shit.

One old guy came out and tried to start a conversation, but it just didn't go anywhere.

Chris and I both tried to think of something to talk about, but failed miserably.

A group of 15 cyclist took the 58 from Stuart on their way to CA(?) in 4 1/2 weeks!

Glad we didn't see them, but wish we had done the same.

Miles:    ~ 90

What a first day.

Glad we took it easy.