Monday 9 October (Columbus Day)
Raphine
to Natural Bridge
30.2miles
@ 10.5mph, Ascent 1,842 ‘
Last night I braved the cold, wearing four T
shirts and two pairs of socks to go for a meal. My attention was taken by a row
of hi-viz hoodies on sale at the truck stop where I ate. This morning, still
cold, I rationalised that I needed a second pair of long sleeves, as my thermal
undershirt would inevitably get wet from today's cycling and not be wearable off-
bike. And so to buy the hoodie – it’s garish, bulky, long in the sleeves and
made of polyester but otherwise ideal.
Today's cycling started in sunshine but it was
still cold enough for me to wear four layers of clothing again. The first six
miles were all on back roads, pleasant cycling despite the frequent hills. I
rejoined US11at the little town of Fairfield, unremarkable, and continued for
another 11 miles of undulating, 4- lane highway and into the township of
Lexington, deliberately eschewing the bypass so as to enjoy a little local
colour. The town is dominated at the north end by the Virginia Military
Institute’s uncompromising block-house architecture. I missed the delighted of
downtown as the highway split and my southbound street contained nothing of
interest.
US11 became less and less of a major highway
as I progressed south. My favourite format was where a discrete ‘corridor’ of
bitumen some 6 feet wide had been created. While the middle was occupied by the
white line and a rumble strip, there was ample room to cycle to the left of the
line and yet feel quite separate from the traffic.
The 0.7mile climb out of Buffalo Creek came as
expected but at the crest the weather started to change. The wind grew stronger
and brought heavy drops of rain. Luckily, the rain soon abated and by the time
the environs of Natural Bridge (the zoo, the caverns etc etc) were reached, all
was sunshine again.
Am planning to eat in house tonight, so no
venturing out across acres of windswept truck parking lots, as I had to do last
night.
Day 9 - Natural Bridge to Troutville
No comments:
Post a Comment