Saturday, May 9, 2009

May 9th Camp Bethel to Radford, VA 71 miles


Today was another grueling day of hills, hills, & more hills. It was raining when we packed up camp today (imagine that) & rained for about the first hour of the trip, and then was brutally hot & humid the rest of the day. It was another hard day mentally, because the hills just don't seem to want to stop, but my legs don't seem to want to pedal.

This evening we are staying with another amazingly generous family who has opened their home to cyclists to stay overnight. They are not even here and they are letting us stay!! And use their washer & cook, etc. It's people like this that make this trip so unique, because you just don't tend to meet random friendly strangers when you are driving a car (and if you do they are probably slightly creepy). We're both incredibly grateful to have a bed for the evening, since I'm pretty sure neither of us slept more than 30 minutes straight last night.

So far, besides the daily rain (which is driving me nuts, and frankly I find too much rain a little depressing) Virginia has been great, with some of the friendliest people & really pretty terrain - although I would be inclined to trade some pretty for some flat.

The good news is we are through one of our maps! There are 12 total maps that cover the route, and we are over 370 miles into the trip

3 comments:

Kerry said...

You guys are doing GREAT! I'm so amazed! Although, Ashleigh, you write so well that I'm literally feeling your pain about the hills and the rain. Ugh! The Cookie Lady is pretty amazing! It's hard to believe people like that exist anymore.

Way to go! Keep it up!
Kerry

Anonymous said...

You're amazing!!! I'm checking your blog everyday, thanks for keeping us up to date. Two years ago we spent 5 weeks in Chile and I had very little contact with any English speaking people, I was desperate for any one to write to me and tell me ANYTHING.
The national news Sunday morning reported flooding in Virginia and immediately we thought of you and where you were on your route....thankfully you're safe. It is amazing to encounter really hospitable people to strangers in America.
Your pictures are great!!!
Denice

sarahbri said...

I want to be a cookie lady - how fun! If you get anywhere near Ft Collins maybe we could meet up for a meal. I'm excited to watch your adventure!