Today was rather defined by the people I met than by the route. The first part took me trough the Christiansburg-Radford-Blacksburg metropolitan area, then some miles on backroads and finally on a frontage road (a road that parallels a major interstate/freeway).
Riding on frontage roads is hard work. While the actual interstate is cut trough the hills, frontage roads are more like a rollercoaster.
In the little town of Draper I stopped at Thomas' bike store, which the British guy had strongly recommended the day before. He was right! Thomas has done the transam last summer and runs the bike store since then, helping cyclists wherever he can. We talked about cycling, ate cinnamon rolls and took pictures of each other before I headed off. No one cycling in the area should miss that place!
On the last miles before Wytheville I stopped at McDonalds for "dinner". When I left the building a woman asked me where I was going to. A talk I have pretty much everywhere I stop. But I never had that question before: "May I get your first name to pray for you?" I told her about my trip and she took a picture of the other people from her group and me, in front of my bike. Jut before I went on they gave me one of these souvenir-rings, with some christian phrases on it. I was quite surprised, but no question I'm gonna take this gift to San Francisco.
Some miles later a truck passed by and stopped on a driveway. It was Thomas again! He had been in Wytheville and had decided to take the frontage route back to his place, since he knew I was riding there. So we sat in the grass for a while, eating another cinnamon roll.
What a nice surprise!
Few words about the weather: the first 20 minutes of the day I cycled trough rain, then the sun came out and my clothes where dry within minutes. During the day I felt some raindrops several times, but it never began to rain.
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen