I woke up fairly late on Monday, knowing that I would have a fairly light day of riding (only about 36 miles). I wasn't eager to get on the bike just yet, though I was glad to leave "The Place" -- and "the hikers" -- behind. The bike was noticeably lighter, but still bloody heavy. On the whole, it was an incredibly beautiful day to head back out on the road. Check out this sky:
It's hard to complain about a day like this. In hindsight, I'm very grateful that my first day back on the road was such a light, pleasant ride. Passing through the small town of Meadowview, I ran into two groups of bikers -- two guys on recumbents doing a short tour, and two guys doing the TransAm west-to-east. The TransAm guys -- Dick and Dwayne -- were heading all the way down to the Florida Keys. Their also considering doing the southern tier and heading up the Pacific coast. I wish those crazy bastards luck.
As you can see, Downtown Meadowview is remarkably reminiscent of New York (insert sarcasm here):
The day ended with a really tough climb through Hayter's Gap. Know what? It's not much of a gap. Four miles, 1500 feet of climbing, 90-degree heat. I think these are some cyclers that rode the Gap before me:
[Insert clever caption here]
The day ended at the Elk Garden Hostel, which is actually a Methodist Church. The family that operate the hostel (and church) were extremely nice. I sat in the sun and talked with Patty, who's husband is the minister of the church. After a while a Dutch couple rolled in on bikes. They were the first cyclists I had met that were riding west, having left 3 days after me and caught up to me after my weekend with Allie. They were very friendly, and they brought some beer back from town. The three of us sat in the shade behind the hostel and talked for a while. I gave them one of my bottles of dog spray, since they had none.
My new friends, Jan and Tittia:
I slept inside the hostel to avoid the rain that was supposed to hit that night, but my Dutch friends set up their tent and cooked outside. Would you beleive they were packed up and gone before I woke up the next day? Of course you do. I really need to work on that.