Guess what — it is hot and humid here again today. I chose to ride the short loop, actually and out and back, this morning. Tomorrow is supposed to be a pretty difficult day so I treated today like a recovery today. Well as much as you can when you’re riding up 9-10% grades.
I rode with Debbie, Walt and Lisa much of the way. None of us were pushing the pace. Just enjoying the scenery and the nice morning. THank goodness is was cool this morning (about 70F) otherwise we all might’ve melted in the humidity. At one point this morning, at the top of a climb, I headed off into the nearby woods and as soon as I got off my bicycle the sweat started pouring out of every pore AGAIN. I had sweat running off my chin, my elbows and probably even my ear lobes. It might as well have been raining!!!
Once I got moving again I was fine, and other than a short stop at the SAG, which was our turn around point, I kept moving!
We made it back into town just before the rains came. I expected the showers because the sky was just full of dark, low clouds and the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. I didn’t mind getting rained on as I walked to our lunch spot. When the showers stopped it was still humid — now it was downright steamy. UGH!
Tomorrow we pack up and move on to Points of Otter – close to 7,000′ of climbing in a about 55 miles. Randy and I are sitting outside the Wash-O-matic waiting for the spin cycle to end. Nice to have clean clothes before we had off-grid into some of the more remote areas of Virginia.

Beth and I were riding together when we came upon these cows cooling themselves in this slimy watering hole. The livestock is often hanging out in the ponds here — I think they’ve figured out how to deal with this climate. If the slime wasn’t so disgusting I might’ve joined them!

We rode along this creek/river for quite a while. It was so quiet and peaceful. Hardly any cars and no bikes. As a matter of fact, I can still count on my fingers the number of bicycle riders we’ve seen no this tour — nothing like Colorado. But, since all the roads seem to be going up or down and rarely level I think I can understand why.

Here I am in my ALP Cycles kit – I wore it to help me get up the climbs. It worked pretty well. I wish I had Alison’s legs for this tour. Uffda, the hills are relentless. Actually, I am really enjoying the climbing and my legs are doing just fine. We have a 7,000′ day tomorrow – – I may change my mind so stay tuned.

Another shot of the creek/river.

This is my friend Debbie — she’s riding stronger and stronger every day. She and I rode with Lisa and Walt (next photo).

Lisa is from Iowa and Walt is from all over, but lives in Alabama now. He’s ex-military and went to Virginia Military Institute (VMI) for a year before transferring to West Point. He’s been our local guide here in Lexington (home of VMI). Today we watched all the freshman showing up for their orientation. Oh boy are they in for some surprises — according to Walt. For instance, they will all receive a 30 second haircut this afternoon…and they’ll all look alike with their shaved heads !!!!