The feared hill arrives. It’s all about the gears. 51 miles 4100feet

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Forgive me non bicyclists but I’m going to get into some bike talk today.

I woke up this morning dreading the feared Hays Gap Hill. I have read about it and heard about it since I started planning this!

To my surprise it didn’t seem so awful! Fortunately after reading about some of the tough climbs on this route, I added a larger sprocket,( 34) to my cassette. It has provided me the ability to spin the pedals even when I am going uphill. It is much easier on the legs rather than mashing the pedals at a slower cadence.

I’m not going very fast, but it’s all about saving the legs.

The geography is really changing. Now I am going up and down the hills nonstop. I saw very little flat terrain today and don’t expect to see any for another two weeks.

The environment is changing also. I saw a lot of trash along the road today where I saw none for the first 500 miles. ( I am at 549 today.)

Most of the yards are still very nice with freshly mowed lawns, but I have seen some really run down property’s as well. The people are still warm and genuine.

I intended to stop at Roseburg but felt so good I kept going another 15 miles and am here at Council, a mere 30 miles from Kentucky.

I am camping in a really cool city park. They are just locking the gates and it is just myself and two 20 something girls riding their bikes as well.

Tomorrow I have an easy ride to Breaks Interstate Park.

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Photos

Trying out the tent tonight!
There are no Hotels or Motels for 100 miles.

Emory and Henry College
Gorgeous Campus near Meadowview, Va.

Logan Creek on Hayters Gap Road
This creek followed the route for miles.

Climb up Hyters Gap road
Pretty consistent 8-10% with a few 6% breaks.

Can’t miss the sign.
Elk Garden Methodist Church had provided shelter for bicyclists for 40 years. I had planned on staying here but wasn’t ready to quit yet.

Busy Highway going into Roseburg.
This was a tough 2 miles before turning off onto a quieter road.

Comments

[Bob Crisell]

Happy Memorial Day!
Wishing the very best on your journey. Thanks for your service to our country. Thinking about you today. We remember the many places we have been on Memorial Day. There was the time in Indiana when we were camped near a Veteran's cemetery. Every grave had a flag on it. Very picturesque. Then there were the parades in the small Midwest towns. No wonder Trump carried that area. You can feel the sense of history and also the resentment at the major cities with their contempt for the "irredeemables" or "clingers" as Obama referred to that 50% of the country. Truck on!