Day 6: Charlottesville, VA to Royal Oak Cabins - on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Friday May 25, 2012,  47 miles - Total so far: 245 miles*
    * Miles ridden on the TransAm route
    Odometer miles - Today - 47.7   Total to date - 276.1 miles

Greetings from the top of the Blue Ridge Parkway

(Although I wrote this on Friday evening, there was no internet or cell phone service from our cabin on the Parkway, so I'm publishing this on Saturday evening.)

Today was another fabulous day.   We rode only 47.7 miles today, but it was probably one of the more difficult days of the ride.  Still, the scenery more than made up for the difficulty and the reward of completing it is great.  The guys with GPS units said we climbed about 4800 total feet.

The Rotunda at the University of Virginia, with statue of Thomas Jefferson,its architect, in front.

We left Charlottesville and headed towards the Blue Ridge.  It was a beautiful sunny day, though it was getting warm.  Much of this area appears to be horse country.  Along the way we stopped at a pick-your-own strawberry place and shared a pint of berries which were excellent.  There were two school busses full of young school kids who were visiting the farm.  It was neat to see and a great place for a rest stop.

View of the countryside looking toward the Blue Ridge as we rode from Charlottesville

The kids at the pick-your-own strawberry patch

About halfway into the day’s ride we reached the base of the climb up to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  I was pleasantly surprised to see it wasn’t as steep as I had feared.  I had psyched myself into thinking this might be much more difficult than the climbs I can do back home, but there wasn’t anywhere where the grade was that steep.  There were several long climb sections, but I found it all to be very doable – a real confidence builder.

About halfway up Afton Mountain we stopped at the home of June Curry, the original recipient and namesake of the Adventure Cycling Association’s June Curry Trail Angel award.  In 1976 when I rode the other direction across Virginia everyone along the trail heard about this woman who was passing out free water and cookies to bikers passing by.  Even though it was on the downhill side that time, we stopped and visited and I got a picture.  This year I gave her a copy of that picture and we chatted for a bit.  She’s 91 or will be soon, and she has an aide who was sitting with her when we were there, but she still carried on a conversation about where we’re headed.  I gave her a copy of the photo from 1976 with a thank-you note for all the bikers who she’s helped over the past 36 years.

June Curry (in white blouse) - `1976

June Curry's house - 2012

June Curry and me

Beyond June Curry’s house the road continues to climb, eventually coming out on U.S. 250 and then arriving at the northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We were at 1800 feet at that point.  The ride on the Parkway featured spectacular views, but also almost continuous climbing through most of the 15 miles on the Parkway.  We reached a high point of about 3200 feet, so we climbed more on the Parkway than we did from Charlottesville to the entry point.

At the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway

The flowering shrubs were a bit past their prime, but still pretty.

Ollie, me and Gina on the Blue Ridge Parkway

One more view of the parkway just before arriving at our overnight stop.

The other factor in the day’s difficulty was the temperature – at least 80 most of the day and probably closer to 85 during midday, even on the Parkway.  It was very draining and everyone was pretty well exhausted by the time we arrived at the overnight location, Royal Oaks Cabins.  But it’s really the lap of luxury, even better than last night.  It’s about midway on our Parkway ride.  We’re staying in a large house with two showers, a couple of bedrooms and a large living room, a wraparound deck and hot tub.

Our luxury "cabin" at Royal Oaks Cabins on the Blue Ridge Parkway