Fulfilling a Dream (36 years later): Day 7: Royal Oak Cabins - Blue Ridge Parkway to Bethel Bible Camp

Saturday May 26, 2012, 70 miles - Total so far: 315 miles*
* Miles ridden on the TransAm route
Odometer miles - Today - 71.7 Total to date - 347.8 miles

Down off the Blue Ridge Parkway

I think yesterday was the toughest day so far. Even though we came down off the Blue Ridge we still did a fair amount of climbing and we did 70 miles. Plus the temperature reached 95 in the afternoon. Everyone was pretty well beat by the time we arrived at our overnight location, a church camp called Camp Bethel about 6 miles east of Troutville.

The ride began with about 11 more miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway which included a bit more climbing. We peaked at about 3250 feet after spending the night at about 2600 feet at Royal Oaks Cabins. There was a nice straight downhill stretch on the Parkway where I hit 38.9mph without even pedaling. Then, at Tye River Gap on the Parkway, we dropped down on highway 56 to the town of Vesuvius. It’s a 3-mile drop, extremely steep, braking the whole way down. I kept it under 30mph for safety’s sake, though I could have easily gone much faster.

The view from Bald Mtn. Overlook - the highest point we reached on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Me at Tye River Gap on the Blue Ridge Parkway - 1976

Me at Tye River Gap on the Blue Ridge Parkway - 2012

The ride then paralleled I-81 to Lexington and Buchanan. In Lexington we found a bakery and had treats for pre-lunch. From Natural Bridge to Buchanan our route used a frontage road which was right beside I-81. In Buchanan we found an old-fashioned soda shop / drugstore where we stopped for ice cream treats and large glasses of ice-water. They had a working 50’s era juke box and lots of memorabilia from days gone by. Before we left we loaded up our water bottles with fresh water and ice. A great afternoon stop.

We didn’t arrive at camp until almost 4pm, but the stops we made along the way were very helpful in the heat. At the camp we had two bunkhouses, men’s and women’s. They were extremely hot when we arrived, so a couple of people decided to pitch their tents. There were lots of other people staying at the camp for Memorial Day weekend. They fed us a full dinner at 5:30pm so no one had to cook or clean up. There was a Bluegrass Music concert after dinner, but I spent the time trying to blog and catch up with photos. The wi-fi was so slow it took a long time just to upload photos and publish my blog entry for the day before. So now I’m behind again.