It rained quite a bit during the night, where we were camped at a very nice Virginia State Park called Clayton Lake. It was still raining around 7 am, and I had a hard time getting up the resolve to ride in the rain. But we have been very fortunate in that regard, and Jack was inclined to ride so after some hesitation we got started around 8 am. What would it be to ride the across the country, and never ride in the rain? We faced the winds of Kansas, monumental climbs along the way, cold weather - what's a little rain? The rain seemed to be tapering off for awhile, but then began drizzling and then raining off and on. I rode the 20 or so miles to Christiansberg and stopped for a breakfast sub and coffee at Subway and then headed on. The rain seemed to pick up from there, but the roads were nice and traffic light. Although it was sort of miserable conditions, after you accepted the fact that you were wet it didn't really matter. Just like I was able to hike in the rain on the AT, riding in the rain became just a mental challenge to be overcome. Once I got over that, the ride was marvelous. The scenery was beautiful, the road was good, almost no traffic, and I felt good. The route goes through Catawba, and the AT was just up on the ridge above the road, and crossed at one point. There are two of the best "photo-ops" on the AT near Catawba - Dragon's Tooth and McAfee's Knob, and of course The Home Place which is a restaurant that is famous among hikers, and I have vivid memories of the delicious feast about 18 of us had three years ago on the AT, but unfortunately they are not open until 4 pm so I had to pass it by this time. All in all it was another absolutely marvelous ride and I felt great, and it sure was good to get to Daleville where Sue had gotten us a motel room where the hot shower and dry room were very welcome. Hopefully the weather will be dryer tomorrow and we can dry out our tent and stuff for tomorrow night.
Jerry
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