Day 12 - Troutville, VA to Christiansburg, VA

May 31, 2002
8 min. read

This post is part of the Trans-Am series.

The alarm went off at 5:45 and we started getting things together.  After looking at the route last night, we knew that today was going to be hard.

We rolled out of Troutville at 6:30 and Adam started in the wrong direction. I agreed with him, because my GPS was set to inside mode (GPS radio off) and was pointing west. We figured out our mistake in a half mile and turned around.  Total mileage: 1 mile.  Total progress: 0.  So we started again at about 6:40.

The ride immediately greeted us with some difficult climbs and we were glad to have the cold temperatures of early morning. We stopped at a grocery store, just before turning Southwest. I had an egg salad sandwich and some Gatorade. Many people describe different things about the road to hell. We found it at that grocery store. By that I mean the country road 666 veered off to the right. We went to the left, but it wasn’t the last time we would meet CR-666…

We pulled into Catawba a little before 11, with about 18 miles under our belt. There we got the usual temperature reducing items: I had a cherry Popsicle and Adam had an ice cream Snickers. We also had them make roast beef sandwiches for each of us. One thing that has been interesting is the degree of similarity between what Adam and I are used to eating. He worked at Great Harvest back home, so he also enjoys a good whole wheat bread, rather than white bread packing material.

We had planned on riding till noon and stopping to eat, but we stopped around 11:20 in a nice shady area. Then we laid down for a little nap. It wasn’t the most comfortable, but it really helped get our legs refreshed after 20+ miles of some tough hills. We got back on the road at noon.

The road was a great deal of rolling hills that we could push through with kinetic energy, but not all. Some you just grind up a 3.5 mph. At least I do, Adam hits them faster and then catches his breath at the top. I’m more of the persuasion to ride my “all day” speed and take my time. We are riding good together. Adam pushes me on the more hilly area, and I push him in the rolling hills. We couldn’t have done these last two days as well, without both the challenges and emotional support we give each other. When you push for all you have to get to the top and turn the corner to find a longer and steeper hill, it really hurts your spirit. We will beat Virginia. It won’t best us. It doesn’t have a hill that we can’t handle. You just have to push through the pain.

The 40 miles up to Ellett were tough, but we beat them. I was hoping that the worst was over, because my legs felt like they were reaching their limit. I walked quite a few hills today. I have no pride about hills I don’t ride. I know if I tried to force up all them hills, my legs would be totally finished much earlier. Anytime it is getting painful on a hill, I’ll walk the bad 100 feet or so. However, this started to become a theme later in the day.

After Ellett, we started to really climb. That wasn’t the bad part, but most hills were hiding behind turns. You get almost up the hill and take a turn, then find a steeper and longer hill. 723 was a terrible road for riding. There were so many switchbacks for climbing, that the traffic didn’t have good sight lines. Intelligent drivers would actually drive a speed where they could stop in time if something, such as a rock slide, might force them to crash. Of course that never happens, because the drivers are to ignorant to realize that driving faster than you can see is pretty stupid. As is passing us on blind hills only to swerve back into our path when the inevitable car comes. Morons!

The traffic was bad, but on the bright side the climbing never stopped. We climbed around 1000 feet into Christiansburg. Each time I though I was finished, the climbing just got steeper. Adam was doing better than I was, so he would get to the top of the climb first. I would catch up and see the next hill and we would shake our heads. When the hills got just ridiculously steep, I started walking. I didn’t think that I would make it into town for a while. I was starting to hit the wall.

Once we climbed up to cross under 460, it became do-able. I had called the Super 8 and worked out a Trans-Am cyclist rate of $42. When split between us both, it was a great deal. We camped for free last night at the city park and will probably do so again tomorrow. This makes the occasional motel a great option. It makes the long day seem so much nicer.

We rode past the infamous “Danger Hill”, where Depot St turns right onto E. Main St. For some reason the route planners thought it would be a “fun” way through town (it is no longer on the Trans-Am route). Adam and I stopped at the bottom for a few pictures, but I was satisfied to ride 111 down to 11 and on to our hotel room.

Next thing I know, I heard a rebel yell, than saw Adam climbing up it. I ran to get the digital camera, because I thought he would like to have pictures. This hill is the steepest climb on the route. I see him struggling and then he stops. The grade goes from crazy steep to insanely steep for the last 100 feet or so. He later told me that his brakes wouldn’t keep the bike from going backwards when he stopped. After reaching the top, he came back down. If he would have told me he was climbing, I would have told him to run down 11 and meet me at the motel. He’s just a little crazy. I guess we both are.

This trip seemed cool and a great thing to do, but both of us didn’t understand exactly what we were getting into. It is a huge amount of work riding day after day and climbing all these hills. I think we are both a little nuts.

We had to ride down under I-81 to get to the motel. It was 12 mile past a Cracker Barrel, so we found our location for dinner. After checking in, we loaded our bikes in the room. Actually the first thing we did was turn on the AC to full. That is standard operating procedure. Then I laid down for a few minutes to try and cool off. I also needed to rehydrate. I was sweating so much during the last bit that my stomach couldn’t get enough water digested to replace it.

Adam jumped in the shower first, then I cleaned up. There is something about a shower after a hard day that is impossible to put into words. It is like you are wiping all the days effort down the drain. We headed over to Cracker Barrel before 6 and both had the Friday Fish Fry. We both ordered extra vegetables on the side and it turned out to be enough food. Now a couple hours later, I’m chewing on some Fig Newtons to cure that later night hunger. Ah, the joys of burning many, many thousands of calories per day.

I forgot to mention the horn today. I had to use it twice. First was just before getting to the grocery stop in the morning. A truck came behind us with no one in the other lane. Why can’t you just get over and be on with your day? Is it such a trouble to get slowed down 5 seconds? Anyhow, this truck gives me a long, short, short horn blast and comes around to yell something at us. He gets a 120 decibel air horn long, short, short reply. Didn’t hear the thing they were going to yell, but instead of buzzing us, we scared them out into a safe distance away from us. Adam was loving the horn. It is really the only great response to an ignorant, malicious horn honker. The other was the typical hold down the horn passer. In both cases, my horn won by better than 30 decibels. :)

I fell asleep hurting. It was a long day, but satisfying.

Christiansburg, VA

Motel Site: 37 deg 08.340 min N, 80 deg 20.927 min W, elev 2213 ft.


Part 17 of 48 in the Trans-Am series.

Series Start | Day 11 - Lexington to Troutville, VA | Day 13 - Christiansburg, VA to Newbern, VA

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