Sunday (Wytheville -> Dixie Caverns, 63 Miles)

Sunday morning started off smoothly, people feeling OK and focused on finishing the middle part of the trip: two days of longish riding and then a day (sorta) off in Lexington. We boogied out of the Interstate doubling and headed up 11. As we approached the Draper Valley, 11 headed up and over Draper mountain, a climb that surprised and angered me once before, so we sought out some local knowledge. At all almost defunct truck stop a local lady helped us out. "Down this frontage road until the first bridge, then cross over 81, then reverse course and come out on....and then you'll find old 100, which is what you want, but I'm not sure the sign is still there. But you'll know it when you're there. Then what you want to do is..." So off we went, and the route worked. We ended up rejoining a section of the Adventure Cycling Route at Draper, and some lovely rolling riding ensued, the avoided mountain on our left, reminding us of the power of gravity. We turned off old 100 onto "The Wilderness Road" (welcome route to PJC), where we met our next cycling, Kent from the UK, on his second day across the country, still clad in snappy riding kit, including a TdF 'maiilot jaune' and new panniers that hadn't yet lost their crisp gloss. He looked fast and handsome and fresh. We trundled uphill then to the Wilderness Road Museum and poked around the log houses still standing in old Newbern. We then headed off on the Wilderness road toward Radford, where we ate a very late and welcome lunch. Radford University looked down on us as we left our favorite establishment (Subway!), advertisements of all the activities in the New River Valley suggesting that this too might be a hidden jewel. From Radford to Christiansburg was just plain wor, plenty of miles in the dead
afternoon heat. Outside C-burg we stopped for ice cream and a few more miles of work. Late in the day I talked with the group and expressed my concern about the time, distance, heat, aand safety, and that the Dixie Caverns might be beyond out reach, and I'd thus pull over at the next motel and we adjust. Good, wise leadership. There immediately followed a screaming downhill, one mile long and safe, and then after that rush there followed three miles of gentle steady downhill. A moderately seedy motel appeared, and I stopped to check it out. The group then examined the map, the elevation contours on the way toward Dixie Caverns near Salem, their spirits, and the sun, and in one voice announced that Dixie Caverns was within reach. Off we went, the gentle slope still to our favor, annd we arrived at the campground before any of us expected it. Who knew? Then, life got even better!

As we signed into the campground, I asked how far it was to the nearest market. Connie Browning, the white-haired grandma lady whose house was at the edge of the forest, looked up from the cash register and said, "About two miles up 11, but it's terrible. You don't want to shop for food there. No, No. What you really want is the Food Lion five miles up in Salem. But since you've already biked so far, you can't ride there and back. So here, take, my car. No really. Take my car. (Conspiratorially,) My husband of course thinks I'm crazy, but I do things like this all the time. What's a life for? Come, let me get it for you. It's a mess inside, but..." Agog, we split up, two to set camp, three to shop and fill up Connie's gas tank, all of us talking about what a great day it had been, a long ride but such a sweet ending ride, beautiful and downhill, all of it leading to such a jewel at the end of the day. Sometimes, you reap what you sow. Who knew?

--PJClements