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Thursday, September 6

West Virginia and also other Virginias... minus the sadness (mostly): Part Three

Wake up.  Last morning of #vanlife.  It's been nice, but I miss my bed.

We slowly pull up figurative stakes and load up for the drive home.  We planned on riding in Roanoke along the way, but I silently wonder if I'm up for any more bike cycle related activity.  I feel a little rough, but I keep it to myself.  Coffee in Bridgewater, only my second cup of the entire trip, and were headed down the highway.

Bill Nye says that Roanoke local, Skip, had showed him a right proper, highly worthwhile forty five minute loop.  I think I have that in me...

We roll into the parking lot, and there's the Tennessee Valley Bicycles crew, led by their smirky leader, Scott Smith.

You gotta be shitting me.

This is incredible on so many levels.

When we were planning on going to Tennessee, Scott had offered to show us around on Friday.  Then we bailed on him.

He was going to be in Roanoke over the weekend for cyclo ross racing, hoping to ride at Carvin's Cove on Monday.

We jokingly said that mebbe we'd meet up and ride together.  That was the last time we talked.

So, there are a million places to park around the trail system.  Had we not stopped for coffee, or talked to April before we left Stokesville for a bit, or hit a deer on the way over... we would not be in the same parking lot at the same time.

So as the fates would have it, our group of two became seven (I think).

Up the Trough Trail and one of the TVB guys has a flat.  Bill Nye continues to climb up to Royalty Trail.  I hang back to "assist" in the repair.

It was indeed a shit show.  One tube with a broken valve.  Another tube with too short of a valve.  Another tube with too short of a valve, but a removable core so they could attach a very long valve extender (which someone was carrying for who knows what reason), multiple blown CO2 cartridges (one cross threaded), and then we're up and rolling.

BTW: I saw the TVB fellers suited up in their Ridin' Hawaiian HandUp jerseys, and since mine was still clean, I decided to not ignore the fate gods that were steering my day.

Find Bill Nye waiting patiently at the top, and roll down Royalty.  Damn, that trail is fine.

At the bottom, the TVB crew was going back for more.  Bill Nye and I had enough riding over the past few days to call it donezo.  We hop back into #vanlife and head home.

All in all, an excellent trip.  We definitely found some redemption for the '18 debacle of constant mayhem, precipitation, and sadness.  Also, I'm very much ready to give the rigid frok a break.  I wasn't expecting to be on it this long without any other option, and somehow I've done a fair amount of gravity driven rides since the beginning of June.

Lemme get my hands on that squish and thank.

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