Day 8: Abingdon VA to Wytheville VA
And just like that we're headed for another rest day. But not before we complete another challenging day.
The Fairfield Inn that we stayed at in Abingdon was really quite nice. We had a pretty decent breakfast to start our day. And no paper plates and plastic forks; what a treat! On the downside, one of our riders who crashed yesterday has decided to go home. Her husband is driving up to get her today; we will miss her, but are glad that her injuries are not too severe. Cy, our guide and other crash victim, popped a few pain killers and is back at it 100%. What a trooper!
I really enjoyed the scenery on today's ride, although as I'm writing this the next day I already have trouble recalling many specifics. Here's a sample, though.
There is a very popular rail trail in the area, called the Virginia Creeper Trail. There is an eighteen mile section that goes from Abingdon to Damascus (300 foot elevation loss). We saw some cars in the hotel parking lot with bikes, so it looks to be a pretty popular family destination. Also - the fellow who fixed my bike yesterday said he had 80 rental bikes reserved for the trail today. Then there is a seventeen mile section that runs from Damascus to Whitetop. There are several shuttle services available in Damascus that shuttle bikes and riders from Damascus to Whitetop, where they then ride downhill nearly 2000 feet back to Damascus. This appears to be a hugely popular outing, as on that section of road we were passed by (I'm guessing) more than 50 vans/trailers on their way to the trailhead. We did not ride the rail trail since our road bike tires are not always compatible with the surface of the rail trail. Also, on a weekend it looks like it would be pretty congested.
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| This is the type of rig that shuttled riders to the trailhead. Most of the trailers, though, were jam-packed with bikes. |
But - I'm getting ahead of myself. Our route was gently undulating for the first 20 miles. We passed through the town of Damascus. After listening to a lot of Backpacker podcasts during the pandemic, I was curious about this town. It is the venue for the annual "Trail Days" festival, usually held in May. It brings together hikers, volunteers, and supporters from around the country. There are multiple events, workshops, and parties. The town's population is only about 800 but apparently Trails Days is a must-do event for AT thru-hikers and draws over 20,000 people. Wikipedia says that it is known as Trail Town USA due to the convergence of four scenic trails in the town, including the Appalachian Trail, US Bicycle Route 76 (which we've been following as part of the TransAm route), the Iron Mountain Trail, and the Virginia Creeper Trail. Damascus also is on the route of the Daniel Boone Heritage Trail and the Crooked Road Music Heritage Trail.
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| One of the hiker hostels in Damascus |
Shortly after leaving Damascus we started our first big climb of the day. We entered Jefferson National Forest and the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area. I guess maybe we've been in this National Forest already, as Wikipedia says that Breaks Interstate Park is also located within the forest. Breaks has the deepest gorge east of the Mississippi and Mount Rogers (near today's route) is the highest point in Virginia. In looking at the Adventure Cycling maps, the summit we reached at about 35 miles is the highest point on our bike trip. Other than having so many vans & trailers trying to pass us on our climb (with no shoulder), it was a beautiful ride.
The climbs today were quite a bit more manageable than parts of previous days' climbs. The grades were usually not so steep. And, I must say, the downhills were fabulous! By about 43 miles it looked like we had done most of our climbing. I was surprised to note that we climbed another 1700 feet after that. Just little inconsequential up and downs.
It rained off and on for about the first 50 miles; more off than on. Temps were about 9C to 12C, which I thought was comfortable for the climbing we were doing. I never did put a rain jacket on, but had my windbreaker on for a few of the downhills. Once the sun came out later in the day the temperature rose quickly to about 18/19C. A few of the women were pretty chilled, though, and had several jackets on, toe warmers in their shoes, or jumped in the heated SAG for a warm-up at the SAG stops. I'm thinking "moisture management" is the key.....
I saw this view early in the ride, and thought that we'd probably be headed up and over those distant hills at some point in our future. Seems we've managed to fit every uphill between Lexington and here into our ride so far!
I noticed that we were starting to see something other than different variations of Baptist/Holiness/Church of Christ churches. Still lots of Baptist churches, but others sprinkled in.
We had our last SAG stop at about 60 miles (thank you, Stella!) and then largely had a tailwind the rest of the way; yay! Finally - into Wytheville.
With a population of over 8000 and a big welcome sign, I had big expectations. The historic hotel that we're staying at is lovely. And right on the main street. They're all nicely decorated for Hallowe'en!
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