Hey all! It's been a while since we've posted, mostly because the last week through West Virginia was the "slowest" and "toughest" part of our route across the country, as we were told. Unfortunately our aching bodies and weary minds made it difficult to write every day, but here are a few highlights of the past week through the mountains:
Day 5 (since we left Delaware; day 3 from our homes in Maryland) up to Day 9 were spent in West Virginia. 5 days!! And our average seemed to be only around 40 each day. But we were proud, because it was tough!
We woke up in Winchester, VA on day 5 to some mist and a beautiful red sunrise. The day quickly became a cold rainy one, unfortunately, and by the time we got to Romney, West Virginia, we were tired and soaked. On the way we saw a woman driving up and down the mountain over and over. Then she parked close by and announced that she was trying to find and save a turtle that was trying to cross the road. She walked down the road, stopped over a small lump by the road, then ran back up saying "It was all squished up and dead!" Poor turtle...
That day Marcel also rolled over some glass and ripped his tire. For next 100 or so his bike held up with only a thick layer of duct tape over the crack and a boot patch underneath it.
In the end we were graciously offered a motel by Mrs. Marchitelli, and had a much needed night to dry off, clean up, and sleep well! Thank you Aunt Concha!
Day 6 we had some good motel breakfast then left to find a bike shop in Romney. People kept pointing towards a place called "Romney cycles." For time and energy's sake, it would have been better for us if it were called "Romney Motorcycles".
In any case this day had beautiful scenery, as well as an ominous forewarning of a 'death climb' coming up according to the locals. We met Mike soon after Ridgeville, who confirmed that there was indeed a long climb up ahead, as well as that there were no food and water places for a while. We kept biking and soon met a winding 9% incline, and it never stopped. Well, for five miles it didn't. On the way up, though, Mike drove by with some heavenly Gatorade and snacks to keep us going! He drove really far to get them!! This man truly lives for the sake of others. Thanks so much Mike!!
At last we arrived in Mount Storm (40 miles from Romney) where we ate a nice pizza dinner and slept behind in a field outside. The owner, John, was gracious enogh to let us sleep there, let alone eat there as it was closed for the night already! Thanks John and staff!
Day 7 we ate and washed up at the restaurant, thanked the owners, then started riding. After some hills we met a 4.5 mile 9% downhill, which nearly killed our brake pads. At the bottom there was a tractor-pulling festival, and we felt we were a little too white-necked to dive in to. We met a few bikers who planned to do some 200-300 miles that day. Impossible, we said.
In Grafton we had a much needed subway dinner and set up shamelessly under a shopping center hang-over to sleep. We went about 50 miles today.
Day 8 we traveled around 47 miles to West Union, WV. We woke up to an already-awake town. Our plan was to get to Clarkesburg for their bike shop, which our bikes really needed. The road there was hilly but really nice, farmy, and a bit more on the downhill side. We got to Clarkesburg by noon and, after waiting out a storm, journeyed to the Holy Moses bike shop. Some of our bikes barely made it there; Alfie's tube blew and Marcel's duct tape couldn't support the tear any longer just before the shop. The owner, Moses, gave us some tires and tubes for a good price. Yay. We left Clarkesburg with healthy bikes and killed 25 miles in 2 hours, and arrived in a misty mountain town just before it started raining. We were dry and comfortable that night in a house under construction.
And stay tuned for.....
