Day 6 - Over the Confederate Brick Road

Three miles out of Lexington:

The ride out of Lexington brought me through the historic city center full of Antebellum historic buildings, but blink and you’d miss it.

Shortly after leaving the historic city center I started to look for somewhere to get breakfast because I could feel the pangs beginning and I knew if I did not it would lead to bonking in short order. This meant departing the intended route and biking to the closest place I could summon: A Starbucks, up a huge hill.

I love starting my day sweat drenched standing in a line while people observe me. I sat with my sandwich outside and ate a fruit roll up as I waited for it to cool enough not to scald my mouth. It was not worth the $5.75 I paid for it, but it had enough protein in it that I wouldn’t feel hollow from eating mostly carbs for the rest of the day.

After ten or so minutes I got to enjoy attempting to navigate the hill in reverse, with morning traffic that was two parts oblivious and one part moronic. I didn’t die, so that’s positive.

The road out of Lexington required me to make it over a pretty significant set of hills before descending into bottom land situated next to one of the creeks flowing through the area. Over the brow of one of these hills I caught another glimpse of the mountains before speeding down the same hill at an uncomfortable, but controlled speed.

At about 4 miles into my day I was in the flatish bottomland that was ever so slowly winding its way up to another incline I would have to summit. It felt like Missouri near the Mississippi river: Hot, muggy, and blasted by sunshine any time I was out of tree cover. It wasn’t miserable, but it was adjacent to that.

Until all of a sudden it wasn’t. My legs had warmed up and the riding became easy. And all along the sides of the road there were bright flashes of color.

Chickory (cichorium intybus):

A now naturalized sight on NC and VA roadsides. It is originally a transplant from Europe, brought over because of the medicinal properties of its root, which used to be frequently used as a substitute or additive to coffee.

Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron Annus):

A true native wildflower to the region. The name was given because dried and bundled it was frequently used a flea repellant in the beds of early colonial homes. Though it’s repellant properties are likely grossly overstated.

Bladder Campion (Silene Vulgaris):

Another import from Europe that has since been naturalized. It boasts greens that can be harvisted and eaten when young and was likely either brought over on purpose or as accidental contamination in agricultural seed stock.

It also sends up a dandielion style puff ball, but it’s considerably larger in size.

Blueweed or Viper’s Bugloss (Echium Vulgare):

Another common sight on roadsides in VA. Having seeds that look vaguely like the heads of snakes it was used as an herbal remedy (ineffectively) against snake bikes. Likely brought to the Americas in contaminated seeds. It is also mildly toxic to livestock due alkaloid compounds in its sap.

Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea Stoebe):

A thistle like plant brought over from Europe in contaminated seed. It is considered invasive, though far more so in the midwest. This unassuming plant has allelopathic chemicals in its roots that suppress the growth of other plants, leading to vast areas of monoculture.

Eventually the bottomland started its more noticable upward track over the shoulder of the mountain seen above. Before it did I came around a corner t see an odd sight: A baby deer investigating an abandoned cupboard on the side of the road. I spooked it, but not before I was able to snap a few pictures.

Finally the road started up in earnest, with punishing apalachian grades that would swell suddenly. A hill would start easy and then in the middle suddenly double in grade. It took all of me and the bike together to muscle over these punishing switchbacks. But even then there were occasional glimpses of natural wonderment:

The Midday Rest:

After nearly forty miles of traversing this sort of terrain I was finally up and out onto a higher plateau of sorts and the highway was cutting close by. Traffic surged on the road, presumably because of issues on I-81.

For lunch I pulled into the Eidelweiss restaurant off I-81. It’s a fond memory for me because me and my father stopped here when we drove up to see his brother after a life altering heart attack nearly killed him.

I enjoyed a well needed rest, some German style paprikash (My wife’s is superior, and I’m not sorry to say it) and a bit of rhubarb cake before setting out again.

The remainder of the route was to take the Lee Highway north to Harrisonburg. I had been on it before in southern Virginia and it seemed perfectly suited for touring. A well used local route, certainly, but not much more than a frontage road with wide shoulders.

Well, it had evolved into its final form at this point. A wide three or four lane divided highway. With rumble strips preventing me from getting deeper into the shoulder. This meant riding in the lane fully. Paired with the heavy traffic from whatever was going on with I-81, it was not what I would consider “fun”.

There absolutely were some beautiful vistas that would pop up along the ride. But I felt harried and unable to really stop or take many pictures.

After about twenty miles of this I pulled over into the shade of small barn and collapsed into a heap for about 15 minutes. Recovering from the blasting heat and anxiety of having drivers make ill timed maneuvers around me.

Harrisonburg and Asbury UMC:

All this harried push was to try to make it to Harrisonburg at a reasonable hour. At around 9am I had made contact with “TK”, an admin assistant at Asbury UMC and she had graciously offered one of their youth rooms as a place to crash for the evening. So I wanted to honor her time and get there by around 6pm.

And I did. 5:58pm to be exact.

I sent her this picture to let her know who to look for:

She showed me the lower part of the church where I would be staying. Laundry, Shower, bathrooms and a room with a huge pillow mattress thing and some microwaves. More than anyone could hope for.

I let her know that I would probably need to go out to get some food from the grocery store, and she told me she could buzz me in remotely.

So around 7pm, after a shower and some rest I texted her and told her I would be going to the food store before heading out. I went to an international market and got some ready to eat pouch meals of indian food, and a ramen bowl. I also got something that might turn into a new addiction:

I don’t know where these have been hiding when I go to my local places like the Super-G in greensboro… but daaaaaayum. They were tasty 11/10 would do again.

I also saw online that there was a Mexican style Trattoria a few doors down.

When I entered it seemed like the lady working there was closing shop up for the night, so I wanted to be quick. It was clear she didn’t speak english well, so I pointed to the wall of Pan Dulce (sweet bread) and asked in broken spanish “Que es sus favorita”, and apparently Google translate is telling me I only went and nailed it. Boom.

She pointed to one that had a kind of maple sugar topping. So I got that and one other that looked like it had lemon. When I went to ring up she pointed to a sign that let me know there was a minimum charge to use my debit card. So I went back and got three more of different types. They’ll be road snacks. (I actually had one this morning as I’m writing this the day after).

An assembled meal of Kroger instant spanish rice, starkist chicken in a pouch, and vegetable korma all mixed together followed by the favorite pan dulce.

It was now around 9:30 and my body was swiftly shutting down. I had every intention of blogging, but there was nothing left in the tank. So I talked with my wife for a while before settling in on the humongous pillow thing.

And that’s that. 66 miles, 25 of which were dreadful, and looking forward to a better day.