Day 55, July 21

Breaks Interstate Park to Meadowview, VA
68 miles

This morning started off with fog again.  The same vine that I mentioned in my posts in Kentucky still covered many hillsides.

This day and the next were hills, hills, hills.  On this day I had half a dozen 500 foot climbs, an 800 climb and a 1000 ft climb along with many smaller ups and downs.

The morning was spent riding through Haysi, Birchleaf, Bee, Davenport, Council and Honaker. The first 1000 ft climb was just past Council where I stopped at one of the saddest convenice stores in existence.  About half the shelves were empty, as was the ice cream freezer. The Klondike bar I wanted would have to wait.

Traffic got a bit thick past Council and I occasionally had to pull off the road during the climb to let big rigs pass since there was zero shoulder. At Rosedale I turned onto 19, which was basically a freeway.  At least that gave me a sizable shoulder to ride on.

After having lunch at a Mexican place along 19/80 I headed back onto the country roads for the climb toward Hayters Gap, which folks at the post office in Rosedale had warned me would be incredibly steep. It turned out to be no worse than the climbs of the previous day and wound through some wonderful shaded roads. Below is a picture of a cyclists hostel which I passed after leaving 19.

Virginia is a beautiful state, with flowers and green hills everywhere.

I ended the day in Meadowview and camped behind a church there. Unfortunately no shower or bathroom was available and I ended up going to a nearby truck stop for a shower before returning to my tent for the night.