The stupid long solo bike ride

I had this idea 2 weeks ago to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway. I read that some people do it supported in 5 days, so let's try it unsupported and see what happens.

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Day 1
Miles: 112.7
Ridetime: 8 h 15 min
Temps: 62-78 F, sunny all day

24 mile prologue from Charlottesville, VA on CR250 to the start of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Then left turn and start pedaling south. It's Monday, almost no tourist traffic.

Best conversation of the day at dinner, I think that's what the waitress said (gotta be carefull with that southern dialect when you talk to a German!)
--> Waitress: Yuu raidn the whole theng?
--> Me: Yes, started today, rode 110 miles, got 4 more days to go.
--> Waitress: Waell, thad s semply awesoom.

Another good one in one of the parking lots:
--> randome dude: So you're doing that just for fun?
--> me: Yes, but also because of frustration about a girl...
--> randome dude: Ever considered getting drunk?

Left turn...


Getting used to that pavement


Good climbs already at day 1


Bivy'ing in Bear Country


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Day 2
Miles: 115.7
Ridetime: 8 h 45 min
Temps: 58-75 F, cool but humid in the morning, sunny in the afternoon

Within the first mile I got the coolest thumbs up from a motorcycle rider ever. Good way to start the day. Start seeing some of the same cars and motorcycles over and over again throughout the day. Can remember them by e.g. special licence plates, like the white Harley with the trailer and the plate "Martha". Those guys seem to like to stop at all the lookout points - if you ride your bike you always have enough time to look around and don't need to stop.

See a van that supports a bunch of roadies, conversation with the van-driver:
--> Van driver: Wow, unsupported - you do it to tough way
--> Me: No, I do it the stupid way...

Had a mid-afternoon lunch somewhere on the parkway. BLT sandwich, chicken soup, cake and coke. Don't know what they put in that food, but I was flying afterwards. Speed limit is 45 mph, I started getting concerned I would get a ticket... I really love eating.

No more camping, the shoulder still hurts too much (from last weeks crash), so I get a $44 motel room at Fancy Gap - the town where you get spaghetti and meatsauce, plus cherry pie and coke for less than what you have to pay for a 4-pack of Red Bull.

The lady at the check in is surprised to see that I'm travelling "all by yourself?". Again, that's what I think she said, the further south you're going the harder it gets to understand those people.

The rolling hills of the early day 2


There is more to come about this van - see day 3


Ride your bike and enjoy the view


That guy rode strong, no way to drop him


Looks like normal food, but it makes you fast. Crazy!


Side effect of the crazy food: Feel good


Country roads


In the saddle to the saddle


And yes, I actually shaved my legs for this adventure on the road


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Day 3
Miles: 97.5
Ridetime: 8 h 36 min
Temps: around 70 F and cloudy all day

Get passed by a roadie within the first mile today.
--> Roadie: You make me look really lazy

More roadies show up, they are a supported group (the van from day 2!), also determined to finish the parkway in 5 days. They have several stops throughout the day, and since I just keep pedaling without stopping we keep passing each other. Funny, they start handing me gels and Cliff Blocks when they ride with me. Guess they were pretty imnpressed about my riding with all the gear.

Today's stretch is the most scenic so far, lot of variety in landscape. Towards the end the climbs get bigger and steeper, I easily hit top speeds beyond 40 mph on the downhills. Doesn't sound that fast, but I have a lot of aero drag (not my ass, but the bags and gear on the bike).

Met 43 year old Ron from Richmond, VA at around mile 40. He is out there self supported as well, so we stop and chat. Bikes, gear, chicks. Turns out the reason for his ride is that his girlfriend broke up with him. Sounds familiar, so we get a good laugh out of it. He has over 60 pounds of gear on his bike, and it seems like he wants to start crying when I tell him about my 20 pounds... once we split again, he is determined to find a post office to ship some of his stuff back home. We had plans to meet up for dinner in Blowing Rock, but unfortunatelly he ran out of daylight. Probably better, I have a feeling we would have gotten wasted!

Ready for day 3


Moving further south


Ron, suffering solo as well


The early views of today


Typical Parkway food. Sugar and Coffee. I'm in heaven.


Gaining altitude


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Day 4
Miles: 97.2
Ridetime: 7 h 33 min
Temps: around 60 F above 4500 feet, wet and humid in the morning, cold and cloudy all day (less cold if you put on more layers, but it took me a while to come up with that idea)

Another night at a motel, good, since it rained all night. 10 AM start, one hour later than the days before. This is bad riding weather today, but somehow the hours just flew by. The parkway throws many long climbs at me, just the way I like it. Climbs often take longer then 1/2 hour. Legs feel amazing, I have to force myself to go slower. Focus more on constant eating today, every 10 miles a bar or gel. Typical Coffee and Candy stop along the way, and I surf the sugar wave past Mount Mitchell. Guess I miss many scenic views due to the crazy thick fog at altitude. It is fun riding into the clouds, and I feel how the temps drop and the air is super wet. Riding over bridges and I can't even see how tall they are.

No title


No bunnies to be found at Heffner gap


I only wore my helmet today so I won't hit my head on the clouds


Riding at altitude above the clouds


No way to see the mountain in the fog, so the sign has to be good enough


They felt great


Still moving


No fog this time


I either looked at the mountains or at this cockpit


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Day 5
Miles: 91.5
Ridetime: 7 h 19 min
Temps: 62 F, 95% humidity and drizzling at the beginning, but sunny and simply perfect at the end

Another 10 AM start, and the first stop already after 3 hours. I was soaking wet and needed to get changed. Felt better instantly, but somehow lost my pedaling mojo. Took me another 2 hours to find my rhythm again. Met a bunch of guys from GB, they were out touring. Funny, those guys never saw eggbeater-pedals before.

Saw a roadie early in the ride, another memorable conversation:
--> roadie: Where are you headed to today?
--> me: the finish.
--> roadie: the finish?
--> me: Cherokee
--> roadie: holy shit, that's a long way
--> me thinking: not really, I only got 85 more miles to go.

Many more long climbs today, again long and steep, one covers 2400 feet vertical. By now I have this strategy to always count 200 pedal strokes seated, then stand up for 30-60 strokes, and do it over again. You can count to 200 several times within 2400 feet of climbing...

With 2 miles to go on the last climb, one of the supported roadies from 2 days ago catches up to me again. He was pretty surprised to see me ahead of him, and we race it to the top. Finally, no more need to ride conservative. I think he tried to drop me.. I let him go on the last downhill, which is about 10 miles long.

Touchdown in Cherokee, that's it, ride is over.

Getting ready one more last time


Pretty sure there was another climb behind that turn


The view is good at 6000 feet of altitude


End of climb time


Rode past 469 mile markers in the last 5 days


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Stats over the 5 days
Miles: 514.6 (469 on Parkway, the other miles to/around towns nearby)
Ridetime: 40 h 28 min
Climbing: Haven't found that info yet... probably better to not even know it.