51 miles, lots of climbing / 517 total
So today was big climb day. The day had been looming on my mind since the start and is considered to be one of the toughest days on the TransAm. If made it even harder on myself by staying at a campsite which put me even lower down in the valley. I didn't mind it being 2 miles of route, but I was annoyed they were all down hill. What was particularly annoying was that the campsite was loud and expensive. Really could have done with a better nights sleep but the group next to me were playing music till 2am. When I finally got up to tell them to knock it off, I found the entire group asleep with their music blaring out, I was not happy, to say the least.
The first 10 miles of the climb turned out to be by far the worst, it was steep with large switchbacks which meant the gradient ramped up even higher.
The first 10 miles of the climb turned out to be by far the worst, it was steep with large switchbacks which meant the gradient ramped up even higher.
Once I actually got onto the Blue Ridge Parkway, the gradient eased off and stayed consistent so that you could just plug away at it. Of course I was completely exhausted after 30 miles of climbing on a loaded touring bike, but it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be.
Got into camp, and a lady from one of the RVs came out with a plate of burgers and hot dogs, claiming shed cooked too much, but apparently she does this for all the bikers. I was pretty happy not to have to cook though!