Swimmin' in the rain!

Woke to torrential rain and grey skies. Still going after 2 hours, so we dressed up in swimming togs and anoraks to walk 3 miles on the beach - perhaps unsurprisingly we had it virtually to ourselves. Stopped for a 'swim' on the way back. The seas were big - standing just knee deep the waves were breaking over my head and at thigh deep I was being knocked off my feet. We went for a further 2 mile walk after lunch taking in the coastal reserve, which was home to hundreds of one clawed crabs, defending their mud holes from other crabs - it was quite violent in a crabby sort of way!! This morning we had thunder rumbling all round us, with high seas and we reckon it was the remains of Tropical Storm Erica. 95 miles further down the coast in Charleston they have had 7.8 inches of rain since Saturday :(

It got really humid this afternoon and we are a bit worried about the next few days, when the forecast is for temperatures up to 89 degrees, feeling like 101 degrees.  We have put the pedals bak on the bikes and are planning a ride for tomorrow - but we'll see what the weather is like.   Today being Monday (not a bank holiday) we noticed how quiet it was compared to the weekend - even allowing for the weather. Obviously a lot of schools and Universities are back, so really the only kids around are pretty small.   Most of the rubbishy stuff is in Myrtle Beach, rather than North Myrtle Beach, where we are. A trip down there is obviously required - watch this space!!

Just like Bristol - but warm!

So much for our careers as beach bums!  It started off grey, but dry, so we walked about 4/5 miles on the beach before having our first 'swim'. In practice swimming is not on the cards. The waves are big and the currents are strong - no wonder you are told not o get more than shoulder deep. I was knocked off my feet more than once and you old understand why there are so many lifeguards on duty. The water was, however, really warm and we had great fun messing around before going bak to have a shower. By the time we had lunch it was raining, overcast, grey and just like home except 20 degrees warmer!!  We read under the balcony overhang and eventually took the car out to fill up after the journey. We had driven 400 miles in a large (7 seater) car, but it only cost about £19 to fill the tank (15 US gallons).  Picked up some shopping and came back to 'cook' pizza for dinner.  It would have been simpler to pilot the Space Shuttle!!  Have you ever seen an oven with no temperature dial? My choices were to 'bake' 'broil' 'pizza' or 'chicken nuggets'. If you decide you want to 'bake' it sets the temperature and that is what you get. Pizza must be frozen..........Forecast is pretty rubbish for the next few days so we are looking to see what else we might do.  Perhaps a visit to 'Christmas Mouse', a year round Christmas shop or how about Shaggin' on the Beach? I'll leave the latter to your imagination.  Not many pictures today, but the little waders shown were really cute - we could have watched them for p

Beach Bums United

So here we are, final port of call on the trip - North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Easy journey down and we got into our 'condo' before lunch, rather then at 15.00.  The owner was still doing the last few bits and pieces when we arrived, so we walked up to the local supermarket, where we saw a sign saying it closed at 1.00. As it was 12.47 we dashed round grabbing stuff to keep us going, attracting a lot of funny looks on the way - turns out it closes at 1.00am!!!  The place I booked is, as expected, pretty basic and, if I'm being honest, probably a bit damp. However it is on the beach, actually in the sand dunes and the view from the balcony is fabulous. There are only 6 apartments and we are the only people here until Thursday, when the whole town fills up for Labour Day weekend. We spent the afternoon chilling on the balcony and walking miles, barefoot through the surf to explore. We realised that the apartment came without much 'stuff' so we have had to buy a T-towel, beach towel, soap etc, all of which will be dumped at the end of the week.

We sat on the balcony as it got dark tonight, high tide coinciding with darkness, and the water was about 50 yds away - the sound of the waves breaking on the beach was very soothing. However, as you might imagine there is plenty of nonsense going on: how about Minotaur Golf? Themed around the lost island of Atlantis, mini-golf ears wander among extinct creatures like the Loch Ness Monster(!!!) or Dodo birds - possibly safer than Pirates Adventure Golf which apparently boasts a live volcano.......

Chris fancies the Fudgery - ' this is the place for homemade, old-fashioned fudge with a twist. You're part of the show as singing, dancing fudge makers create all the decadent, creamy, chocolatey goodness before your eyes.  Or what about the Medieval Times dinner and tournament - jousting as far as I can tell.  Watch this space for more excitement!!!!

Heading South

After breakfast this morning we went out and did our daily minimum amount of exercise (5k) before loading up the car, which took some ingenuity given the bikes were still intact and had to be packed in along with their bags and the normal luggage - not as easy as you might think even with a big car. Having experimented with the automatic car on the way back from the airport (no instructions given and nobody available to ask) we at least knew how to move forwards and backwards, adjust the seat and lock / unlock it. Hopefully it won't rain before we work out how to get the wipers on! We have come about 300 miles, around 297 on the Interstates, so haven't had to deal with any complicated manoeuvres yet. What a pleasure compared to motorways in the UK, free flowing traffic, never too heavy, no accidents, road works or hold-ups and immaculately clean and quiet 'rest areas' with Restrooms, a few vending machines, shady picnic areas and pet exercising grassy spaces. If you want fuel, food etc you simply come off at one of the many junctions and drop back on again so no over-priced monopolies (if you have to travel more than a quarter of a mile from the junction it appears you don't bother). 

Since not much of any note happened let me regale you with some gems from the local paper:

Friday 4th Sept: Artifact-filled exhibits that tell the story of transportation from pre-history through the early 20th century. You do have to wonder what they have got from pre-history transportation ???

Something else to ponder: the Fayetteville Area Metropolitan Planning Organisation (FAMPO) is soliciting proposals for human services transportation projects under the federal Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities (Section 5310) program.  (Volunteer drivers to take people to the local Day Care centre?)

And finally 'thought for the day': 'The worshipful treatment of pets may be the thing that unites all Americans' wrote an Atlantic Magazine blogger in July, describing the luxury terminal for animals under construction at JFK airport.  The ARK will offer shower stalls for traveling horses, 'conjugal stations' for ever-horny penguins and housing for nearly 200 cows (that might produce up to 5000 pounds of manure every day).  Passengers traveling with cats or dogs can book the Paradise 4 Paws pet-pampering resort. The ARK is a for-profit venture, said one industry source, quoted in a July Crain's NY Business report. 'You hear stories about the crazy money rich people spend on their animals ...they're mostly true!   Hmmmm.....Bev / Izzy?????

Pictures are of the mechanic sampling some 'fruit inspired' beers last night plus our laden car

Back where we started!

Today was the last day of our cycle tour in Virginia and it turned out to be quite an easy one - 40 miles and 2,500 ft of ascent, bringing the total to around 600 miles and 35,000ft of ascent. Lovely quiet roads until we got close to Charlottesville, but at least we knew where we were headed so it made things a lot easier.  We would probably have got here sooner if we had ordered a Domino's pizza lat night and been the recipients of 'Free Kindness with every Delivery!'  We were able to check in early and get the washing done after being reunited with our luggage and some clean clothes.  The main event of the day was picking up our rental car at the airport. I had booked and paid online for a Dodge Caravan (7 seater) based on the assumption that we would be able to fold the seats down to make room for the bikes. We got the free shuttle up from the hotel, fully expecting there to be a problem. The three previous occasions we have tried to rent a car in the USA have ended in trouble with either no car available or a tiny economy car being produced instead of an SUV for the bikes.

This time it all worked like a dream, except for the minor issue of neither of us having any idea how to drive the thing (automatic) adjust the seats or anything else. Nobody available for advice, so we just had to do it by trial and error and I was the lucky one to drive back in busy rush hour traffic. This car is huge!!  Parking will be a nightmare and I need my wingman to tell me if I am too lose to the kerb. Back at the hotel we tried to fold the seats down, initially to no avail - then we pulled some random lever and the seats took on a life of their own, folded themselves away and left a huge space for luggage. We decided to quit while we were ahead and went to World of Beer to toast the start of the next phase of the trip (assuming we ever find our way out of Charlottesville!)

Thought you might be interested in Breath Dance - 'Wellness through breathing' or (presumably) 'terminal unwellness through not breathing'.  Not your idea of fun? How about the Annual Hymn Sing and Pig Roast - bring your own side dish.

I promised you breakfast photos today, sorry but I didn't manage the sausage gravy and biscuits (technical issues) but take a look at some yummy Froot Loops (loops indeed, but fruit.....????). People swear they can tell the difference between the different fruit flavours - but all you can taste is sugar ( with a side of cardboard)

You're not there until you're there!

This is our mantra on cycling holidays - no matter how short the day or how easy the route, the day is never over until you have booked into your accommodation for the night. Today was such a day, only 40 miles and 2,200 ft of ascent, we planned to be there at lunchtime. My back tyre felt a bit soft last night so Chris pumped it up before we went to bed. This morning it appeared to have gone down very slightly, but since it was a short day we decided to do a 'pump and run' to see how it survived. It was a chilly morning and the Mechanic was in his jacket when we set off. 8 miles later we caught up with 2 cyclists on US bike route 76. They were carrying a track pump along with all the rest of their gear (!!??) and we asked if we could top up my back tyre as it is difficult to get really high pressure with a hand pump. We chatted for a short time and as soon as they pulled off we found that my back tyre was seriously soft again. Nothing for it but to take off all the bags and change the tube. The Machanic had a technical issue with the change and it was 45 minutes later before we were ready to set off.

We had lost our rhythm by this time and it seemed like a real grind. After 20 miles we stopped at Gertie's Country Store (great if you wanted a sack of spuds and a two hour chat, not so good for a quick drink and a snack!). We plodded on, stopping again about 8 miles from the hotel and finally rolling in sometime around 2.30pm. This particular hotel had been on a cheap deal and was paid in advance but the jobs worth on the desk wouldn't check us in until he saw the same credit card I had paid with. I explained that it was at the bottom of one of the panniers and would require me to empty everything out in the lobby, with conference delegates milling around everywhere, but he wasn't giving an inch until I said 'fine, I'm sure the other guests won't mind two weeks of dirty washing lying around'. I got the room key and brought the credit card back down to show him, although he did hold the Mechanic as security (little did he know........)

Be warned, tomorrow I will be posting some photos of the breakfast foods enjoyed here, so don't tune in if you are of a delicate disposition. The Mechanic tried 'grits' tonight and reckoned they were similar to mashed potato, which left me wondering why they are such a popular breakfast food. Slightly alarming are the TVs in all the hotel rooms - Life is Good TVs no less, although we have to assume this doesn't refer to the content being shown.

Some if you might be aware of the fact that we are involved in the 'Save Westbury Library' campaign. It seems we have been missing a trick when it comes to suggesting alternative uses for the library - the place we are staying (Waynesboro) has a headline in the local paper 'Waynesboro gets a taste of beer brewing at public library'

We are sorry to be missing the following event:

The Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway's Humpback Rocks chapter offer residents a chance to explore the South River Lumber Railroad - a chance to hike the railbed.  One can only hope no trains are running.  If that doesn't appeal how about 'Sunday School Yesteryears'. The event will begin with a puppet show reminiscing about how much fun learning the Bible was back then. There will be old fashioned Sunday School songs ( called hymns IIRC), flannel graph Bible stories, object lessons and dinner on the ground (or as we might say, a picnic)!

Photos today are of Bike v Winniebago (can you imagine driving this monstrosity on coastal roads in Cornwall) and Gertie's place plus the Mechanic doing what the Mechanic does best

Vultures, caves and bridges

The post title summarises the photos and the day we have just had. Not moving on today, so a later breakfast than normal before hopping on the bikes to head off to Natural Bridge. Apparently this was once on the list of Seven Wonders of the World - although reading the small print this appeared to be a list compiled in the 19th century, no doubt by Americans who had never left the country!  It was however more impressive than Natural Chimneys and, being privately owned, not free.  Before we got there we noticed some large birds circling overhead and identified them as vultures, a couple were down on the road feeding off some road kill. We got pretty close before they flew up into the trees. After getting a couple of photos I got another huge ant trapped in my shirt trying to eat his way out, so yet again had to strip off my bike shirt by the road, at which point the vultures took off in fright.

On to Natural Bridge, where we did the 2 mile round walk to visit the bridge, a 'lost river' (which had obviously been found) and a rather unimpressive waterfall.  Next we visited the caverns, going 374 ft underground with a temperature difference of over 30 degrees F. Chris had a jacket (Chris always has a jacket) but I got quite chilly, although it was certainly worth the trip. There were a lot of steps to get us up a d down the place and at one stage I thought both the guide and a couple of the tour were going to collapse or have a heart attack (most likely both) but after a few strategic pauses everyone got out alive.  After this we headed back, cycling 33 miles with over 2,000ft of ascent on a 'rest' day to the accompanying rumble of disapproval from the Mechanic.

Time to tell you about the local cyclist who appears to be stalking us. We have now been approached by him on three separate occasions and it appears that he is a) weird, b) lonely, c) addicted to giving you a blow by blow account of everywhere he has ever cycled including all turns, road names etc.  He keeps trying to give us good routes from where we are to where we want to be going something like this: take the third left after the building with red roof, then bear right at the metal post in the pavement to take a left at the fourth stop light, right at the second bank on your left, past the Cookie Lady's house and look for a right fork at a house with a chimney..............and on and on.  By this time Chris has zoned out and I am contemplating either homicide or suicide, while we both nod sagely and say 'Yup, got that' at regular intervals.  We are thinking of leaving town under cover of darkness....

Sports people over here take themselves very seriously - can you imagine Wayne Rooney uttering the following incomprehensible stream of drivel:

'Everything you do in life gets you to where you are now. I would definitely say my beginnings and my in-betweens and everything else are how I am'.  I would say they need to get out more......

Once more on to the gravel........

What could possibly go wrong?  Quite a lot as it turned out, not helped by the tremendous heat (around 90 deg F by 1.00pm). First of all, about 20 yards from the hotel. we discovered that bicycles do not trigger traffic lights, even at major junctions with 50 cars queued behind you in the rush hour! After two cycles through the sequence with no green light the natives were getting restive behind us, so we managed to shuffle over into the right turn only lane and let the Sheriffs car behind us get up to the grid. This happened several more times and on 2 occasions no car turned up so we had to try and cross the junction on a red light - not recommended!

We eventually threaded our way out of Roanoke on back roads and hit US11, which we were due to follow for about 18 miles. Although by no means a busy road, it is still a major highway and we were lured into turning right on a bike route, which dropped us back to where we had been heading using a deserted side road, crossing back and forth over the also deserted railroad. After a cold drink stop at 26 miles we planned to head up a back road along the side of the forest - known as the Blue Grass Trail. It started off well, quiet, shady and scenic, the only traffic being 2 grass mowers going in the opposite direction.  The second one stopped and asked if we going 'all the way through'. We replied that we were to which he said it was 'pretty rough'.  We just thought that since the Yanks are obsessed with 'smooth black-top' he meant it was like a typical UK back road - not so. After about 3 miles we reached a sign saying that the road was not recommended for motor vehicles between Nov and April. Even the rubbish road up to the Blue Ridge Parkway didn't say that!!  We went a little further but given we would have to fight our way up 15 miles before reaching surfaced road again we decided to withdraw and live to ride another day.

Next drama came when I started to feel a sharp pain in my back just below the shoulder blades. The pain got worse and started to spread, when I realised that I must have some carnivorous insect trapped in my shirt. It was now excruciating so I didn't stand on ceremony, but stripped off my shirt at the side of the road where Chris managed to remove an enormous orange coloured ant from my back - somewhat unedifying for passing motorists, but a great relief to me!  We had our lunch at a small Exxon filling station complete with life size tiger ( which will make sense to older readers) the owner obviously wasn't up to date with marketing strategy.

In the end we did 66 miles with 3,500 ft of ascent, nearly melted and ended up back where we started from on Saturday morning..........Pictures include Chris listening to the tiger explaining his escape plan and our feelings on finding our road was (yet again) unsurfaced. I wish there was some way you could tell from the map but we rode 610 which was perfectly surfaced and then 611 was just a rough dirt track. Tomorrow we are planning to visit Natural Bridge, which I suspect is like Natural Chimneys in terms of being spectacular - but without the jousting!

Big is beautiful (at least some of the time)

Another day without moving on, this time in the rather strange town of Roanoke. I mentioned yesterday about the peculiar street games we were watching, today we had a re-enactment of our French 'village of the damned'. Everything shuts here on Sunday downtown and finding food this evening was tricky. Last night we enjoyed monstrous Cappuchino Crunch ice creams late at night, today we struggled to buy bread.  After breakfast we headed off on the bikes to ride some of the traffic free bike paths - Tinker Creek and Roanoke River to name a couple. In our search for some bread rolls we came across 'Piggly Wiggly' only to find it shut all day - in fact it appeared as if it might be closing down. Obviously 'Dig the Pig' isn't working as a marketing tool. It was round here (in the Food Lion car park) that we saw a humongous fire engine parked across 7 parking spaces. It had drivers front and rear that steer in unison - a concept that the Humes find particularly scary!  

We went to the transport museum later and you can get some idea of the size of the steam trains from the picture below!  Wouldn't want to mend a flat on one of these. In the local paper they had an article on the 'Blue Ridge Destination Vision Plan 2030 progress'. To cut to the chase, they have concluded that they need to use 'Destination Visioning' and have employed Zeitgeist Consulting to advise them. The name of the CEO of this consulting firm is (wait for it), Mr Geist.........

As promised, a report on The Mechanic's pancake making prowess.  At the Holiday Inn Express, for the month of August, there are free pancakes from 8.00pm - midnight. Himself fancied trying this and can now make perfect pancakes!!  Press the button on the machine, wait one minute and a 'fluffy fresh pancake' pops out the side of said machine. He is very pleased with his success - Gordon Ramsey eat your heart out!

We are enjoying meeting the locals everywhere, can't believe how many cyclists come up and talk to us - many of them having been in Europe for the TDF or World Championships. People have shown us how to operate the gas pumps at filling stations, given us quiet back road routes out of towns, discussed Team Sky and the similarities with US Postal etc etc. The only serious oddball who has snared us to date was discussing how unlucky he was to have had four heart attacks, while trying to rest his beer gut on my saddle!  Himself is enjoying sampling the local craft beers and cider, while I have decided that Virginian wine is not about to win any major awards. Back on the road tomorrow so early night required now, after sorting the now clean laundry........

Sorry all the pictures are of me - Chris says I make all the big stuff look even bigger!!

Another fine mess........

Sorry about last night, we hit the riotous (????) town centre last night and while indulging in some local brew got absorbed in the athletics competition going on before us - very drunk Americans throwing footballs (UK style) into dustbins!!  Strangely addictive.......

Anyway yesterday dawned misty and distinctly chilly, to the point that we actually wore jackets for the first half hour or so, although it is fair to say that we also made the earliest start of the trip. We started off through a deserted Lexington and were soon on the equally deserted Plank Road, a delightful wooded road alongside a stream. Sun was up and we had welcome shade eventually popping out on Route 11 after about 20 miles. Route 11 at this point runs parallel to the Interstate, going to the same place, so again it was virtually traffic free and we rolled down to Arcadia (which consists of a filling station and nothing else) in time for a drink and something to eat before heading up towards the Blue Ridge Parkway. Again we had chosen a quiet route so off we went on Jennings Creek Road, initially dropping to cross the Shenandoah River, then gradually ascending alongside the creek. Hardly a car to be seen (we soon found out why!), the sun was shining, the creek was gurgling along and all was right with the world.

After 6 miles we came to our turn, off the 614 and on to the 618, McFalls Creek Road - the word 'road' to be used advisedly. This road was not surfaced and the smooth Tarmac we turned off ended in the middle of nowhere two miles further on. We now had over 4 miles of climb on a deteriorating road, twisting round hairpins on loose gravel (washed off in places), ruts and ridges and deep holes where streams had poured across in winter. On a mountain bike it would have been tough - on a drop handle bar, fully laden road bike it was a nightmare. The only thing that would have been worse was going down!  We did actually make it without having to get off and push, but we didn't dare stop as I doubt we could have got going again.  Hilly as the Blue Ridge Parkway was it was a dream compared to this. 

Lovely ride along the Parkway with lunch near the high point of the day, in the company of a group looking for migrating hawks, which use the thermals round the ridge to pick up favourable winds. Fast descent to Roanoke, then a hideously busy 8 miles into town, where for once we are staying near the centre. 66 miles and 4,000 + feet of ascent. Not moving on tomorrow so decided to sample the local beer and wine in this 'party' town - everything is relative. The policeman on his bike supervising the 'crowds' was seen in the bar and later eating ice cream, so I suspect it never got too out of hand - he certainly wouldn't have been running to catch anyone.

Tonight I will tell you about the Mechanic's new found skill in pancake making and some of the wonderful characters we have met - it was worth having our tour cancelled for the fun of being able to chat to these people. Meanwhile start practising with the balls and dustbins (old fashioned ones, not wheelie bins) it will be an Olympic sport before you know it.

We are now going out to 'Carpe the heck out of this 

Watch this space!

Today's blog will appear tomorrow - after a chance to sober up and get a good night's sleep.

Thought for the day - sign seen on a caravan on the Blue Ridge Parkway

'Carpe the Heck out of this Diem' - Amen to that!

On the tourist trail

Another day 'off' today (I know, we are going soft). We cycled into town to find a bike shop so that I could get the back tyre pumped up - again!  Next stop the tourist information centre to pick up a map of a walking tour round Lexington and some information about good routes from here to Roanoke, our next stop. The walking tour was more interesting than we expected including, as it did, 2 fascinating museums - the George C Marshall museum which covered his life and in particular the Marshall Plan which, for younger readers, followed WW2. The other museum was the Virginia Military Institute museum, which showed life over the last 150 years at the place, which is now a University where all undergrads are cadets, wear uniforms etc. apparently if found in a 'Not alright place' when there is a random check done they have to 'bone' themselves - I decided I'd rather not know. Also went round an extraordinary collection of antique guns and met the VMI American football team mascot - see photo!

The museum of military memorabilia had a rather strange entrance (see below) and the sign indicating where it was stood right beside. A sign proclaiming 'Baby's first gifts' - which conjured up an interesting combination.   We also passed the 'Stitchin Shop' where 'fibre artists go to play', a furniture shop holding a grand tent sale without a tent in sight and a jewellery shop saying 'It is impossible for the diamond in her ring to be too big, just like it is impossible for your car to be too fast!'  I loved the sign for the coffee shop shown below.   Finally, on our way back from dinner tonight we diverted to watch part of a game of American football - just two school teams and I don't think they were allowed to call time-outs, but it still went on interminably and incomprehensibly with nothing appearing to happen apart from people randomly running into other people. There were numerous officials on the pitch - I counted at least 7 - but this may have been because they all looked too large to move far from where they were positioned, although the game moved so slowly this was unlikely to be a problem

Luck be an (Irish) lady

Lady Luck was on our side today ( which after yesterday made a pleasant change). The forecast was for  thunderstorms in the afternoon so we made an early start from Staunton. Rather bizarrely the first landmark we passed was Anne Hathaway's cottage (not a cottage as we would know it), the next was Buffalo Gap (see photos). It was a bit of a climb up to the gap, but overall the inclines today were much kinder than yesterday. We stopped for a break and something to eat at that soon to be discovered hot spot of the Dollar General store in Craigsville. Hot on the heels of Zingers and Ho-Hos we were reintroduced to Ding-Dongs - all three plus several others are just variations on a theme of chocolate, vanilla cream, fat and sugar, so what's not to like. Various in-bred characters struck up conversations with us, including the bloke (weighing more than our car back home) who was polishing the video rental machine outside the store with a feather duster!  Passing through 'Nowhere USA' 'Nowhere Much USA' and Nowhere at all USA' we eventually turned on to Maury River Road, a twisty wooded road which followed the river and was virtually traffic free as well as scenic. The day was 54 miles but had less than 3,000ft of ascent so we made great time and had been in our motel room about 5 mins before the torrential rain started - about 5 minutes after that we noticed that my back tyre was completely flat. 

The puncture is now fixed, the laundry is done and the weather has cleared 0% chance of rain tomorrow (allegedly). Taking our lives in our hands we crossed the dual carriageway in front of the hotel to get to Applebee's, for what proved to be one of the best meals of the trip so far - although frankly the competition is negligible. Currently debating what to do with our day off tomorrow. Should we visit the Banjo museum? Perhaps Natural Bridge Zoo, where the giraffe, deer, goat, llama and other animals 'are waiting for a feeding interaction with you' - so that would make you lunch I presume.  Visit the Pink Cadillac Diner (home of the famous 'Elvis Burger').  I suspect the Mechanic will insist on a visit to the local brewery to sample a growler (???). There is loads more to avoid, but time for bed - I'll let you know how we get on

Not waving but drowning.

Today started with what the weather forecasters here call 'considerable cloudiness', moved on to what we would call 'very considerable raininess' and ended with astronomical humidity.  It was a shortish day from Harrisonburg to Staunton, so we decided to try two new things - a quiet route given to us by a bike shop in Harrisonburg, using roads not on any map we have see, and a detour to Natural Chimneys state park.  We had a few false starts and u turns on the new bike route, but made it to Natural Chimneys mid morning. All the literature had 'bigged' this up to be a close contender for one of the seven wonders of the world, so we were expecting loads of people and rock stacks like the Old Man of Hoy. Instead we were faced with a deserted car park, a closed visitor centre and 2 or 3 fairly modest rock towers.  It was very peaceful!!!  We had however missed the largest jousting tournament in the USA, which apparently had taken place last Sat. The grandstand would have held about 20 people and there was no obvious sign of a horse having crossed the rather small grassy area, from which I concluded that jousting is not about to overtake baseball in the nation's affections.

We got back on our new route, which was indeed virtually traffic free - it was also free of any flat sections, as you will see from the profile shown below. We were about 6 miles outside Staunton when it started to rain, heavily enough to require jackets and lights. We both needed food badly and stopped  at the first garage we came to on the edge of town. It was a bad choice for anything edible - the egg sandwich we shared had a sell by date sometime next year and bore no resemblance to egg(or in fact any other edible substance known to man). We topped up with Mrs Freshley's carrot cake, which had travelled well surprisingly, and then sheltered in the car wash booth waiting for the torrential rain to ease.  When it did we made a break for it and managed about a mile before it just became too dangerous to ride. We ended up hanging out under the canopy outside Valley Denture Care for about an hour and a half as the drains struggled to cope and the thunder roared around us. 

At a brief easing we made it a few hundred yards to a bike shop, called Black Dog Cycles. I got a bit of a shock on opening the door to find a large black dog bounding towards me. Luckily I didn't have to negotiate the use of a track pump with him.  Tyres fully inflated again we found it had stopped raining and the sun had come out, with the humidity rising by the second. It was still nearly 5 miles (including some doubling back) until we finally made it to the hotel, by this time almost expiring from heat exhaustion. Not many pictures today except of rain bouncing off puddles. We are expecting more of the same tomorrow.  48 miles and 3,000 ft of climb.

2 signs that caught my eye on the road. Clinic for cosmetic dentistry 'We go the extra smile' and on some Autocentre billboard 'Watch your 'Spendometer'

Extra photo!!

I forgot to post this one

What is 'Historic' in the USA?

Today was a non riding day and we planned to explore 'Historic' Harrisonburg. First though was the small matter of an overnight tyre deflation - otherwise referred to as a puncture. The Mechanic sorted out a new tube and put everything bak together, then discovered that both tubes of glue for patching tyres were empty - the glue having apparently evaporated. Added to the shopping list for our trip - historic glue perhaps?  Before we had a chance to leave it started to rain, heavily, having been cloudy all morning. We decided to wait until the shower was over, but at 12.30 were so bored that we set off anyway in steady drizzle. We had only gone about half a mile, dodging our way across parking lots in front of big car showrooms (no footpath on the road) when the heavens opened. We eventually took refuge under the canopy of one of these auto places, looking like a couple of drowned rats and attracting the usual incredulous stares which follow anyone moving around on foot over here.

The 'historic' downtown district possibly has a couple of buildings which pre-date the twentieth century but that would be about it - there were buildings proudly proclaiming they were built in 1939, so newer than our house if we wanted to be picky. We tried to visit the Fire Museum (shut) and were even desperate enough to go and investigate the Quilt Museum - it was celebrating 20 years of quilting!!  Natural History Museum, London - eat your heart out.......  Pictures below of an unusual University Course (Suzy you might like to suggest this for A&F) and a sign outside a shop that I really couldn't fathom - what is an ornament party when it is at home?????  We did pass a sign to one shop which proclaimed it sold 'Needful Things', the mind boggles as to what these might be and sadly we didn't get the chance to find out.

Something for you to ponder next time you go out to dinner - when asked what side order you want to go with your meal, will you choose Hush Puppies or Baconator fries?  Whichever you go for can I suggest deep fried ice cream to follow - unless of course you are too full after your battered and deep fried Twinkie Bar (cream filled sponge cake). Yeugh!!!

It was raining again tonight so we hopped across a couple of parking lots to a Mexican fast(ish) food place (the truckers stop last night wasn't that great). The food was excellent provided you didn't put any of the accompanying sauce on it..............I think the burns on my lips will be healed by the time we get home.

On a more cheerful note, I will never again complain about how long our election campaigns seem to last for - the next US Presidential election is Nov 2016, but is headline news every day already :(