Time to Ride

14 riders and 3 support staff have assembled in Charlottesville, Virginia from various parts of the country, no international riders this time.  All but 2 are alumni of other America by Bike tours and all have been cross country at least once.  I have ridden with some of these folks before.

Tomorrow's route is 65 miles, and yes there are just a few climbs.  This is tomorrow's elevation profile which gets pretty interesting around mile 25.  It'll be time "to find it and grind it."

There are 35 cues, which means 35 opportunities for bonus miles.  One of the riders has the daily routes on Garmin Connect and graciously allowed us to download into our computers. This will be a first for me.  But never fear, always have a backup plan (the paper route sheet is already mounted to the handlebars.) The route ends in Harrisonburg where we'll spend two nights. 

This tour has a slightly different format.  Most ABB tours overnight in a different location each night, meaning everything is loaded up and moved each day.  This tour has multiple nights in the same hotel three different times.  From those locations there will be loop options on the following days which provides flexibility for the routes and gives extra time for sight seeing in this historic area.

From eastern Kentucky through West Virginia into Virginia really is beautiful.  Reminds me in some ways of southern Missouri.  I really look forward to riding the valleys!

The forecast looks a little sketchy after tomorrow afternoon, which will take the fun out of the descents.

Here's today's "Did You Know--"

The Blue Ridge Parkway contains three mountain ranges with 16 peaks above 5,000 feet, including Mount Mitchell, the tallest peak east of the Mississippi at 6,683 feet.

(Now there's something to look forward to!)