Oh my God-what a day. I had set my alarm for 5am so we could get out early and make it to the bike shop before it closed at noon. It was in Lexington and about 34 hilly miles away. If we didn't get there we would be screwed because Sunday it was closed altogether and we had the hardest climb of the trip coming up. But my alarm didn't go off for some weird reason and I didn't wake up until almost 6am. I skipped Yoga and made everyone oatmeal and hot chocolate and we were on the road one hour later..our fastest breakaway yet, despite this pesky chicken that wandered into our campsite and kept trying to eat the oatmeal. At one point Yonah looked calmly from the chicken, to me, to his oatmeal, and said in that newly mature way, with a knowing and subtle shrug..."Gracias Gallina". The timing and delivery were perfect and it just cracked me up. That, however, was the highlight of the day (besides the great soup I already told you about). I had two working gears by this point and a really *&%$#@'d up chain. It was really hilly, and my chain kept dropping gears with every 4th pedal stroke and I would lurch forward on the bike. A couple of times the chain dropped completely off the chain ring and I would fly forward and land on the ground with my bike on top of me. (no broken bones but lots of bruised and tears of frustration...plus a ton of "check marks"!) I rode like this for about 20 miles but then everything finally went to hell, my chain busted and I went flying and really hurt my hand and I just gave up. Luckily we were right near a gas station so I asked the store owner if he has a friend with a truck who wanted to earn an easy $20 driving me and my bike the remaining 16 miles to the bike shop in Lexington? So, I quickly got a ride from Johnny. He was this 60ish guy, Vietnam veteran, big wad of chewing tobacco he was spitting into an empty gatorade bottle between his legs, bad back, who figured that for $20 I should get the full guided tour. He told me about everything and everybody we passed along the way from the family history and dynamics of every homestead, to how the money you pay for your hunting license each year is used by the local government. The tour alone was worth $20. I got to the bike shop in plenty of time, got my bike fixed by one of these bike shop owners who seem to feel the need to practice their patronizing lecturing on you, and was just walking our of the store when the boys all rode up. Then we went to the Cafe that Matt already told you about and had our best lunch so far on this trip. The only thing I would add was that the spin teacher guy was really hot! I would have taken his picture for my calendar but #1-he wasn't Biking The TransAm...and #2 He was with his girlfriend and she was even hotter (actually, she kind of looked like you, Heidi, but with some very fetching freckles).
OK, that's it for now.
Next up....the mother and daughter on the porch.
Oh, I also have to remember to tell you about Raymond. Just as we were leaving Troutville, this really sweet guy who sort of looked and sparkled like Peter Foster, and is a mechanic (although not a bike mechanic) drove by us trying to fix my bike for like the 4th time, made a u-turn, got out of his truck, tried to fix the bike..which he did make it a bit better but not fix..and said "you all wanna let them boys jump in the pool?" It was 101 degrees and about 3pm and we were dying in the heat and humidity. We had just been calling around trying to find a public or hotel pool we could jump in, and even had the Shaved Ice lady calling around too. So when he said that I about kissed his feet. So we rode to his house, which was just about 5 houses away, jumped in his pool (which he had made out of an old coal car and then sunk in cement), drank perfectly sweetened ice tea, and admired his huge (like an airplane hanger)workshop, where he was building a "portable bathroom" to haul up to his 200 year old log cabin, that his wife and daughter didn't like to go to because it didn't have a "real" bathroom!!! I took pictures so you will see that this bathroom was far nicer than our bathroom in Davis (NOT the one Peter Foster built..the other one). He was a real gem.
Now I really have to go.
We picked the boys up from the movie (The Simpsons), took them for pizza and ice cream, came back to the library..and now we are going to Tom and Carmi's house!
Sharon has scoured the Internet for a route for us from Charlottesville to DC!
Love,
Djina
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3 comments:
What a day for sure. Those falls! That feeling of the chain jumping is like when your ski slides back midstride, such a buzzkill, and scary, too. But how characteristic of you that you somehow turned it into an opportunity to meet and appreciate an interesting person.
We look forward to cooking youl a five course feast when you settle back in to home. With lots of beer and some obstkuchen with Italian prune plums. In season right now in bizarrely cool Davis. I hope this weather holds for you. Y'all are my heroes!
L
Ruth
Are you there yet? Almost?
It occurred to me as I read your posts is that what would be a major set back and maybe even terribly painful,like for instance, your bike needing to throw you off, like a bucking bronco,because it was suffering major malfunctions of its own.. But, in fact that must have been actually really somewhat painful..as the stretches along the desert and throughout with heat and humidity that would wilt the devil..and yet you tell us all these things with such humor and good will and invariably with a cute anecdote with a prize at the end, like some guy who invites you to swim in his home made oil tank..or whatever..
that we lose sight of the hours of difficulties--you have had. For us reading along, its been an easy and fun ride. HAH. the stories must reaching large volume size and I already can't wait to read the sequel. Love you. Yvette
Are you there yet? Almost?
It occurred to me as I read your posts is that what would be a major set back and maybe even terribly painful,like for instance, your bike needing to throw you off, like a bucking bronco,because it was suffering major malfunctions of its own.. But, in fact that must have been actually really somewhat painful..as the stretches along the desert and throughout with heat and humidity that would wilt the devil..and yet you tell us all these things with such humor and good will and invariably with a cute anecdote with a prize at the end, like some guy who invites you to swim in his home made oil tank..or whatever..
that we lose sight of the hours of difficulties--you have had. For us reading along, its been an easy and fun ride. HAH. the stories must reaching large volume size and I already can't wait to read the sequel. Love you. Yvette
August 15, 2007 1:35 AM
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