The Blue Ridge Parkway was always going to be a highlight of the trip and as I had good weather today I made the most of it and treated myself to a basic cabin on the parkway for the night. I was so glad I was on a bike and really enjoying the scenes. Much better than whizzing past in a car. Yorkshire flag now a-flying too!
Beautiful woodland all around with vivid green colours and stunning views to the valley floor below. The pictures do not do it justice at all I'm afraid. I wish I knew more about trees and birds as I saw lots I could not identify. I did spy another groundhog and heard a few woodpeckers. The appalation trail wove in and out of the road. Lots of day hikers around and one group doing the full trail.
I also stopped off at an open air museum of pioneer life. Lots of log cabins and bear proof pig pens!
A few days of rain are coming in starting tomorrow. I plan to spend tomorrow at 'Mallard Duck Campground' so at least it will be nice weather for the ducks :)
My pace is definitely too slow to complete the full coast to coast route. This is partly because I like sightseeing and also I feel quite vulnerable on my own so like to stop fairly early at a safe overnight spot. Pushing on till late and wild camping would be all very well if I had company but on my own it is just too scary. I'm not as tough as I thought!! All very well as I don't fancy facing the fearsome dogs, bad roads and bad drivers of Kentucky anyway. Therefore I'm going to cycle a few more days in Virginia and then go see my lovely friend Corrie in St Louis which I'm really looking forward to. From there I will cherry pick the next cycling spot. My aim for the summer was always to have fun exploring the States by bike rather than do a specific route or number of miles. I have the utmost respect for all the solo coast to coast riders out there - a mental as well as physical challenge.
Thanks Mum, Dad and Corrie for encouraging me onwards..... today was a beautiful and unique cycling day.
Love the picture of you looking out into the plains. And I am very much looking forward to some great blog photos from your cherry picked locations! xx
ReplyDeleteLoving reading your updates Holly it looks fantastic and your doing really amazingly well getting the miles in. Looking forward to seeing more photos too :-) xx
ReplyDeleteThanks Rachel. Physically I'm not struggling at all with the cycling which is good. Mentally I feel quite wobbly just me and my bike in a strange big land so am doing short days to have plenty of time to find a safe place to sleep. Plus it's too pretty here to rush through :)
DeleteLooks amazing! I'd be the same - cherry picking sounds like the perfect plan :-)
ReplyDeleteOne of the best things about doing a longer tour is that you've got more freedom to decide that you like a particular area and are going to spend more time in it, rather than being tied to a schedule. Beautiful scenery!
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