Distance: 60 miles Dalesville, VA to Mallard Duck Campground, VA
Ride Time: 4:38
Average Speed: 13.1 mph
Maximum Speed: 34 mph
Altitude Gain: 3828 feet
Average Temperature: 87
This morning I felt that my Specialized Roubaix bike rear hub had had enough and I knew I was getting into another climbing section, so I changed to my Cannondale bike. I had to fill the tires with air, move the tool bag and move my cycle computer over to the the Cannondale. I was unable to change out the pedals with the tools I had, so I would have to use my running shoes with platform pedals to do all this climbing coming up.
Kathie and I met in Buchanan, VA. It is a little town that had a soda fountain. Kathie treated me to an ice cream cone.
I had been calling Craig Lund since I entered Virginia. Craig was the person that was so helpful to me while I was selling Medicare Advantage and life insurance. He was a former football coach with the University of Southern Virginia. Craig called me and said he had been to Virginia Beach with his family. As it turned out Craig called just as I was coming into Lexington. He told me he lived in Buena Vista and would be less than 5 miles away from Lexington. He met Kathie and I in a parking lot and we had a good time talking. While he was there another thunderstorm rolled through and it would have been very uncomfortable if I had been on my bike during this storm. We found out that Vesuvius, my next hill, was one of the toughest climbs of the country. Kathie would have to use a different road. Due to timing, we would have to stop for the night before Vesuvius.
The only campground we could find was the Mallard Duck Campground. As I approached the campground, I saw our truck and trailer at a campsite. When I got closer, I noticed the campground had a Closed sign at it’s entrance. As it turned out the owner’s wife was afraid of Covid-19 and had closed the campground. Since we needed a place to stay and that was our only choice, we were allowed in. We had a restful night.
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