I'm writing to you from Charlottesville, VA where we have been lucky enough to stay at the Massaro household. Andrew is a friend of Rich and me; he lived with Rich back in sophmore year. Unfortunately, he is off in Illinois visiting a friend, but we still got to crash here and meet his awesome brother Mike and wonderful sister Courtney. A shower, no camp-pitching and clean laundry is always a highlight. In this case, the luxuries are extra appreciated because of how difficult our third day was. We awoke about 630 at Verbeeck's store and cranked out nearly 80 miles through the hills to reach Charlottesville. I would have liked to just take our victory and move on, saving the extra gain in mileage to help take it easy over the mountains. However, our legs dictate that we needed to stay here a day and gain strength before laying siege to Appalachia.
The 80 miles were certainly no joke; plenty of rolling hills and a few dog attacks. The route has been compared to a self-propelled rollercoaster ride. Here are a couple tricks I picked up yesterday: 1) Crank it down the hills and try to take that momentum up the next hill. 2) Just don't look at your bike computer; it will only discourage you 3) Don't look at the top of the hill for the same reason 4) Always, always, ALWAYS save some energy to outsprint scary dogs, like the rottweiler I saw yesterday.
Food and water are continually amazing me on this trip; I can drink and drink and drink all day and it just sweats out immediately. I also eat just about whatever I can/want to when I get to convience stores and country delis. Regardless of how much I eat I'm almost always hungry in just another hour or so.
I've uploaded all my pictures to the account here. Meanwhile, I'm off to fold my laundry and cook some dinner for our gracious hosts. Drop me an email, post on here or even try the cell ( I've managed to keep it charged thus far..signal is patchy however). Would love to hear from anyone, although I have faith that you are reading anyways!
P.S. My fortune cookie today reads: "You should be able to undertake and complete anything". That's encouraging!
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6 comments:
I am reading..I posted your picture and story at the Scottish Hills pool tonite when I did my laps..My cousin Caroline wrote that she will be checking in on you. Everyone finds it fascinating..They guy at works said he would be worried about being eaten by a bear.
I'm reading Rob! Congratulations on your graduation and the fantastic adventure you're on. About how many hours do you spend on the bike? I look forward to watching your journey via online. Watch out for the bears! Have you hit a deer yet?
i miss you rob! know that i'm reading this shit every day...expect to hear from me tomorrow!
Hope everything goes well for the rest of the trip. It was good to meet and hang out with you guys
We enjoy reading your blog each day. What a wonderful life experince! Wishing you good speed...and God speed :)
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