One down, 11 to go

Thursday night was interesting. We rolled into a small town called Buchanan and found out that we didn't really have a place to stay. What was the solution? Act like a hobo! We waited until after dark and snuck down by the river where we set up tents and camped very very secretly. The ride for Thursday was pretty uneventful...started out really nice after Vesuvius. We rode along a river in a valley and made great time. Yesterday we left Buchanan and took a shortcut on route 11; probably saved us about 5 or 6 miles. We arrived in a small place called Catawba, which really only consists of a general store (great sub for 4 bucks). In Catawba we decided that in the interest of getting a smaller front sprocket put on jake's bike, we would head to Blacksburg instead of Christiansburg. Our highschool friend Frank Bedoe attended VT and is still living up here. He has been kind enough to let us crash at his place last night and tonight. I really don't like taking days off and sitting around, I get antsy. But the other guys wanted to take a break and I understand that Jacob's bike needs to be upgraded before we hit this next (extremely challenging) section. Since we are a group, I'll just have to compromise. I suppose a little sitting around isn't too bad. Also, once Jacob has that new gear, he's going to be smoking me on the road...he's already kept up just fine with only his 10 speeds!
Tomorrow we'll head out to begin our next map section. I haven't looked at what towns we're going to, but first we have to ride south to Christiansburg to pick the trail back up. They say you hit the "wall" around day 8-10 and start wondering why the hell you're out doing this. I guess I'll find out about that soon enough. I'm really enjoying the challenges of riding and the scenery, but I sorely miss the people and comforts of my daily life back home. That's why it is so nice to hear from y'all through emails, posts on the blog and phone calls.
I'll post some more pictures today and I also got the Blue Ridge photos up...look to the left sidebar for a link to my picasa album. Keep reading and I'll keep riding!