July 21st - Day 8 - Vesuvius, VA to Troutville, VA - 64 miles
This morning I woke up early and got on the road leaving Cynthia to tear down camp without me and meet me later. I rode to Lexington, passing the Virginia Military Institute, Washington and Lee University, and Natural Bridge (we found out later that we had missed out seeing one of the 7 wonders of the natural world at the natural bridge, we'll have to make another trip sometime). We had planned on pulling at least an 80 mile day today, but as I was about a mile outside of Troutville,VA I broke a spoke. Of course, it had to be a spoke on the side of my rear wheel next to the cassette of gears, so I couldn't fix it myself. The wheel was rubbing badly on the chainstay, so I couldn't limp it into town and I couldn't attempt to adjust the other spokes where I was because I was on a steep downhill, so I called in the calvary. After a day of nearly picking up some pets on the road (a kitten, a turtle, and 2 fawns), Cynthia came to pick me up. Cynthia took me down into the valley where I could look at it on flat ground. After deciding that I could only adjust it but not repair it, we drove to Roanoke, VA nearby to go to a bike store.
Before the bike store we found that the town we were in (Troutville) allowed bikers and hikers on the Appalachian Trail to camp in their town park for free. So once we got the wheel repaired we returned to Troutville and started to set up camp and got a shower in the fire department across the street. We met a hiker from the Appalachian Trail in the park named Nexus (his trail name). He is doing the whole trail from Georgia to Maine this year in four separate segments and has been on the trail for 43 days so far. It was very nice to meet Nexus and compare our trips and experiences briefly before he walked to town for dinner. Then we met Carline. Carline is a Troutville native and Cynthia and I now know much of her personal life in great detail. We didn't have much time to do much else today, so I guess that's about it.
Oh, one more note: Regarding our luck with trains near our campsites. We still fail to get it right. In Troutville, train tracks run right next to the park, but they didn't go by all evening as we set up but then two went by in an hour right as we were going to sleep, just our luck.
Quality Water Means Quality Life
1.2 billion people do not have access to clean water. Help others avoid the choice between thirst or disease.
As we passed through the Ozark Mountains, among Missouri scenic rivers, we came to a gorgeous little spot called "Two Rivers." At this convergence of the Jacks Fork and Current rivers, the silt heavy rapids of the Current meet the clear calm of the Jacks Fork river and one can actually see the divide between the two. I couldn't help but think of the divide between our access to clean water and the lack thereof in the villages of rural Ghana.
Troy and I consume on average, about 12 to 20 (20 oz) bottles of water daily. That's 12 to 20 times per day that, unlike the people in rural Ghana, Troy and I avoid illness without even realizing it. Regardless of how many miles we ride, we have no doubt that stopping anywhere along the road for water will be easy and risk-free.
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