Miles - 86
Bicycle bracket repaired - 1
new friends that cycled with Neil, Wes and Caroline - 2
Today was absolutely C.R.A.Z.Y. There is no other way to describe it. Or I would call it "Divine Appointments".
I woke up at 5am to get ready for the morning routine. When the bicycles have to be down at the van at 6:30am, Glenn and I start getting the van organized at around 6am. The Western Front Hotel was very very nice. The accommodations were just perfect for Glenn and me. I understand this area is trying to be a tourist spot for the state and that the hotel was recently upgraded and remodeled. And then with the new brewery for a restaurant, this town does have potential. There is 4wheel drive vehicles you can rent or even go kayak or fish. I figure in a few more years there will be more items and more tour groups coming into this sleepy town of St. Paul, Virginia.
The hotel had a bucket full of goodies for us to have for breakfast such as a granola bar, yogurt, apple, and apple juice. Since we really didn't eat there, I asked if I could have a paper sack and we'ld eat it on the road.
I had my daily picture made outside of the hotel. Got that taken care of, then helped Glenn pack the van. Neil, Caroline, and Matt left to go to the local McDonalds for breakfast. Glenn was still tieing stuff down and then we led Wes to the McDonalds. I noticed Jeff took off somewhere, but later figured out that he had gone to get some specialty drinks such as RedBull and Beet juice for Christine. We shared the pancake breakfast and frappuccino.
Neil started talking with one family that was eating breakfast. I did not hear the whole conversation but instead walked back to the van to get the "release form" clipboard to have them sign it. In summary, I think this family was heading to the hospital to get the "cancer report" about the grandfather. Neil encouraged the family to pursue their dream. And to talk about the goals, etc.
We were told that we would be driving right by the birthplace of Daniel Boone, however, since we were taking smaller country roads, we did not drive by this landmark. Instead, we took some pretty scenery roads. Just as we were getting out of town, we started climbing and was up to the clouds. The sun was beginning to shine through and burn off the early morning mist and fog. It was just beautiful. I got some great pictures. Wes also stopped to pick up a turtle and place him on the other side of the road.
About 10am, we were following the DrivewithGPS through the town of Lebanon when making a sharp right turn, the cyclists stop. They met Randy and Cindy - avid cyclists. Neil had a conversation with both of them. The girls were able to use their bathrooms. And then Neil asked Randy if he wanted to join the 4. 10 minutes later, Randy was ready to go. It was good to have a local lead the way through the back roads and over the hills.
The ride was just beautiful. Then the climb. All along this narrow road was rolling hills, completely manicured farmlands. The road had no shoulder or even guard rail. I've said it before, it just gets tiring to watch the cyclists from behind as they crawl up the steep hill. There were switchbacks and the tall trees on each side. It seemed like an eternity, but the cyclists finally made it to the top. I took some photos.
I guess as the cyclists were climbing this hill, they discussed Wes's problem with the bracket. Wes had the part special order to the National Park we were staying in several nights ago - it was just a matter of figuring out where and when to get the bike to a bike shop. And Randy is a professional cyclist and knew how to fix it bracket. So, it was decided that Glenn and I would turn around and drive back to Lebanon, to Randy's house with Randy and Wes and fix the bike. We have not split up very often on this trip, but this was one time we would. Wes took off his walkie talkie and gave it to Matt and we turned around and said "good-bye". We would just meet up with the group once again after we got the bike fix.
We drove directly back to Lebanon where Randy's wife greeted us with a cup of ice water. Randy got his bicycle stand to put the bike on and away the went. To fix Wes's bike. So, I'm just sitting on the front porch watching the guys figure out how to change the brackets. Wes calls his friend in Dallas at the bike shop some important questions. It reminded me of when you see 3 or 4 guys hovering of the hood of a broken down car. Cindy then brought out a plate of cold watermelon. Perfect. I had mentioned to Wes several times that we should stop along the side of the road and buy some watermelon, just like Glenn did 40+ years ago on his bike trip to Central America. Glenn had to make a quick trip to an auto shop to buy something for the repair.
Once the bike was fixed, we loaded it up on the back of the van and headed back to catch up with the rest of the #ConversationCoasttoCoast team. We pulled over at the local Hardees to buy lunch and head on to Hiway Interstate 81. Wes phoned Jeff and found out their location.
We reconnected with the team in the parking lot of a hospital near an ice cream shop and Baptist Church. They were hot and thirsty. We immediately opened up the cooler and handed them cold water. Some of them wanted those tablets that had electro-lights. I was glad to finally be reconnected with everyone, except Matt. Since we were gone repairing Wes's bike, it seems that the group got disconnected from Matt. Cell phone coverage wasn't working. And they didn't know where Matt was. Matt is a strong cyclist and his legs were fresh.
The cyclists continued on highway 11, which paralleled Interstate 81. Then finally Neil "bonked". We pulled off into a family's driveway and helped Neil. Neil was wasted! Totally out of energy. We handed him some M & M's, then he wanted some Fritos and some plain pop tarts. At about 10 minutes, he was refueled and ready to go. Then all of a sudden, Matt rides up. It looked like he had just gotten out of the swimming pool. Sweat dripping off him. He was so thankful that he ran into us. We called Jeff and notify them that we were connected back with Matt. At this point, we had Jon and Christine in the van with us. The next town was Marion, Virginia and Neil wanted an ice cream cone.
As we pulled into town, I quickly googled "ice cream stores Marion, Virginia". The answer was "Haley's Comet". I tried to call the store to double check to make sure it was opened. No answer. But we did find the little store off the main street. Quickly Neil ordered and the rest of the gang got an order in. Glenn paid for everything. Neil was getting "refueled" and was feeling better. I noticed he was over near a garage door talking with Jon, the photographer.
Then a man in a pick-up truck stopped and asked: "will you still be here in 5 minutes, I would love to ride with you." What? Another divine appointment. We were waiting on Jeff to reconnect with the rest of the team, then Tom returned on his bike. You know this was one of the things that Neil was hoping for - that others would join him on the bike ride. And now in just one day, he has had two cyclists join him. That's incredible.
Glenn and I followed behind the 5 cyclists. They were filming Tom and Neil. We slowly poked along highway 11 up towards Wytheville, our next overnight stop. We radioed on ahead to let the cyclists know the exact location of the hotel.
Once we got to the hotel, we regrouped and decided on Chinese food. Then we call to find out that although they are open, there was an electrical outage and they had no electricity. We asked Tom to join us for dinner. And he suggested 7dogs brewery down off of the main street.
Just as we were unpacking the van, the rain comes. Huge downpour. We unloaded the van and regrouped in the lobby of the hotel and then piled into the vehicles. Tom's wife drove down from Marion to join us for dinner.
It wasn't until after 9pm that we got back to the hotel room. Yep, another late night. I was typing my blog when I got extremely tired and knew I could wake up on Tuesday morning and finish this.
In summary, although the day was very disjointed with Wes' bike getting repaired and then "loosing" Matt, we were doubled blessed that it just so happened we were driving through the back streets of Lebanon and ran across Randy and his wife. They just happened to be outside working on reloading their car for the weekend when they saw the #CC2C team drive by. And it just so happened he knew out to repair/replace Wes's bracket. And then it just so happened that we pull into the parking lot of Haley's comet and ask to join us. Yes, these are divine appointments. Crazy with a little of divine appointments thrown into the day.
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