2020 TransVA 550

7:00 AM on Saturday, October 10, 2020

by Chris Joice, SS FKT! 94.25hr

Day 1:

We departed to fair weather and a quick roll up the C&O. The group broke up quickly as small variations in tracks (interpretations) led some of us astray. It was at this point I realized my gpx file was sub-par and only showed points every mile or so! It was like reading the line between the lines and connecting the dots. I followed others more than I like to, but without doing so, I’d have never made it through the maze of greenways and small connections leaving DC.

After several hours, we reached the countryside and rambled from small roads to small roads with occasional high-traffic connections (pucker-factor, high!).

During this early phase I picked up a riding buddy, Chris Randall, an Asheville local, whom I was lucky to roll the next couple days with.

We hit the last good store just before they quit making sammiches. Ate half then and saved the other for later. David Landis (the route-founder) and company caught up while we ate, and he gave us some low-down on tentative destination/resupply for that evening, for which I was very grateful.

We pushed on to mile 159, where we were told we could camp in the baseball field dugout… deluxe accommodations!

Day2:

A little slow to break from a pleasant slumber, we motored up to the local restaurant and ate a big breakfast with the local chatter for amusement (I can only imagine what they said about us after we left!)  A quick store stop, and we were rolling by 9:30 (quick, being sarcastic!)

The hurricane aftermath was sure to hit us today (and maybe beyond), so we tried to mentally prepare for wet and cold… up a chundery double-track, we got the first drops of rain. From this point on, it was raining on-off for the rest of the day…. cold to freezing to cold. The climb up to Flagpole and Reddish Knob kept the internal fire heated enough to thwart the bitter.

Upon the next descent, as frigid was creeping in, I adjusted my brakes (yet again), only to find out both sets of pads were toast! I dropped a little to escape the wind, and quickly went to work… so happy that i had thrown in a second extra pair of pads. I fumbled a little as I was getting colder and flustered, but Chris showed up and went into mechanic-mode and helped me get the job done.

We bombed the next bit (like 12mi!) We had just 45min to make the next (and only) store before it closed! We hauled through the stinging rain, and i tried to keep up, spun out completely.

At last we found the store, a whole 15min before closing time… sweet! But wait… they closed early?!?! Heartbroken, outta food, and cold, Chris quickly started plotting a plan using this AT experience, he orders pizza (brilliant!), except no one delivers out here, or even knows where we are! Finally, I offer to tip an extra extravagant amount, and 45min later we have wings and pizza.

We had only covered 70mi, and hated to stop early, so we suited back up and headed into the night bundled and trying to easy-cruise, we went another 30mi to the forgotten/eerie town of Williamsville, where David told us of a community center just off route. We made it around 3a to find a simple (but dry) pavilion, and shut it down for a few hours.

Day 3:

The previous evening, Chris was feeling a funny “clunk” in his pedal stroke. To his shock and dismay, his crank was loose and failing! Nothing to tighten or adjust, just the carbon was getting “wallowed” out with each pedal stroke.

So we set out to find coffee and resupply just a half-mile off route. We charged up and checked in with the world, and at this point Chris realized his brake pads were totally shot. It was not meant to be for him this go-around.

We rolled out and he flatted (triple?). I went back to check on him and he had it under control, but with his pre-determined departure, the time had come for me to cruise on my own ride.

Through beautiful douthat state park and into Covington for a great resupply… huge burger and fries, and chicken-planks to go!

I hit the road to climb into the forest and try to knock off the last two daunting climbs. Feeling ok, I clicked right along into the higher elevations and away from the busy roads.

As luck would have it, I soon crossed paths with Eleanor!! We had been tracking and chatting with one another, but neither was sure we’d actually see the other. It was so nice to catch up, and certainly gave me some extra “pep” to tackle the infamous Potts Mountain and Mountain Lake climbs.

As I climbed into the mountains, I was also climbing into a cloud… mist, darkness, and dropping temps: oh boy! I kept moving to keep warm, and there was no way I was camping up high in this weather. Decent track turned to mud-holes, and nasty 4wd trail…. wet and tired, it was trying for sure.

I reached the Waitville Valley and remembered this section from the AML_X route I did several years ago. It was like an old friend (albeit a grumpy, cantankerous sort!)… walking, pedaling, walking, all the way up to the AT, then up to Mountain Lake.

The hard stuff done, I put on the rain pants and bundled for the drop to the new river and beyond. I rolled along looking for a place to sleep for a few hours… but a rumoured church never appeared, and soon enough, I was at the next resupply (who opens a store at 4a?!). To my surprise, there was Graham (my SS buddy from GA). It’s so nice to see a familiar face when you’re deep into these things! He took off, while I ate and laid down for a couple hours.

Day 4:

After a short sleep, I ate more breakfast (gravy and biscuits FTW), and started my day around 8:30. It was chilly, but the roads were nice and I cruised along fairly well.

I’d been dealing with a pain in my calves/achilles, and while walking a section of rugged double-track, I found that both cleats were loose and WAY out of place! I was so glad I checked them before losing any bolts, but why hadn’t I checked before?!

I topped the pass, and I had the first great views of the entire trip (after all, it’d been raining or foggy up to that point). I took a few pics and even saw a bear on the descent…. living the good life! From there I bumped along the country roads to the town of Pulaski and the New River Trail. The NRT was way prettier than I expected, with amazing trestles and beautiful fall colors.

The level grade should have been a nice reprieve from the mountains, but instead it fired up my aching achilles! I tried various positions and techniques for the next 35mi, but basically had to resolve to embrace the pain (or quit, which wasn’t an option). Finally off the trail and back to the hills, the pain subsided a bit, which I still don’t understand, but there was plenty of steady nice climbing through quiet countryside.

I even met a horse (Charlie) who’d never met a bike before, and I fed him a few snacks (horse-snacks)…. the highlight of the day. Once again, I’m dropping down a road forever and getting cold as the sun is setting, but I get to the resupply before getting totally frozen. Lo and behold, Graham is there! It was nice to see a friend, and he suggested we ride the rest of the route together (sharing the SS FKT). He was on very light gear, but climbing well, so why not?!

We chatted and passed the time into the night, but the night was getting much colder than the past ones… very very cold when you descend for 40+ minutes into a valley floor and clear skies. We spent a lot of time layering up, then peeling off, and repeat. There was lots of walking, talking, and speculation.

By this point, Graham had only had a couple hours sleep in the last two nights, so it was about to get interesting, and it did. We walked up the last climb on the route, layered up and trying to stay warm, wondering if we would ever stop climbing?! Neither of us had studied the route in very close detail (we’d done this stuff before = suckers)… somehow we thought we’d top out on the climb, find the VA Creeper Trail and be done.

How wrong we were… I later learned that we were close to the 2nd highest point in VA, and in the clear freezing night, we proceeded to descend 2000+ ft for the next hour, just praying for the VA Creeper Trail.

We have no heat built and are now wearing everything we brought… puffy jackets, rain pants, vests… and still cold. But finally we find the VA Creeper, and that’s all we lack. 18mi descent to the finish, piece of cake, right?

Well, Graham is falling into a deep vision quest with delirium taking over. I’m feeling the exhaustion of the cold and mental fatigue too… plus the 5hr is wearing off and leaving only its visual entertainment. We stumble, walk, crash, and bumble down the trail for the next 2.5hr. So many “come-to-jesus” talks, just to keep moving. Sleeping there was not an option…. we were so close for so long! Eventually we pop out of the woods into town. Graham comes alive again, and I’m spent, so so cold and bewildered. We find the red caboose for a picture, and stumble to his Jeep and make a quick camp at 5:15a.

https://www.strava.com/activities/4213313541