Day 8: Lexington, VA - Christiansburg, VA (12/150)

Not long after setting off today I overtook a fellow touring cyclist. Dave was also cycling the Trans America Trail, but at a slightly slower pace. We had a chat and cycled some 10 miles together into Buchanan where we stopped at the library for internet (the locations for all posts in this blog and the map on top should now be correct). After that we split again due to the difference in pace and the fact that I wanted to reach Christiansburg today (80 miles), which didn't leave much room for slowing down.

A bit further ahead I encountered road works. The first guy let me through so that I could ask if I could pass to the guys working further on. Further on they had made a quite significant hole in the road making it impossible for me to pass. Luckily the guys didn't mind using their digger to temporarily bridge the hole so that I could pass, awesome! Hopefully Dave had the same luck.

The route led me further upwards through the Catawba valley, which lies in the Great Valley between the old and Appalachians. The views were truly great, but the climbing was up and down all the time, even more so than yesterday. My GPS indicated grades of +12% which is pretty though on a fully loaded touring bike. In addition the afternoon heat started kicking in. 

In Catawba I rested in the shade shortly and wanted to get some water at the local store, but this was closed down. Upon walking with my water bottles into the local post office to try my luck there, a lady asked if I needed water and handed me a water bottle. She explained that close by the Trans America Trail crosses the Appalachian Trail, which is a long distance hiking trail. Along the Appalachian Trail it is common that at certain spots water and soda pop up, so called "trail magic". These supplies are placed there by locals, which are called "trail angels". The lady I was talking was such a trail angel and gave me ample water and a cola, which I could really use at that moment. Both came from the booth of her car with which was loaded with it.

Initially my knee held up pretty well, but unfortunately my knee started hurting again after some 65 miles. The pain became worse quite quick, so the only solution was again gearing fully down. At the end of the day the pain had subdued a little, but still I decided to take a rest day tomorrow in Christiansburg and take a motel for these 2 nights. The motel only costed 45 bucks for 2 nights, which is less than the two previous nights on the campsites. After checking in and lying down, I realized that my legs could also use a day without cycling. This evening I treated myself to a huge glass of beer and a nice burger :)