Ridin' Across the Country with Nicky Booth

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LXX: Front Royal to Leesburg, VA

Swept today with Maggie, was behind Wayne, Marty, and his brother Tommy who rode with us about halfway and then turned back as he had to go back home. Nice country roads until the middle of the ride which was a narrow busy road, but then rode on the Old Dominion Multi-Use Path that had relatively low traffic on it, mostly walkers. Went to lunch at this oyster bar and ordered raw oysters and a ahi tuna salad that was exceptional. Hung out at the church for a while and chatted with the fellow riders and reflected on the trip a lot. Dinner was provided by the church and Neil gave out our cross country stickers, recognized Mike Weiser who has raised $350K !!!!! for the Fuller Center for Housing which is quite remarkable. He’s also ridden over 100k miles on Fuller rides over the years. I also gave out superlatives to everyone on the ride which was pretty fun: -Dave K: most likely to cook a good dinner -Ellen: most likely to be drinking Diet Coke at any given time -Lawerence...

LXIX: Elkton to Front Royal, VA

Last day on Skyline Drive. A bit hotter today but also less humid, did get up to 90 by noon. 76 miles, 7,500 feet of climbing, and my legs were cooked by the end from the accumulation of climbs this week. Still, extrordinarily gorgeous and a bit busier with more motorcycles, cars, campers, service vehicles with U.S government license plates, and a lot of bicyclists! Showered at a local community pool and then ate at a local fast food joint called Spelunker’s where I ordered a double cheeseburger with bacon, fries, and root beer, then three hours later went to a sushi place which was also wonderful. In between meals, Maggie coerced me to go outside and play soccer which lasted approximately 15 minutes because it was literally 90 degrees out and 15 minutes before she asked me I was literally passed out on my air mattress.

LXVIII: Waynesboro to Elkton, VA

Another beautiful ride while transitioning from the Parkway to Skyline Drive within Shenandoah National Park! First 25 miles I bonked a little bit by not eating enough, so I took some extra time at the first rest stop, drink a Coke, eating over a dozen Oreos with peanut butter on them, just enjoying the overlook. Afterwards, I felt better but still took it relatively easy as we have a lot of climbing tomorrow. We arrived in Elkton by 11am and the church made us a lunch of hot dogs and chips and really good watermelon. I took a Benadryl as I was stung by a wasp while riding in the upper chest (luckily it didn’t fall into my jersey and sting me even more, I kept my jersey completely zipped up today) and it knocked me out for about an hour. Showered at the local school and I guess they had a big FFA prescence as they had two dairy cows, three goats, and two pigs with a nice misty fan. Someone said “ice cream” so I immediately woke up and ordered cookies n cream and mint chip. T...

LXVII: Buena Vista to Waynesboro, VA

Last day on the parkway, and I FLEW with Neil and Ben. Only a 54 mile day with more sun in some spots, and some crazy fog with only 10 yards of visibility for about 5 miles. Waynesboro is a neat little town and we arrived early enough to eat lunch out at a place called Delly Up and I ordered an Italian Sub and watched France and Japan play in basketball. Went to a park to play a couple rounds of pickleball, then to the local YMCA and casually swam around, then showered and walked back with Russ. Had dinner provided by the church, had dinner with the pastor who was younger and very nice, and then talked to Stephanie for a while before going to bed.

LXVI: Roanoke to Buena Vista, VA

Swept today with Thad, stayed behind Tom (on the recumbent bicycle) for most of the ride. Tom can go very fast in flats and descents, but can only go about 6 mph on a 4-5% grade, so it took him a while to climb almost 8000 feet of climbing over 80 miles, but he managed to do all of it! There was a different kind of challenge today, which was holding back: it was almost harder to climb deliberately slower than usual and my hands became more numb than usual too. It did give more opportunities for photos, breaks, and didn’t push myself as much which was nice. Still, the mental fortitude required was for real. It was also nice sweeping as I haven’t done it in a while, and I remember during my first Fuller ride, I was always back with the sweeps going way slower than the rest of the group, and they were always there for moral or mechanical support, so nice to give it back to Tom. The ride had three large climbs and nice descents, rained a little throughout the day which kept the temper...

LXV: Off in Roanoke, VA

Had church provide breakfast, then a nice service with the family in attendance, and then a luncheon with Neil talking about the Bike Adventure and what the Fuller Center for Housing does. Said our goodbyes to my Mom, Grammy, and Nancy, then we went to a lower A minor league baseball game, the Zebulon Mudcats against hometown Salem Red Sox. Was pretty hot but was a good time. Ate leftovers, met the new riders (Brent, Wayne Wilson who I rode with 2 years ago on my first Fuller Ride; Aeri, Ben’s wife; Steve, another support driver; and Stephanie, who rode with us during our first half of this trip!) There was also live music across the street that was actually pretty good, stayed there for a bit before going to bed.

LXIV: Blacksburg to Roanoke, VA

More of an easy ride today and beautiful Almost no cars, passed several homesteads, and fog was relatively low in the mountainside that kept it cool. Got into the church by 10:30am! The last 10 miles or so had nice bike paths to get us in, Roanoke seems like a thriving little town! Ate lunch with Dad at a local place down the street. Ordered a mean pimento cheese and bacon sandwich on sourdough. A couple hours later, my Mom, Grammy, and Nancy (grandmothers) drove up from Asheville to visit for a night. Ate at the same place and then had dinner later on at the church. Afterwards, we all went to see Inside Out 2 which was better than expected.