Tuesday October 2, 2012

Lynchburg, VA to Danville VA; 114 km, 996m vertical climb

When we got up this morning it was still raining but being optimists we figured it might stop by the time we got on the road. First we had to get breakfast so we walked down the highway a few hundred yards to a diner and on the way the weather had to pretend it was monsoon time. That was the first soaking of the day. Breakfast was our first all-you-can-eat-buffet for $6 so we loaded up good and proper for our 114km/71m ride.

Our optimism didn’t help at all so we set off in the rain. On a fast downhill to the middle of Lynchburg to cross the river the front half got wet and on the highway to get out of town the trucks going past made sure the back half got wet as well. Monsoon type showers gave us the rest and by the time the water was running out of our cycling shoes we didn’t care which direction the water was coming from. For some reason, when our multi-lane highway, Route 29, bypassed a town, we were not allowed to use it so we had to successively take the exit and ride through the middle of Altavista, Gretna and then Chatham before finally exiting for Danville. The rain stopped around midday when we were in Altavista and, thereafter, steadily improved to the point where we thought we were in a tropical jungle when we arrived in Danville. After settling in at a Super 8 motel for $55 we set off to find the Laundromat that the receptionist said was just down the road. After walking over a kilometre we gave up and diverted to a Mexican restaurant just for a beer to get us back. It turned out to be Happy Tuesday and the Mexican draught beer was only a $1.50 a glass so we decided to stay for supper and a second, third and, I think, fourth. It was a long walk back. Some days are really tough.