Staunton, VA. We are now four days into the six-day Bike Virginia 2017 event. The weather has been excellent and the cycling, while challenging, is world class. There are hills. On every day on every ride there are hills that are sometimes long and sometimes steep (but never both -- at least so far!). These are the uplands that surround Interstate 81 as it winds South and passes out of the Shenandoah Valley. The first three days were in Lexington, where the Maury River passes under I-81 on its way to a confluence with the James River in Glasgow, VA. Thus, the Maury flows south. The second three days (Monday through Wednesday) were in Staunton, VA, where the North and South rivers flow north to join in Port Royal and form the Shenandoah River.
Both towns are surrounded by hilly farm country, which made for challenging but beautiful days of cycling. The temperatures are in the mid-70s, sometimes warming to the low 80s. From Lexington we rode to Natural Bridge, a rock formation that forms a bridge near the James River and Glasgow. From Staunton we rode to Natural Chimneys, a rock formation in the form of a large chimney. In between there were hard hills and amazing views.
My own experience was triumph. I worked hard to prepare for these days, knowing the hills would be unforgiving and relentless. I'm happy to say that, while I never did the hills fast, I was also never out of breath at the top and never had to stop to rest. I was the tortoise. The hares blew by me on several of the hills, only to stop to catch their breath at the top. I plodded along and waved hello as I rode past. My corpulent frame ensures that nobody catches me on the downhill.
Day One was an approach to Goshen Pass from Buena Vista. The middle-distance route (44 miles) turned before Goshen Pass, and made its way back through the town of Lexington. We rode among the buildings of the Virginia Military Institute, and in the shadow of Washington and Lee University. This ride included grunt-worthy hills all the way to the end, and many of the riders were talking about it for days.
Day Two was a little less challenging. I chose to do the metric century, which brought us south from Buena Vista to Buchanan, Virginia. This meant a long, slow downhill to the James River, and the Buchanan rest stop. It was followed by a long, slow uphill out of Buchanan on the service road on the other side of I-81.
