Bike Virginia

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.

Character Counts Century (Cambridge, MD)

So, as always in these rides, I should thank the organizers and all the volunteers who gave up their time on Saturday so that we could pedal through their town.

Cambridge, MD, Saturday, May 6, 2017. Maryland's Eastern Shore is formed from the outwash of glaciers from the last ice age. There is no underlying rock formation to erode away, and thus no river or stream valleys. It's mostly salt water marsh interspersed with flat, rich farmland. It would all be marsh if it were not for modern drainage systems. As a result, when one plots out the ride on Ride with GPS, the elevation profile is essentially invisible. It hugs the bottom of the graph so much that, at first glance, one wonders if there's a bug in the application.

Wind, however, is a different matter. There is some thought that flat terrain will allow the winds to become more severe. I've done rides in hilly terrain, however, and it didn't seem as if the topography interfered with the wind that much. It is possible, however, that the nearby Chesapeake Bay intensifies the gales because the water and the land gain and retain heat differently.

All this atmospheric physics leads to one real fact on a real bike on the real roads of Dorchester County, Maryland: It was windy! For the first thirty miles we struggled and crouched close to our handlebars as we beat our way south the the 30-mile rest stop. I was really glad I re-rigged my century bike to a dropped-bar configuration.

At 30 miles, however, as everybody was assessing whether they could do all the miles and finish the ride, we took a right turn. That made all the difference in the world.

For a brief spell after the rest stop we had a cross-wind. Then, for the next 25 miles or so, we enjoyed the speed and silence of riding on flat terrain with a steady tailwind. You could hear birds chirp, and cars approach from a long distance. You could hear cyclists behind you having a conversation. The sun came out and we all remembered why we love to bike.

Much of this ride goes through the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge was established in 1933 to protect migratory birds along the Atlantic Flyway. It has been deemed the "Everglades of the North", and designated a "Wetland of International Importance" by the Ramsar Confederation. (I think the Klingons abstained from the vote, however.) It is also home to the largest population of bald eagles along the East Coast north of Florida.

I'm not sure I saw many birds, but I did see lots of trees and lots of water. There were miles and miles of riding in which you could look into forests on either side of the road without seeing a single structure. Forests are nice because they serve to break the wind.

As I finished 60 miles, the noon siren wailed in downtown Cambridge. Timing is everything, and the rain began moments after I stopped. A light drizzle appeared as I climbed off my bike, and by the time I was driving out of the parking lot I had to use my windshield wipers.

About 1000 riders braved the early May chill and wind (and risked getting wet). The rest stops were well stocked and the turns were well marked. At key intersections in Cambridge local police helped separate bicycles from traffic.