Day 6: Into Blacksburg

Today was my last day of riding with the group, so I really tried to savor the day. It was a mere 40 miles,  but somehow felt like 60. Maybe it was the lack of sleep due to literally sleeping next to the train tracks in Troutville. Maybe exhaustion of the week was finally setting in. Maybe it was just a mental thing; perhaps 20 miles could've felt the same way.

We had a later start at 9 am and much of the group stopped at Subway for breakfast. I had already had my 3 oatmeal packets, so I just had one of the 3" breakfast subs. Not bad!

The entire ride consisted of rolling hills and beautiful farm land. Our first stop was an old gas station in Catawba where the route leaders or Don surprised us with doughnuts from the local Carol Lee doughnut shop and chocolate milk. Two doughnuts and chocolate milk with 21 miles to go and warming temps was probably not the best choice, but I enjoyed every morsel. Obviously, eating doughnuts and chocolate milk helped Chris carry on...

The second, last leg of the ride was fun, again with the rolling hills. I felt strong and like an actual cyclist finally. I even got a few compliments from the other riders that I was "killin' it" on the hills. That's a great compliment to get. :)

Coming into Blacksburg a "doozy" as Bret had forewarned me. I could see from the elevation map that it was a fairly steep climb for a solid handful of miles. And, oh boy, it was! Towards the end of the ride, I started to struggle a bit because it had ceased to be rolling and was just a continuous uphill on Harding Road. Any Hokies following along should know where I mean!  One of the guys on the ride who has a heavy touring bike and didn't check the elevation profile prior to the ride, so he said it was "a bad joke" to finish the ride that way. He should know by now that we never finish on a downhill! 

Rolling into downtown, the Hokie House served us complementary beers and wings, and we had the whole upstairs to ourselves for the afternoon, which was fun. That evening, Don (Founder) hosted a small bbq at his place. Instead of camping with the group, I was able to sleep in a real bed at one of the alumni rider's houses. I definitely slept hard that night, but I needed it for the next day's activities.