6.24.2006
Day 4 - 48.5 miles
Afton, VA
We started the day with an unexpected visit to Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. The grounds, house, and history were all very impressive, unfortunately, our out-of-work actress tour guide wasn't. We rolled on to Charlottesville to pick up some spare tires and a new chain for Jon, who had previously had to take out two links on the side of the road thanks to a shifting problem that appeared after his New York City tune-up (he's never going to that bike shop again). We enjoyed the UVA campus, but couldn't spend any time off our bikes because we knew we'd have one tough hill before our rest site. Here's how Austin described the hill after we climbed it: "The last two miles into Afton are one consistently steep climb - probably the worst we'll do until the Rockies, we were told. It was treacherous: count the number of pedal strokes-, just make it to the next dashed line-, out of water-, quads already kill-, don't think you're gonna make it-, can't believe CO will be worse-treacherous." Luckily we reached the top before a big lightening storm and met June Curry, "The Cookie Lady." For 31 years (since the inaugural BikeCentennial ride) she's been opening her home to exhausted bikers like us. Her services have evolved from just a hose for water, to a plate of cookies, to "The Bike House." Every inch of wall space in the house displays biker memorabelia from the 13,000 guests she's hosted. From postcards to jerseys to bottles to bikes, she's got it all in there, from all over the world. Though all that stuff on the walls makes the house a little spooky, she's as big a part of biking across the US as any person ever could be (www.biketouring.net/rides/xcountry/curry.html).
We started the day with an unexpected visit to Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. The grounds, house, and history were all very impressive, unfortunately, our out-of-work actress tour guide wasn't. We rolled on to Charlottesville to pick up some spare tires and a new chain for Jon, who had previously had to take out two links on the side of the road thanks to a shifting problem that appeared after his New York City tune-up (he's never going to that bike shop again). We enjoyed the UVA campus, but couldn't spend any time off our bikes because we knew we'd have one tough hill before our rest site. Here's how Austin described the hill after we climbed it: "The last two miles into Afton are one consistently steep climb - probably the worst we'll do until the Rockies, we were told. It was treacherous: count the number of pedal strokes-, just make it to the next dashed line-, out of water-, quads already kill-, don't think you're gonna make it-, can't believe CO will be worse-treacherous." Luckily we reached the top before a big lightening storm and met June Curry, "The Cookie Lady." For 31 years (since the inaugural BikeCentennial ride) she's been opening her home to exhausted bikers like us. Her services have evolved from just a hose for water, to a plate of cookies, to "The Bike House." Every inch of wall space in the house displays biker memorabelia from the 13,000 guests she's hosted. From postcards to jerseys to bottles to bikes, she's got it all in there, from all over the world. Though all that stuff on the walls makes the house a little spooky, she's as big a part of biking across the US as any person ever could be (www.biketouring.net/rides/xcountry/curry.html).
