Day 4

Very nice cycling weather, 60 degrees at start, 74 at finish. The first 40 miles were overcast; it heated up a little more after lunch. I only rode 61 miles today, just after crossing the state line into North Carolina there was a detour.

Not wanting to take no for an answer, I rode several miles beyond the Road Closed sign, and took a chance road workers would let me ride, or carry my bike, around the road construction. A guy on a Deere 210 excavator got onto me and asked if “cyclists could read?” He then threatened me with at $2,500 fine. I just smiled and turned around. My wife Robbie and I took a 21 mile detour in the Sparta area to get back on the Parkway, stopping on the way to eat some Kentucky Fried Chicken. We got back on the Parkway at mile 243, I had to get off at 234, the closure cost me 9 miles.

The riding was different than the previous 2 days, with rolling hills and flat stretches, or even downhills at -3% gradients. The hills were the typical 6 to 8%, but lasting only 5 minutes or so each, so psychologically they didn’t seem as challenging, although I still ended up with 4,826 feet of ascent. Or 79 feet per mile.

If someone were to ask me what a good one day section of the Parkway would be to ride, this would be it. A good mixture of hills and flats, no killer climbs, great scenery.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow with 6,000 foot mountains, familiar scenery (Boone, Blowing Rock), and beginning to go thru some of the 26 tunnels on the North Carolina side of the Parkway.

Robbie really likes corn.