Today we left Maryland and entered the great state of West Virginia, aka "The Mountaineering State." The state lived up to its name and gave us a long day of essentially gradual uphill grades with a pretty serious 5 mile climb around mile 30. Definately the longest climb so far but the views from the top were fantastic and lunch was enjoyed at the summit. As a side note, it was decided that 9:30 in the morning is too early for "lunch" so we've coined our first stop as "peanut butter & jelly time" (see the Buckwheat Boys 1990's smash hit song). The ride wrapped up with an amazing 5.5 mile downhill that we all took at an average 40 mph. Thats what our rides are all about. We did not have shower facilities, so bathing took place in a river right besides the church we stayed at for the evening. The town of Parsons was very small, and we learned from talking to residents at the laundramat that there was a terrible flood in 1985 that basically wiped out the town and it hadn't been able to recover ever since. You could definately tell from the shambles that many of the buildings were in which is a shame because the landscape was just phenomenal. Best luck to the town pulling things together.
Day 11 -Weston, WV - 58 miles
We continued into the heart of West Virginia today on one of the more notable rides yet. Firstly, conditions stunk. We left the church around 7:30 am and it began pouring down rain about a half mile into the ride. Keep in mind that the temperatures were in the range of 55-60 F. While this was a nice change from our recent heat streak, it was still uncomfortable riding in wet shorts. However, I am greatful for the rain because it led us to one of our greatest stops yet of the trip thus far. At about mile 6, we were completely soaked to the bone when we saw one of our leaders, Amy, flagging us down from the front porch of a house just off the road so we pulled a U-turn and ran in for cover. Enter Crazy Ed. We don't actually have any conformation on the name of the house's resident so we decided to call him crazy Ed. Ed was one of the friendliest people I have met on our adventures and we spent a solid half hour with him hearing his unique opinions of the world. For a complete list of what Ed was for and against, please contact me at a later time as this is absolutely hilarious and has made for some of our most ridiculous jokes. After the rain began to slow we took to the streets again and finished out a relatively short day in good time. As an interesting evening adventure, many of the riders went to check out the old insane asylum in town which is claimed to be one of the most haunted places in america, and was featured on the television show Ghost Hunters.
We continued into the heart of West Virginia today on one of the more notable rides yet. Firstly, conditions stunk. We left the church around 7:30 am and it began pouring down rain about a half mile into the ride. Keep in mind that the temperatures were in the range of 55-60 F. While this was a nice change from our recent heat streak, it was still uncomfortable riding in wet shorts. However, I am greatful for the rain because it led us to one of our greatest stops yet of the trip thus far. At about mile 6, we were completely soaked to the bone when we saw one of our leaders, Amy, flagging us down from the front porch of a house just off the road so we pulled a U-turn and ran in for cover. Enter Crazy Ed. We don't actually have any conformation on the name of the house's resident so we decided to call him crazy Ed. Ed was one of the friendliest people I have met on our adventures and we spent a solid half hour with him hearing his unique opinions of the world. For a complete list of what Ed was for and against, please contact me at a later time as this is absolutely hilarious and has made for some of our most ridiculous jokes. After the rain began to slow we took to the streets again and finished out a relatively short day in good time. As an interesting evening adventure, many of the riders went to check out the old insane asylum in town which is claimed to be one of the most haunted places in america, and was featured on the television show Ghost Hunters.
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