VA Gravel Biking - Day 3
When I went to breakfast this morning a bit after 7am, the temperature outside was a very chilly 35. Fortunately, we did not head out for our ride today until 9am by which time it was in the low 40s. The day started out with blue skies dotted with many low cumulus clouds.
We left from the hotel, and after a couple miles to get out of Harrisonburg, we were on gravel roads with beautiful scenery.
We meandered through farmland as the sun slipped behind clouds then reappeared.
The terrain was generally rolling hills.
Despite being chilly, the first 15 miles were really lovely.
From mile 15 through mile 30, the weather deteriorated as more clouds rolled in.
Initially, it just meant more shade and the air feeling raw. Eventually, we did get periodic sprinkles, but nothing heavy.
This is a photo of George, one of the Trek Travel guides. George was also a guide on the 2023 Cross Country trip, so it was fun for Jesse, Ruth and me to reconnect. A second guide, Izak, was also on the 2023 Cross Country trip. The third guide, Ben, has been great to get to know. For these trips, great guides can add so much while terrible guides can wreck a trip. I have been consistently impressed with the guides that work for Trek Travel. This is my 7th trips with Trek Travel, and I have yet to have a bad guide.
Around the 30 mile mark, Jesse, Ruth, Doug and I split off from the planned route to add some additional miles. The long route for today was only 39 miles. Last night, I had put together a new route which added on to the planned route bringing it up to 62 miles. I suspect Izak and George’s familiarity with us and having seen Jesse, Ruth and I ride day after day of 90+ mile routes made them feel very comfortable with us adding extra. As a safety precaution, I did send them our route so that they knew exactly where we would be riding.
Our extra miles had us pass through a gap in a mountain ridge, then run along the backside through the woods.
We then had a long climb back over the ridge to get to the Harrisonburg side. This led to a fabulous downhill ride on pavement, then eventually to more downhills on gravel roads.
The biking on these trips is always fun for me. That being said, also riding with great friends is even better.