Day 3: The Ridge, The Roll-Back, and the Riders on the Storm

Cloudy. Windy. Rainy. Cold. Cormac McCarthy must have taken this same trip once. Our first stop was around 8:30 am EST at Onion Mountain. No sun in sight. We pushed ahead, thinking the last 120 miles (very scenic, unlike yesterday's Virginia leg of the Relay) would go smoothly enough and we could hit I-81 and scoot on down to Asheville, NC by dinner. When we stopped in Fairfield, VA for gas at 10:00 am (Outside temp: 37 degrees), Shane discovered that The Bull had slung a shoe. Steel belt was visible in the center of his rear tire. This left us with about 28 miles of the Parkway incomplete and El Toro in need of an El Tow Truck. Fortunately, my HRCA (Honda's version of AAA) membership expires next week, so we were able to get a tow truck for no cost to get The Bull to Lynchburg, VA (58 miles away). We had covered Mile 120-28 together, but this is where two paths diverged in the Relay...

The Ridge
Determined to complete the entire Parkway for the Relay, I left Shane waiting at the very warm McDonalds in Fairfield while I hit I-81 North to Waynesboro to finish the remaining 28 miles of the Parkway before the truck arrived. Despite not going exactly in order, I did finish the entire Parkway by 11:05 am and began my flight back to the Fairfield McDonalds.
The view of the Shenandoah Valley from the Parkway was spectacular; well worth the effort to get there. After covering the last 28 miles (from Mile o - Mile 28) of the Parkway and getting some very strange looks from the few other travelers on the road (all in cars, by the way), I made it back to Fairfield only to be informed by our friend at McDonalds that Shane, The Bull, and the Roll-Back left 15 minutes before I arrived. Thus began my pursuit of...

The Roll-Back
The Roll-Back arrived to pick up The Bull around 11:30 am. It is worth noting that this is the first time that The Bull has been hauled anywhere.
Once he was loaded up, The Bull and Shane took the Roll-Back to Lynchburg, VA via some of the curviest public highways known to man. The main route to Lynchburg is the Washington-Lee Highway (Highway 501) that is home to the picturesque campus of Washington & Lee University. Along the route, the driver stopped to pick up two hitchhikers who, by their account, were Florida State students (recent graduates, perhaps) who had been hiking the Appalachian Trail since February 19th. Their reported reason for hitting the highway after 800 miles of AT was to visit one's sister, who lived somewhere on Highway 29.
The Bull arrived at Honda of Lynchburg around 12:45 pm with the Pale Rider (XXXL white helmet, shiny silver rainsuit, and frozen skin that has the same complexion as a jar of Helmann's) arriving within 7 minutes of The Bull's off-loading. After warming up and getting settled in for the repair wait, we met Harold. Harold is retired from General Electric, and in the 11 years since his retirement he has taken dual-sport bikes (KLRs, etc.) through all of Central and South America and completed the Iron Butt circumference of the US eight times on Goldwings. Harold was a real-deal rider with some pretty cool stories, but he wasn't one of those braggadocios bravado types. He had legitimate stories about the sights and sounds of Central America that were verified by Shane's experiences in the same locations. The stories about the Chicken Buses in Honduras and the killer speed bumps in the Mexican countryside were pretty funny. Once Harold left and The Bull was ready to charge ahead, we set out again. By now, the weather was a big factor.

Riders on the Storm
First off, it's no where near as cool as The Doors make it sound. Cold and wet are not a good combination. Being cold is one thing, but instantaneous freezing at 65 mph is a complete other. This was the dreariest weather I've seen in a while; it was straight out of a Hemingway novel. I kept an eye on the side of the road for The Man and The Boy pushing their shopping cart (read Cormac McCarthy's The Road - Papa Hemingway would've approved). We traveled about 135 miles to Kernersville, NC, just outside the Wake Forest arm of the Research Triangle. Since we pushed through a frigid, wet day on the road (the highest temperature of the day: 41 degrees), we made camp at the Holiday Inn Express. It's much better than the Days Inn in Roanoke (I slept fully clothed it was so bad). To prove we made camp, notice the cookware and coffee pot in the picture below:That's right. Even though we stayed at the Holiday Inn, we still ate like hardcore campers. And then I had a half of a pot of Colombian Supremo, then chased it with some Advil and a hot shower. Riding cold and wet for seven to ten (Shane: 7; Josh: 10) hours is enough hardcore adventure for one day. I'm sure we'll find something hardcore to do in Franklin, NC tomorrow...Until then, I have some Colombian Supremo and some Advil calling my name.