Day 9: forever long miles and the perfect refuel spot

Radford, VA to Tazewell, VA – 68.24 mi, 4,380 ft

It’s Ramona again and welcome to day 9. The day started with some awesome power oatmeal that Sharon made for us. It had all kinds of amazing nutritious additions, so we we’re well equipped to start the day. I left Sharon’s and Keith’s home with some hesitation. We had had a great evening with smores and fire (read more (probably?) on Charles’ account on day 8), but I knew we had to hit the road. On paper, the day seemed chill enough – 68.2 miles and 4319ft of elevation (according to ridewithgps, our navigation devices thought it was more like 6000ft, but i think they are wrong). So we headed out from Radford! These were the views – some mountains in the background here and there, some trees, a little bit of ups and downs and cloudy skies.

We had a nice little break at a park, where Greta and Charles unleashed their inner childs.

… but after the first 10 to 20 miles, everything started to feel ~ slower ~

I am not even sure why, we had plenty of rest stops to refuel and get water, but the fourth cycling day in a row hit me harder mentally than any of the previous ones. I know I wasn’t alone in that. Charles was hurting, Joseph had (very wisely) decided to take a rest day and Ishaq was complaining that his butt aches. The miles, with little variation in hills, seemed to go on forever. I was watching my navigation and I swear the miles left were just frozen sometimes.

Battling my own mind, I put on some music, but in the heat, and the occasional cars overtaking us, it just overwhelmed me. So I suffered for a while, until I remembered a great invention – podcasts! I put on some Origin Story (an episode on the Doctor Who) and everything got so much better. Dorian Lynskey even brought out some laughs in me. My dad actually recommended this podcast, so I was waiting to pull this card out in exactly this kind of a situation. So, from this experience, I rate listening to podcasts a 10/10 strategy, especially suited for when no good thinking thoughts seem to be floating in your mind, so you are left with battling boredom and frustration.

I had taken a break at some point, when Charles passed me. I did catch him afterwards, and remembered that perhaps an 11/10 strategy is yapping, even for a little bit. By the time the next rest stop rolled around (with a huge hornets nest, allegedly (ask Joseph or Sarah, I did not see any hornets)) I was feeling better. I left Charles with the hornets and started on the last 10 miles of the ride.

Soon after entering Tazewell I noticed a sign for ice cream and contemplated stopping, BUT THEN I noticed the some Spokies at the ice cream spot! Telepathy! Of course, I pulled over and got two cold, sweet and glorious scoops of ice cream (pictured below).

The spot was actually very cool! First, the ice cream hit the spot! And I’m pretty sure the girl at the shop only charged me for one scoop, so it was an incredible deal. Second, they also did floats, which Charles was very happy about. And third, through the same door, there is also an Italian food spot. (It might or might not be the same establishment, I am not sure). And Joseph noticed, it had a creative logo.

With that we arrived at our destination. Theresa at the Main Street United Methodist Church is kindly letting us stay. I am glad tomorrow is not a cycling day, since we are teaching! So, last item on the agenda is dinner. Lead by Ishaq, the Spokes cook crew is making turkey meatball spaghetti right as I am writing this. I better go and help them. Tune in tomorrow (or whenever Sarah will finish tomorrow’s blog 🙂 )