Tazewell, VA to Breaks Interstate Park, VA — 72.59 mi, 5,103 ft
Even if 72 miles looks short relative to some of the other distances we’ll be covering this summer, today was a longgg day for a variety of reasons. If I had to think of one, the only downside of having such a beautiful house to ourselves (generously provided to us by the Main Street Methodist Church) is that we had spread things everywhere, so it took us an abnormally long time to get going (yes, even more so than usual). Aarushi volunteered to take charge of breakfast since it was her driving day, so the rest of us focused on getting ready and packing all of our camping equipment we took out as our bedding for the night. I also helped by making eggs again, this time without an absurd amount of bacon grease as I had done the day before — I do think the bacon grease version tasted better, even if it definitely gave us all some heart disease.
We set up on our glorious dining table once more with a little more of a rush, trying to finish so quickly so we could hit the road. We had so much food that we couldn’t fit it all in our cooler, so it was also just a lot of us stuffing our faces as much as we could so it wouldn’t go to waste.
After saying goodbye to Teresa, who has been such an amazing host and person to us throughout our stay, we took off. Drew and Tatiana had to mail their postcards, so they split off from the rest of us initially. However, pretty early on, we made a wrong turn and had to backtrack, meeting up with them again and climbing up the first (of many) hills of the ride. We split up a bit from there, as I decided to go at a relatively chill pace to prevent my ongoing hand strain from getting worse and biked alone for a bit. There were a lot of dogs that we passed by (ominous foreshadowing) and the weather was beautiful. Watching the movement of clouds became a new way to pass the time.
I joined back up with Nate, Carmen, and Nunu, before soon arriving at the first rest stop, which were some bleachers by a park. Before leaving together, Nunu had the fun idea of creating a group call so that we could all hear each other during the ride, which lasted approximately 5 whole minutes before it was cut off. I really appreciated Nate relaying upcoming cars after they already passed me (because of the delay lol).
The call was helpful though because I realized via the call that Tatiana and I had left our water bottles at the rest stop!! We pulled over to get them back with Drew, and then continued on our way. We soon came onto a gravel trail that had a huge downed tree spanning the entire road. After shuffling our bikes through the tree, we reunited once more with the rest of the crew as we came to the realization that the next part of our route was marked with a scary “Private Property: No Trespassing” sign that halted our progress. This was likely an unintended consequence of a last-minute route change by Aarushi the night before in an effort to cut out some gravel and elevation. We considered backtracking or adjusting the plan since none of us trusted the area (a common theme of the day), but Drew scouted out the area and deemed it reasonable to pass — especially since the route was marked as a state route in our navigation services. We quickly maneuvered around the gate, dashed across the trail, and got out ASAP before anyone could catch us. A bit stressful, but that was just the start.
Of course, the next road was also an EXTREMELY bumpy gravel section, which was not a fun experience as I had to pee the entire time. The area remained a bit sketchy as well, since we had to navigate some smaller side roads that continued to have a lot of dogs. We made a conscious effort to stick in groups as a result. Over the course of the day, I saw a black lab chase Carmen and a smaller dog run onto the busy road to chase us (foreshadowing again), and we hadn’t even crossed into Kentucky yet where the dogs are supposedly the worst 😨
Before our lunch stop, Carmen and I took a bathroom break at a very nicely air-conditioned Family Dollar and arrived at the Church later. Lunch was the usual, sandwiches spiced up by the last of our pickles and roasted bell peppers. I really needed to fuel up for the next climb: Big A Mountain (read: Big Ahh Mountain), the namesake of this post. I threw in an extra Uncrustable for energy. 1500 ft elevation gain, 6 miles… I was not looking forward to it.
I left with Nate and Carmen, who quickly dropped me as I chugged along the next couple of miles in 1st gear nearly the entire time. It honestly wasn’t as bad as I thought, since it was mostly gradual elevation gain and my body fell into the rhythm of “just keep going.” I forgot who used the analogy of a train chugging along, but I do now understand their pain. Joining back up at the top, the three of us took on some crazyyy downhills to the base of Big A Mountain, filled with scary blind turns and holding onto my brakes for dear life. Although beautiful, the drivers were honestly some of the scariest parts of Spokes so far, especially on the narrow two-lane highways. You never know when they decide to risk their lives and your own by passing into a blind corner, or when they do the opposite and stick behind you for miles, despite waving for them to pass through clearer stretches.
After Big A Mountain, it was a net downhill stretch to our final rest stop. Here, I felt like I was in some exotic rainforest instead of middle-of-nowhere Virginia. Lush green ivy-covered trees dominated the landscape, the humid heat was an ever-present sensation, and we could see the towering rainclouds peaking over the tree canopy. I looked at Carmen and said, “I actually hope it rains,” and not even 5 minutes later we feel the heavy drops coming down. Thankfully, our rest stop was a mile away, so we only became mildly soaked and got to watch the downpour from the safety of a convenience store overhang. Apparently this day is when Spokes 2025 experienced a downpour as well at this approximate point, so we were twinning! We waited for Tatiana and Drew while we finished off our jelly stash. Nunu and Aarushi shared a crazy story about sneaking their way into a concert in the meantime as well. After the rain stopped, we could see the road start steaming, which was also a really cool sight.
I drafted Nate and Carmen for the last flat stretch before coming to the last 3 climbs of the day, and they sure were something. Where Big A Mountain was a slowburn romance, the final hills were a series of heartbreaks. Once you finished one, there was still more to come, and my legs were not happy with the constant pedaling. Needing to stop more often, I also took some more time to appreciate the view, killing two birds with one stone.
I finally arrived at the campsite where Aarushi and Nunu had amazingly already set up everything (we were worried about rain initially but the timing worked out).
Once everyone had arrived, we quickly packed ourselves into the car to drive to Mi Rancho Mexican Bar and Grill, a restaurant in Elkhorn City, KY, that had kindly offered us a free meal on our journey. We were greeted by Taylor, the owner, and were immediately served some of the BEST food we’ve had on this trip. The chicken fajitas were demolished and the lemonade was downed. Thanks again to Mi Rancho for an amazing dinner!
On our way back, we queued some bangers to listen to, including:
- Take Me Home, Country Roads
- Take Me Home, Country Roads (Japanese ver.) (highly recommend everyone listen to once)
- Fireflies (after we saw some fireflies, of course)
- Titanium (with Aarushi and Drew’s amazing singing)
I don’t think I’ve ever listened to Take Me Home, Country Roads more than this summer so far. I think this song will always bring me back to this unique period of time, where suddenly the normal responsibilities of everyday life disappeared and yet new challenges came to be with these special people I get to call my team. Thank you all for making this crazy ride easier with all of your bright personalities and memorable moments. I find myself rambling on these blogs because I truly don’t want to forget every moment, even if they are quite mundane.
Anyways, keep an eye out for tomorrow’s blog, which unfortunately was a day I would like to forget a bit more… I think it’ll be an enjoyable read at least.
See you soon,
Caroline
MIT Spokes 2026 
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