Today, Thursday, was bike maintenance time, writing up the blog and chilling out. I went over the bike, tightening all the bolts, oiling the chain and gear cables and checking everything, including the tyres. Looking at it, I thought, what an amazing machine: it has already taken me over 3,700 miles, over rough roads and potholes, up steep hills and mountains, downhill at 45 mph, all along carrying maybe 140kg, with no bother at all. I am not quite there yet, but it seems that the general quality of equipment (bike, tent, sleeping mat, clothing, navigation aids, etc.) have improved to the point where you don't have to worry about it. You can just focus on, and enjoy the ride.
It also seems that it's no longer necessary to spend thousands of pounds on equipment for a trip like that. The quality of the hundreds-of-pounds category seems perfectly adequate for the job, I suppose as long as you choose wisely.
On Wednesday it was a bit of a push. Not so much because of 4,500 feet of climbing, but because, during a couple of steep climbs, I was either having to push a bit it or running out of gears all together and walk. So, the first time in 3,700 miles, I wished that I had gone for a 22 teeth front / 36 teeth rear low gear setup rather than a 24/32. During my E2E my setup was 24/40 and this worked perfectly. Anyway, no big problem, all very manageable. Just a few more hills, with the climb up to the Blue Ridge Parkway on Tuesday being the last one. Then it's all downhill to Yorktown, where I hope to arrive on Sunday, 15th.
Most importantly, this morning I cross the state line into Virginia, the State where the trip will end. Still 470 miles to go, but the end is definitely in sight.
I think, I have also finished running the dog gauntlet. Although I had, quite rightly, used bear spray on that pack of dogs in Illinois, going through Kentucky, I didn't feel it was really a problem. There were a few around, but they were just japing, or their owners were nearby calling them back, or car drivers intervened, putting themselves between me and the dogs. So, either I was lucky, or the dogs knew I had my bear spray ready and behaved themselves. Also, maybe some of the people I talked to were a bit more apprehensive about dogs in general. Thanks to Sorsha, I now feel OK about them.
For the next two nights it's the Elk Garden United Methodist Church near Rosedale, VA, with a rest day tomorrow. Again I was made to feel very welcome by Danielle, who looks after the church.
It sounds tough, but it had just an outside shower, with only cold water. However, after a hot day's cycling, it's absolute bliss.